Saturday, 11 November

On Northern Patrol were two cruisers were between the Orkneys and the Faroes, three cruisers and one AMC between the Faroes and Iceland, and one cruiser and two AMCs in the Denmark Strait. Light cruiser GLASGOW was en route to patrol in the Denmark Strait while light cruiser DIOMEDE was escorting Swedish steamer DROTTNINGHOLM (11, 055grt/总吨位), which had been intercepted in the Faroes-Iceland patrol, towards Kirkwall. (In the Admiralty War Diary, the steamer is identified as above. In the Rosyth War Diary, she is identified as Danish steamer MARTIN GOLDSCHMIDT, 2095grt/总吨位). DIOMEDE requested a trawler to take over, and armed boarding vessels NORTHERN ISLE and NORTHERN FOAM were dispatched. DIOMEDE lost track of the steamer before they arrived, but armed merchant cruiser CALIFORNIA located her late on the 11th. The trawlers could not make the rendezvous due to bad weather.

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Armed merchant cruisers AURANIA and CHITRAL arrived in the Clyde after Northern Patrol duties.

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Destroyer MAORI departed Scapa Flow to rendezvous with submarines TRIUMPH and TRIDENT 10 miles due north of the Butt of Lewis for escort. They arrived at Rosyth on the 12th.

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Destroyer ZULU searched for a submarine reported NW of Holbourn Head in 58-37N, 3-32.

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Convoy FN.35 departed Southend, escorted by destroyer WOOLSTON and sloops PELICAN and HASTINGS. Destroyers JUNO and JUPITER were at sea as a fighting force for this convoy and for FS.35. Seven steamers became detached from FN.35 and Polish destroyers GROM and BURZA escorted them into the Humber. GROM afterwards returned to Harwich. The convoy arrived at Methil on the 13th, WOOLSTON and PELICAN at Rosyth mid-day, and HASTINGS which had lost touch, two hours later.

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Convoy FS.35 departed Methil, escorted by destroyers WALLACE, WHITLEY and sloops STORK and STORK which attacked a submarine contact 9.9 miles off St Abbs Head. The convoy arrived at Southend on the 13th.

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Trawler SOUTHWARD HO (204grt/总吨位) reported a submarine five miles SE of the Tyne. Anti-submarine trawlers OLVINA (425grt/总吨位) and CAPE COMORIN (504grt/总吨位) carried out a search and during the night of the 11th/12th, CAPE COMORIN ran aground near the Tyne. She was refloated and repaired.

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Destroyers KEITH and BOADICEA were on East Coast patrol. BOADICEA was detached to Harwich to refuel and KEITH was relieved by Polish destroyers BURZA and GROM on the 11th.

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Destroyers IMOGEN, ICARUS and IMPULSIVE departed Scapa Flow on anti-submarine patrol and returned the next day.

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The Humber Force, consisting of 2nd Cruiser Squadron, the 7th Destroyer Flotilla, and destroyers MASHONA, BEDOUIN, TARTAR, GURKHA of the 4th Flotilla, were placed under direct Admiralty control to counter a possible sea invasion of Holland thought to be due. Light cruisers GLASGOW, SOUTHAMPTON, AURORA, BELFAST, with MASHONA, TARTAR and GURKHA departed Rosyth on the 11th to join the Humber Force at Immingham. BEDOUIN was delayed three hours and arrived later. On the 12th, MASHONA, BEDOUIN and TARTAR were relieved by destroyers AFRIDI, MAORI and ZULU, with MASHONA departing Rosyth on the 14th, escorting submarine H.34 and tanker WAR PINDARI to Scapa Flow and Loch Ewe, respectively. BEDOUIN proceeded to Scapa Flow, while TARTAR escorted steamer MARYLYN (4555grt/总吨位), departing Aberdeen on the 14th for Scapa Flow.

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Patrol sloops KINGFISHER and WIDGEON departed Belfast and arrived in the Clyde later the same day.

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Light cruiser EMERALD departed Portsmouth with another shipment of gold for Canada, called at Plymouth on the 12th, and arrived at Halifax on the 21st.

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Destroyer WIVERN arrived at Chatham after boiler cleaning at Plymouth.

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Aircraft carrier ARGUS and destroyer STURDY departed Devonport for Toulon where the carrier could conduct training exercises for new pilots. Destroyer GALLANT departed Portsmouth on the 13th and joined the ships. STURDY was to carry on and join the local defence destroyer flotilla on the China Station, but was retained in the Mediterranean as attendant destroyer for ARGUS. The three ships arrived at Gibraltar on the 17th with GALLANT leaving on the 17th and reaching Plymouth on the 21st.

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Convoys OA.32G, which had departed the Thames on the 8th, and OB.32G, which had departed Liverpool, merged on the 11th as OG.6 with 43 ships. They were escorted by destroyers MACKAY, VIMY, WHIRLWIND, WREN and WAKEFUL from the 8th to 11th, and French destroyers TIGRE and PANTHèRE from the 11th to 16th, when the convoy arrived at Gibraltar. Anti-submarine trawlers SPANIARD (455grt/总吨位), TURCOMAN (455grt/总吨位) and KELT (455grt/总吨位) were with the convoy from the 11th to 16th.

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Heavy cruisers SUSSEX and SHROPSHIRE departed Simonstown and Capetown respectively, to sweep towards St Helena. While departing, SUSSEX was in a minor collision with tanker ATHELPRINCE (8782grt/总吨位) at Simonstown. The cruisers arrived back on the 23rd.

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Battleship RAMILLIES and destroyer DELIGHT departed Port Said to relieve battleship MALAYA and destroyer DARING off Aden.

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Light cruiser PENELOPE departed Alexandria on patrol, and arrived at Malta on the 25th.

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The 1st Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla left Malta on the 11th with base ship VULCAN (trawler, 623grt/总吨位) for Bizerte and Ajaccio, en route to Portsmouth. The Flotilla consisted of the same units it had at the beginning of the war. Destroyer DAINTY followed the flotilla to escort.

MTB.3 and MTB.4 broke down and returned to Malta, were freighted in depot ship WOOLWICH, which departed Malta on the 21st, and later arrived at Portsmouth. DAINTY and seven MTBs reached Bizerte on the 15th and MTB.14, MTB.15, MTB.16, MTB.18 were sent on to Ajaccio.

On the 16th in heavy weather off Sardinia, MTB.6 broke down and was taken in tow by DAINTY. However, she was lost when the ring of the towing spar fractured and DAINTY rammed her. MTB.1 and MTB.19 remained with DAINTY and arrived at Ajaccio before noon on the 19th, after which DAINTY returned to Malta.

Liner FRANCONIA, carrying MTB.2, MTB.5, MTB.17, departed Malta on the 16th escorted by destroyer DUCHESS. The liner was damaged by heavy seas and forced to heave to, but was able to reach Marseilles on the 19th. On the 24th, the flotilla departed Marseilles, travelled up the Rhone River, and was then towed through the canals to the Seine. In the Seine, once again under their own power, they sailed through Paris and out to sea finally arriving at Portsmouth on 6 December. After refitting, the Flotilla was based at Felixstowe and became operational in January 1940.

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Light cruiser NEPTUNE departed Freetown on patrol, met depot ship MAIDSTONE, and returned on the 16th to join aircraft carrier ARK ROYAL.

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French submarine SIDI FERRUCH arrived at Port of Spain after patrol in the Caribbean.

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A group of German steamers escaped from Vigo to attempt to return to Germany.

CORDOBA (4611grt/总吨位) passed through the Denmark Strait on the 22nd, sighted an armed merchant cruiser but was not seen and arrived at Narvik on the 28th.

LAHNECK (1663grt/总吨位) successfully passed through the Denmark Strait and arrived at Hamburg on 16 December.

LIVADIA (3094grt/总吨位) passed through the Iceland-Faroes passage on the 16th, arrived in Honningsvaag on the 27th, and reached Hamburg on 9 December.

LUDOLF OLDENDORFF (1953grt/总吨位) passing the Iceland-Faroes passage on the 24th was sighted and stopped by light cruiser SHEFFIELD. However, she was able to convince SHEFFIELD she was Danish steamer EDITH and in the confusion following the sinking of the RAWALPINDI, was not questioned further and arrived at Haugesand on 6 December.

PALOS (997grt/总吨位) passed through the Denmark Strait on the 23rd, and arrived at Hamburg on the 29th.

SEBU (1894grt/总吨位) passed through the Denmark Strait on the 24th, and arrived at Hamburg on 18 December.

TANGER (1742grt/总吨位) passed the Iceland-Faroes Passage on the 20th, and arrived at Hamburg on 9 December.

Finally, the last ship of the group, KONSUL HENDRICK FISSER (4458grt/总吨位) was captured attempting to pass the Iceland-Faroes Passage on the 23rd.