Thursday, 4 January

Armed merchant cruisers WORCESTERSHIRE and ANDANIA arrived in the Clyde after Northern Patrol. ————

Battleship NELSON departed Loch Ewe. Old German steamer ILSENSTEIN sailed from Loch Ewe ahead of her to detonate any remaining mines. Escorted by destroyers FAULKNOR, FOXHOUND and IMPULSIVE, NELSON proceeded to Portsmouth, arriving on the 7th for repairs which began on the 14th. FAULKNOR, FOXHOUND and IMPULSIVE were ordered to remain at Portsmouth for two days, then return to the Clyde. Destroyers ISIS, FAME and FORESIGHT proceeded independently at the same time to Devonport and returned to the Clyde with FAULKNOR, FOXHOUND, and IMPULSIVE. NELSON was repairing until early Juneat Portsmouth, arrived at Greenock on 8 June for refitting and departed on the 29th to rejoin the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow. ————

Anti-aircraft cruisers CAIRO and CALCUTTA completed their anti-aircraft guard duty at Loch Ewe and departed, arriving at Sheerness on the 6th. ————

Battleship RODNEY, battlecruiser REPULSE and destroyers INGLEFIELD, IMOGEN, ICARUS, MOHAWK, BEDOUIN, KINGSTON, FIREDRAKE and MATABELE departed Greenock on patrol. Destroyer FEARLESS departed Scapa Flow to relieve MOHAWK, which was sent to Portsmouth for repairs. Destroyers FORESIGHT and SOMALI also departed Greenock on the 4th for repairs at Plymouth and Middlesbrough respectively. After the patrol, MATABELE went to Plymouth for refitting. ————

Light cruiser AURORA departed the Clyde after refitting, and arrived at Scapa Flow on the 5th. ————

Light cruiser ENTERPRISE departed Portsmouth, and arrived at Halifax on the 10th. ————

Convoy FN.63 departed Southend, escorted by sloops BITTERN and FLEETWOOD. Southeast of Shipwash Light Vessel in 51-57N, 01-48. 7E, BITTERN attacked a submarine contact. The convoy arrived in the Tyne on the 5th. ————

Convoy FS.64 departed Rosyth with tankers BRITISH UNION and BRITISH CONSOL for the Tyne, escorted by destroyer VIVIEN and sloop PELICAN. Sloop BITTERN replaced VIVIEN on the 5th, and the convoy arrived at Southend on the 6th. ————

Tug SWARTHY sank at Portsmouth, but was later salved. Minesweeper SALTBURN alongside was damaged at the time. ————

Submarine THISTLE arrived at Rosyth after patrol. ————

Submarine H.34 departed Dundee for Rosyth escorted by minesweeping trawler CRANEFLY (312grt/总吨位). ————

Sloop EGRET was in a collision with steamer SEA VALOUR (1950grt/总吨位) at 0808/4th. The steamer only received minor damage, while EGRET抯 was repaired at Cardiff in three weeks. ————

Convoy OA.65 departed Southend escorted by destroyer BROKE from the 4th to 6th. Destroyer AMAZON escorted the convoy from the 5th to 6th, when it dispersed. ————

Convoy OB.66 departed Liverpool escorted by destroyers VANOC and VOLUNTEER, and after it dispersed, the two destroyers joined HG.13 on the 6th. ————

Convoy HXF.15 departed Halifax at 0900 escorted by Canadian destroyers FRASER and RESTIGOUCHE, which detached on the 6th. Ocean escort was armed merchant cruiser LETITIA, which detached on the 13th. The convoy was joined in Home Waters by destroyer WHITEHALL from the 12th to 15th, when it arrived at Liverpool. ————

Aircraft carrier ARK ROYAL arrived at Dakar and battlecruiser RENOWN at Freetown for refuelling. Departing on the 7th, ARK ROYAL joined RENOWN off Sierra Leone on the 8th after she had left earlier that day with destroyers HERO and HASTY. They searched unsuccessfully for German supply ship ALTMARK in the South Atlantic until arriving at Freetown on the 19th. Destroyer DAINTY departed Gibraltar for Freetown and briefly joined RENOWN for transfer of mail before arriving on the 10th at Freetown for escort duties. ————

German steamer QUITO (1230grt/总吨位) departed Guayaquil, Ecuador, and arrived at Coquimbo, Chile on the 12th. The only German ship remaining at Guayaquil was steamer CERIGO (1120grt/总吨位) which was later scuttled on 1 April 1941 and salved as 29 DE MAYO for Ecuadorian use.