Thursday, 8 January
Destroyers CALPE and CHIDDINGFOLD departed Scapa Flow at 2030 to rendezvous with Rear Admiral Minelayers seven miles north of Cape Wrath at 0045/9th. For minelaying operation SN.15, minelayers SOUTHERN PRINCE, MENESTHEUS, and AGAMEMNON departed Loch Alsh escorted by destroyers WELLS and NEWARK, joined at sea by CALPE and CHIDDINGFOLD.
Minelayer ADVENTURE joined the squadron from Scapa Flow at 0450/9th.
After the operation, the destroyers arrived back at Scapa Flow at 0430/10th. The minelayers, WELLS and NEWARK arrived back at Loch Alsh on the 10th.
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Convoy PQ.8 departed Hvalfjord with Steamers BRITISH PRIDE (7106grt/总吨位), DARTFORD (4093grt/总吨位), HARMATRIS (5395grt/总吨位), SOUTHGATE (4862grt/总吨位), and BRITISH WORKMAN (6994grt/总吨位), Panamanian steamer EL ALMIRANTE (5248grt/总吨位), American steamer LARRANGA (3804grt/总吨位), and Soviet steamer STARY BOLSHEVIK (3974grt/总吨位).
The convoy was escorted until the 17th by minesweepers HARRIER and SPEEDWELL. On the 11th, light cruiser TRINIDAD and destroyers MATABELE and SOMALI. On the 16th, minesweepers HAZARD and SHARPSHOOTER from Murmansk joined and took the convoy to Murmansk, arriving on the 17th.
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Convoy ON.55 departed Liverpool, escorted by destroyer DOUGLAS and corvettes ALISMA, KINGCUP, LOOSESTRIFE, and SUNFLOWER. Corvette LOOSESTRIFE was detached on the 9th. Destroyer LEAMINGTON joined on the 10th. These escorts were detached on the 15th when American destroyers BABBITT, LEARY, MAYO, SCHENCK, and SIMPSON arrived. In low visibility, DOUGLAS and MAYO collided. MAYO escorted the damaged DOUGLAS to Iceland. MAYO and SIMPSON were detached on the 16th, BABBITT and LEARY on the 18th, and SCHENCK on the 19th. The convoy was dispersed on the 26th.
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After minesweeping operations, the 4th Minesweeping Flotilla departed the Faroes. Minesweeper FITZROY proceeded to Scapa Flow, arriving on the 9th. Minesweepers ALBURY, ELGIN, LYDD, ROSS, SALTASH, and SUTTON proceeded direct to Aberdeen.
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Steamer trawler CRAIG-AN-ERAN (202grt/总吨位) was damaged by German bombing off Old Head of Kinsale.
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Supply ship GEBEL KEBIR, engaged on running stores from Tobruk to Derna, was damaged by a near miss from a bombing attack.
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Convoy HX.169 departed Halifax, escorted by destroyer ANNAPOLIS and corvettes OAKVILLE, SASKATOON, and THE PAS. American destroyers ELLIS, JACOB JONES, MADISON, ROPER, and STURTEVANT, and WILKES joined on the 10th. The original escort was detached on the 11th. The Americans were detached on the 18th when relieved by destroyer LEAMINGTON and corvettes ALISMA, KINGCUP, SUNFLOWER, and THYME. The escorts were detached on the 22nd and the convoy arrived at Liverpool on the 23rd.
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American light cruisers BOISE and MARBLEHEAD with destroyers STEWART, POPE, PAUL JONES, BULMER, BARKER, and PARROTT departed Darwin for Surabaya escorting Dutch transport BLOEMFONTEIN. En route, MARBLEHEAD, BULMER and POPE were detached and destroyers PILLSBURY and JOHN D. FORD joined. The convoy arrived at Surabaya on the 12th.
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Convoy BM.10 of steamers CAP ST JACQUES (8009grt/总吨位), TALTHYBIUS (10,254grt/总吨位), ISLAMI (5879grt/总吨位), ROHNA (8602grt/总吨位), EKMA (5108grt/总吨位), TAKLIWA (7936grt/总吨位), JALAKRISHNA (4991grt/总吨位), SUBADAR (5424grt/总吨位), JALAVIHAR (5330grt/总吨位), BRITTANY (4772grt/总吨位), LOCH RANZA (4958grt/总吨位), and JALARATNA (3942grt/总吨位) departed Bombay, carrying troops, motor transport, and stores, escorted by light cruiser CALEDON.
On the 13th, light cruisers ENTERPRISE and GLASGOW relieved light cruiser CALEDON which proceeded to Colombo.
Sloop SUTLEJ joined on the 14th. On the 18th heavy cruiser EXETER and light cruiser DANAE joined, relieving light cruiser GLASGOW which returned to Colombo. Destroyers ELECTRA and STRONGHOLD and sloop YARRA joined on the 20th. Dutch cruiser TROMP and Dutch destroyers BANCKERT and PIET HEIN joined, relieving destroyers ELECTRA and STRONGHOLD. After escorting the convoy between the Sunda Strait and Banka Strait, the Dutch ships were detached on the 24th, as was heavy cruiser EXETER.
Steamers YEUN SANG (3229grt/总吨位) and HOSANG (5698grt/总吨位) of convoy SS 1 and American COLINGSWORTH (5101grt/总吨位) and Dutch ROCHUSSEN (2333grt/总吨位) joined the convoy at sea on the 22nd.
The convoy arrived at Singapore on the 25th
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Light cruiser GLASGOW departed Addu Atoll for Colombo, arriving on the 9th.
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Indian sloop SUTLEJ departed Rangoon for Trincomalee after convoy MA 1 escort.
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Japanese submarine I.56 sank Dutch steamer VAN REES (3000grt/总吨位) 80 miles south of Tjilapjap and Dutch steamer VAN RIEBEECK (2263grt/总吨位) in 8-11S, 108-47E.