Thursday, 5 October

Battleships NELSON, RODNEY, battlecruisers HOOD, REPULSE, and aircraft carrier FURIOUS and escorting destroyers departed Loch Ewe and arrived at Scapa Flow.

————

Light cruiser SHEFFIELD departed Scapa Flow for Invergordon, arriving on the 6th. She was back at Scapa the same day.

————

Light cruisers CALYPSO and CALEDON departed Scapa Flow for Northern Patrol. CALYPSO arrived back on the 11th and CALEDON on the 13th.

————

Destroyer ECHO departed Plymouth and arrived at Dover on the 6th.

————

Submarine SEAWOLF fired two torpedoes at German torpedo boat FALKE in 57-39N, 9-28E, but missed. The target was reported as a light cruiser of the NüRNBERG class.

————

Convoy OA.15 of six ships departed Southend escorted by destroyer ANTELOPE from the 5th to 8th, when the convoy dispersed.

————

Convoy OB.15 departed Liverpool escorted by destroyers WALPOLE and WINCHELSEA until the 8th.

————

Convoy BC.7S of 17 steamers including NEW TEXAS (Commodore), departed Quiberon Bay escorted by destroyers EXPRESS, ESK, ESCAPADE and ECLIPSE, and arrived safely in Barry Roads on the 8th.

————

After survey ship FRANKLIN sighted a submarine 9 miles 310° from Calais High Light, destroyer BRAZEN carried out an unsuccessful search.

————

Steamer MARWARRI (8063grt/总吨位) was damaged in the Bristol Channel, 3? miles 190° from Scarweather Light Vessel, on a mine laid by U.32 on 17 September. She was run aground in Mumbles Bay to prevent her sinking and salved the following month.

————

French destroyers CASSARD and KERSAINT arrived at Gibraltar to exchange convoy escort duty with British destroyers GREYHOUND and GLOWWORM.

————

Steamers ALCANTARA (22,209grt/总吨位) and FRANCONIA (20,75grt/总吨位) of convoy Red 2 collided between Gibraltar and Malta. The convoy proceeded to Malta where FRANCONIA was repaired completing on 14 November, while ALCANTARA after temporary repairs and escorted by destroyer GRIFFIN, was able to proceed on the 13th for Alexandria, arriving on the 16th. Destroyer GRENVILLE continued with steamer EMPRESS OF AUSTRALIA, and destroyer GIPSY, no longer needed to escort ALCANTARA, headed for Alexandria.

————

Convoy HGF.2 departed Gibraltar with liners CIRCASSIA (11,136grt/总吨位) and DERBYSHIRE (11,660grt/总吨位), and arrived at Liverpool on the 9th. Both liners were taken in hand for conversion to armed merchant cruisers.

————

Convoy HG.2 of 13 ships departed Gibraltar escorted by destroyers DOUGLAS and VELOX. Ocean escort was provided by armed merchant cruiser ALAUNIA which sailed with the convoy from the 5th to 13th, when it arrived at Liverpool.

————

German pocket battleship ADMIRAL GRAF SPEE captured steamer NEWTON BEECH (4651grt/总吨位) in the South Atlantic in 09?35S, 06?30. After her cargo and crew were transferred, she was scuttled late on the 8th.

————

German pocket battleship DEUTSCHLAND sank steamer STONEGATE (5044grt/总吨位) east of Bermuda in 31?10N, 54?00 after the crew had been taken off. Later, when American steamer CITY OF FLINT was captured, STONEGATE’s crew was transferred to her.

————

As a result of the sinkings by German pocket battleships, the British Admiralty ordered the organization of further Hunter Groups along the lines of the ARK ROYAL-RENOWN force.

Battleship RAMILLIES in the Mediterranean was ordered to join the North Atlantic Escort Force, departed Gibraltar at 1215, escorted by destroyers WISHART and VORTIGERN, but was recalled at 2233/6th to replace battleship MALAYA, due to leave the Mediterranean. RAMILLIES, WISHART and VORTIGERN arrived back at Gibraltar on the 8th. RAMILLES stayed in the Mediterranean until November when she was transferred to the East Indies, serving with the 3rd Battle Squadron at Aden from November until May 1940.

Heavy cruisers NORFOLK, SUFFOLK and light cruiser EFFINGHAM were detached from the Home Fleet to operate in the Denmark Strait against any raider threat to the convoy routes in the South Atlantic (at that time only GRAF SPEE had been identified. They were there to keep other raiders from going into the South Atlantic or returning to Germany). EFFINGHAM proceeded to Plymouth to repair defects, and left again on the 9th.

Light cruisers COLOMBO and CERES of the 11th Cruiser Squadron, previously attached to the Northern Atlantic Command at Gibraltar and the Channel Force based at Portland respectively, replaced EFFINGHAM in the Northern Patrol. The 12th Cruiser Squadron, Northern Patrol was redesignated the 11th Cruiser Squadron, and COLOMBO became Flagship of Captain R J R Scott AM, Commodore, 2nd Class at Plymouth on the 9th. She arrived on station on the 13th and CERES on the 31st after refitting at Plymouth.

NORFOLK and SUFFOLK proceeded to the Mediterranean, where they served in the 1st Cruiser Squadron until arriving back in England on 11 November. They left Portsmouth on 16 and 18 November respectively, called at the Clyde, and were both on Northern Patrol on the 22nd.