Thursday, 8 May

Vice Admiral . J. Whitworth CB, DSO, struck his flag of Vice Admiral Battle Cruiser Squadron on battlecruiser HOOD.

Vice Admiral L. E. Holland CB, formerly Vice Admiral 18th Cruiser Squadron, was named to replace him and hoisted his flag on HOOD on the 12th.

Captain C. M. Blackman DSO, Captain of the EDINBURGH was named a Commodore Second Class to temporarily command the 18th Cruiser Squadron.

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Destroyers TARTAR, PUNJABI, and MASHONA at 1300 and INGLEFIELD, ECHO, and ANTELOPE at 1630 departed Scapa Flow to hunt for a reported by British aircraft six miles 110° from Sule Skerry.

The destroyers INTREPID and IMPULSIVE, returning from escort of the 1st Minelaying Squadron in SN.9A, joined the submarine hunt.

The search was called off at 0800/9th and the destroyers arrived at Scapa Flow at 0840.

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Convoy OB.320 departed Liverpool, escorted by corvettes GLAIOLUS and VERONICA and anti-submarine trawlers ST KENAN and ST ZENO. Destroyers LEAMINGTON and ROXBOROUGH and corvette ABELIA joined on the 9th. Corvette LARKSPUR joined on the 13th. On the 13th, destroyers LEAMINGTON and ROXBOROUGH, corvettes ABELIA and VERONICA, and the trawlers were detached. The remainder of the escort was detached on the 14th when the convoy was dispersed.

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In a heavy German bombing raid on the Clyde caused disruption to the building schedule of destroyer PAKENHAM and monitor ROBERTS.

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Anti-submarine yacht VIVA II (521grt, A/Captain M. A. Blomfield, OBE Rtd) was sunk by German bombing thirteen miles west of Trevose Head.

Blomfield, T/Lt (E) A. McDougall RNVR, T/Sub Lt H. J. Nicklin RNVR, Lt G. H. Williams RNR Rtd, and eighteen ratings were lost.

T/Sub Lt (E) H. C. Pollard RNVR, and Sub Lt J. A. Tuffin RNVR, were wounded on the yacht.

Destroyer CLEVELAND rescued ten survivors from the yacht.

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Minesweeping trawler SILICIA (250grt, T/A/Lt Cdr F. A. Matson RNR) was mined 190° from Albert Dock entrance, Hull.

Seven men were killed and three were wounded. The survivors were rescued by ML.211.

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Naval drifter THISTLE V (79grt, P/T/Skipper C. Sanson RNR) was lost by mining off Lowestoft, in 52-28N, 1-47E.

Sanson, T/Sub Lt T. S. Wedderburn-Ogilvy RNVR, and eight ratings were lost on the drifter. There was only one survivor.

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British smack THISTLE (16grt/总吨位) was sunk on a mine in 51-45N, 1-09E.

There were no casualties on the smack.

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Naval drifter UBERTY (93grt, T/Skipper R. H. Alexander RNR) was sunk by German bombing at Lowestoft.

Alexander and twelve ratings were lost on the drifter.

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Destroyers WHADDON and VIVACIOUS, both under repair in the Tyne, were damaged by German bombing.

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Patrol sloop PUFFIN, en route from Humber to Flamborough, was damaged by the explosion of two practice depth charges.

The damage was repaired in two days.

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U.97 sank British steamer RAMILLIES (4553grt/总吨位) in 48-05N, 32-26.

Twenty six crew and three gunners were lost. Eleven crew and one gunner were rescued.

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In German air raids on Liverpool, British steamer MARTON (4969grt/总吨位), British steam barge ROSE (143grt/总吨位), British steamer TRENTINO (3079grt/总吨位), British steam barge BURMAH (127grt/总吨位) at Canada Dock were sunk at Liverpool.

No crew on steamer MARTON when bombed. The entire crew of steamer TRENTINO was rescued.

British steamer ROYAL DIAFFODIL II (591grt/总吨位), Finnish steamer ANNENBERG (2544grt/总吨位), Belgian steamer LEOPOLD II (2902grt/总吨位), Norwegian steamer STROMBOLI (1376grt/总吨位), and British crane HERCULES (652grt/总吨位) were damaged by German bombing at Liverpool.

The crane was sunk, but was salved and repaired.

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In German air raids on Alexandra Dock, Hull, British sailing barges DELITE (89grt/总吨位), LADORE (91grt/总吨位), barge WHITAKERS No. II (48grt/总吨位), and lighter WELCOME HOME (38grt/总吨位) were sunk.

There were no casualties on the four ships.

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Tug IRISHMAN (99grt/总吨位) and dredger F. . No. 20 (83grt/总吨位) blew up off Sword Sands in Langston Harbour, Portsmouth.

There were five killed on the tug and three lost on the dredger.

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British ketch WELCOME HOME (38grt/总吨位) was sunk by German bombing at Hull.

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Submarine TRUANT, which was proceeding from Malta to Gibraltar intercepted French steamer GALLIUM (1775grt/总吨位), en route from Bone to Sete, and escorted her towards Gibraltar.

On the 9th, Norwegian steamer BAALBECK (2160grt/总吨位) reported that the French steamer was proceeding escorted by a Submarine east of Majorca.

French destroyer SIMOUN departed Oran on the 9th to intercept. On the 10th, French torpedo boat LA BAYONNAISE and submarines DIANE, EURYDICE, THETIS, and ANTIOPE departed Oran.

On the 11th, the steamer was recaptured by the French ships. Steamer GALLIUM arrived at Marseilles on the 14th.

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Battlecruiser REPULSE, aircraft carrier ARGUS, and troopships EMPRESS OF JAPAN and MONARCH OF BERMUDA departed Gibraltar for the UK, arriving on the 15th.

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Submarine CACHALOT arrived at Malta with stores from Alexandria.

The submarine departed on the 16th and arrived back at Alexandria on the 22nd.

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Spanish fishing vessel LUIS PUEBLA (106grt/总吨位) was sunk on a mine during the night of 8/9 May 160 miles northeast of Gijon.

Nine crew of a crew of twelve were lost.

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German raider PINGUIN was sunk at 1715 by Heavy cruiser CORNWALL north of the Seychilles.

Cruiser CORNWALL was damaged by a hit in her stern.

Lt (E) G. C. Winslade was the only British fatal casualty. Three ratings were wounded.

The cruiser rescued three officers, fifty seven ratings, and twenty two prisoners, ten from CLAN BUCHANAN, one from EMPIRE LIGHT, and eleven from BRITISH EMPEROR.

Eighteen officers, 323 ratings, and 200 prisoners, including ninety seven from CLAN BUCHANAN, were lost on the German ship.

German cruiser PINGUIN had sunk 17 ships, plus 11 whalers captured, for a total of 136,551 tons.

Cruiser CORNWALL proceeded to Durban for repair completing 10 June.

The survivors from cruiser PINGUIN departed the Seychilles on the 17th in steamer KHANDALLA and arrived at Mombasa on the 20th.