Gulf of Aden anti piracy convoy schedules June and JJuly 2015

Government of Japan convoy schedule for June and July 2015. To apply for JMSDF escort, visit http://www.mlit.go.jp/en/maritime/maritime_fr2_000000.html, please contact directly the Anti-Piracy Contact and Coordination Office, Maritime Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MILT), Japan: Tel: +81-3-5253-8932 Fax: +81-3-5253-1643 Email: INFO-PIRACY@mlit.go.jp.

Korean Navy convoy schedule for June and July 2015. All merchant vessels wishing to join the convoy group must submit their application forms directly to the ROK naval warship carrying out the mission. The ROK MTG can be reached directly at INMARSAT: 00-870-773-110-374, Email: cheonghaeetg@navy.mil.kr.

Chinese Navy convoy schedule for June and July 2015. For further information, please email planavy@navy.mil.cn, or call Tel: 86 10 652 92218/96, Fax: 86 10 652 92245.

Indian Navy convoy escort schedule for June and July 2015. To register, email dgcommcentre-dgs@nic.in or visit www.dgshipping.com. Telephone numbers for contact are: 91-22-22614646 or fax at 91-22-22613636.

Russian Navy convoy escort schedule for June and July 2015. For further information email smb@msecurity.ru, isps@msecurity.ru or fax +7 (499) 642-83-29.

“We shall fight them on the beaches.” – Winston Churchill, 4 June 1940

On 4th June 1940, Winston Churchill delivered one of his most famous speeches in the House of Commons. Acknowledging the military disaster that had befallen the British and French armies in Belgium and Northern France, the sacrifice of the rearguard at Boulogne and Calais, and the evacuation over over 300,000 men from Dunkirk, Churchill vowed that Britain would fight on.

Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.

The Shortening of Sail After the Battle of Lowestoft, 3 June 1665

J D Davies - Historian and Author

To mark the 350th anniversary of the battle, I’ve been tweeting the key events at the appropriate times during the day. However, perhaps the most controversial aspect of the battle doesn’t lend itself readily to Twitter. After destroying the Dutch flagship during the day’s action – a brief description of which can be found here – the Duke of York’s fleet began to pursue the Dutch, who were in considerable confusion and lacked a proper command structure. During the night of 3-4 June, though, the fleet was ordered to shorten sail. Why this happened has always been something of a mystery. Here’s what I wrote in Pepys’s Navy; I believe I’m right in saying that I was the first historian to find and cite Brouncker’s justification of his actions. After the references, I’ve added my fictional account from The Blast That Tears The Skies, as witnessed by the future admiral…

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French soldiers & sailors during the evacuation of France, June 1940

French troops and sailors on the deck of a destroyer during the evacuation from France, June 1940. IWM HU 104603.

British and French troops evacuated from Dunkirk, 4 June 1940

Evacuated from beaches: 622

Evacuated Dunkirk harbour: 25,553

Daily total: 26,175

Accumulated total: 338,226

Source: Thompson, Julian. Dunkirk: Retreat to Victory. New York: Arcade, 2011.

British troops evacuated from Norway arriving at Greenock, Scotland, June 1940

British troops evacuated from Norway arriving at Greenock, Scotland, June 1940. © IWM (N 383)

“Pluto” ship’s dog of Tribal-class destroyer HMS Cossack

Onboard Royal Navy Tribal-class destroyer HMS Cossack, 1940. Petty Officer Scott with “Pluto”, the destroyer’s mascot. Pluto has been in all the ship’s battles including Narvik and Altmark episode.© IWM (A 1597)

Men of the British Expeditionary Force arrive in London after evacuation from Dunkirk 1940

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BBC archive: Bernard Stubbs reports on troops returning from Dunkirk (1940)

“There was every kind of ship I that saw coming in this morning, and every one of them was crammed full of tired battle-stained and  blood-stained British soldiers.”

Reporting from Dover, Bernard Stubbs describes the scene as the ships return from Dunkirk and the troops disembark. He then follows the soldiers onto trains as they head home and also boards a ship to see what the conditions were like. Stubbs notes that, regardless of the strife, the port was well organised and the troops in good spirits.

Recorded: 31 May 1940

Duration: 4 minutes, 23 seconds

Destruction of oil stores at Dunkirk and blocking the harbour

Between 3-4 June 1940, British demolition parties destroyed military material at Dunkirk to deny its use by the enemy. This material included the port’s oil storage tanks. Dunkerque was the third-largest port in France and it was imperative that its facilities and its stores were either disabled or destroyed.

In addition to the demolitions on shore, the Royal Navy scuttled blockships in Dunkirk’s harbour to render it unusable by the Germans. These blockships were: SS Westcove (sunk 3 June), SS Holland (3 June), HMS Env. Nissan (3 June), SS Gurko (4 June), and SS Pacifico (4 June).

Ships off the beaches at Dunkirk, c.3 June 1940. Smoke billows from burning oil storage tanks. © IWM (C 1720)

Aerial view of burning oil tanks at Dunkirk, June 1940. © IWM (C 1723)

A Hudson of RAF Coastal Command patrols over Dunkirk, as oil storage tanks burn fiercely in the background, c. 3 June 1940. © IWM (C 1717)