“On this day in history” HMSM Saga placed in commision, 1945

“On this day in history” 14 June 1945, Royal Navy S-class submarine HMSM Saga (P257) placed in commission.

HMSM Saga underway. (IWM FL18545)

Saga was built at Cammell Laird, Birkenhead and launched in March 1945. She left the builder’s yard in June, and commissioned at Holy Loch on 14 June 1945, Lt P. Thirsk, RNR commanding.

Saga‘s Royal Navy service was short. She was still undergoing working up trails at Scapa Flow and Holy Loch when the war with Japan ended. On 10 February 1946, Saga collided with the fishing vessel Girl Lena in the English Channel, causing the trawler to sink.

In 1948, Saga was sold to Portugal and renamed NRP Nautilo. She continued to serve in the Marinha de Guerra Portuguesa until 1969.

 

HMS Mastiff, 1914-1921

HMS Mastiff was a Thornycroft M or Mastif-class destroyer commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1914. Mastiff served throughout the First World War.

HMS Mastiff, January 1919.

Service History

In December 1914, Mastiff was one of three M-class (Mastiff, Manly, and Minos) assigned to the First Destroyer Flotilla. In January 1915, she transferred to the Third Destroyer Flotilla. In March 1915, she joined the Tenth Destroyer Flotilla, which formed part of the Harwich Striking Force.

The Tenth Destroyer Flotilla comprised the Arethusa-class light cruiser HMS Aurora (flagship), the old Eclipse-class cruiser HMS Dido (depot ship), and the M-class destroyers Manly, Mastiff, Meteor, Milne, Minos, Moorsoom, Morris, Murray, and Myngs.

In January 1916, Mastiff was assigned to temporary duty with the Eleventh Submarine Flotilla supporting the Grand Fleet, before returning to service with the Tenth Destroyer Flotilla at Harwich. Mastiff did not take part in the Battle of Jutland.

In April 1917, Mastiff transferred to Sixth Destroyer Flotilla with her sister ships Moorsom and Myngs. The Sixth Destroyer Flotilla was assigned to the Dover Patrol. The Dover Patrol was based at Dover in England and Dunkirk in France. The patrol was responsible for antisubmarine operations in the English Channel and for the escort of Allied shipping to-and-from the Channel ports.

In July 1918, the Sixth Destroyer Flotilla comprised the old protected cruiser HMS Arrogant (depot and flagship), the flotilla leaders Botha, Broke, Faulknor, Swift, Velox, Warwick, and Whirlwind, and the destroyers Afridi, Amazon, Cossack, Crusader, Gipsy, Kangaroo, Leven, Manly, Mansfield, Mastiff, Matchless, Melpomene, Mentor, Meteor, Milne, Miranda, Moorsom, Morris, Murray, Myngs, Nugent, Panther, Phoebe, Racehorse, Saracen, Senator, Sikh, Syren, Termagant, Trident, Viking, Violet, and Zubian.

HMS Mastiff was paid off at the end of the war and was sold for scrap in 1921 after six-and-a-half years of service.

HMS Mastiff, November 1919.

HMS Mastiff Construction Details
Thornycroft M or Mastif-class destroyer.
Built by J. I. Thornycroft, Woolston, Hants.
Laid down 10th July 1913.
Launched 5th September 1914.
Completed 12th November 1914.
Sold for breaking up 9th May 1921.

HMS Mastiff Specifications
Displacement: 985-1070t
Length: 274ft o/a
Beam: 27ft 9in
Draught: 10ft 6in
Machinery: Parsons steam turbines, 26,000 SHP, 2 shaft
Speed: 35kn
Complement: 78 officers and ratings
Armament: 3 QF 4-inch Mk IV, 1 QF 2-pounder Mk II, 2 21-inch torpedo tubes

Royal Navy battleship HMS Formidable sunk by German U-boat on 1 January 1915

HMS Formidable named and launched at Portsmouth 1898. The battleship served in the Royal Navy until 1915 when she was torpedoed and sunk by the German U-boat U.24 in the English Channel. Print in collection of National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.

Casualty and survivor lists courtesy of the incomparable naval-history.net.

OTDIH 23 October 1943

70-years ago today…

Großadmiral Karl Dönitz has 95 U-boats at sea. The Battle of the Atlantic was not over.

In the South Atlantic:

U-170, a Type IXC U-boat, KptLt Günther Pfeffer commanding, on its 2nd war patrol, torpedoed and sunk the unescorted Brazilian steam merchant Campos (4,663 GRT) 5-miles south of Alcatrazes Island, Brazil. The crew of 57 and 6 passengers took to the ship’s lifeboats, tragically two of which were struck by the ship’s screw, throwing the occupants to the water. 10 crew members and 2 passengers were lost.

SS Campos.

In the Black Sea:

U-23, a Type IIB U-boat, KptLt Rolf-Birger Wahlen commanding, on its 12th war patrol, torpedoed and sunk the Soviet motor merchant Tanais (372 GRT) anchored at Poti, Georgian SSR. The U-Boat was operating in the Black Sea with the 30th U-Boat Flotilla… having been transported overland to Konstanza, Rumania in 1942.

Type IIB coastal U-boat.

Setting a wartime record:

U-196, a Type IXD U-boat, KKpt Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat commanding, returned to Bordeaux, France… thus completing the longest patrol by any submarine during the Second World War: 256-days from 13 March to 23 October 1943.

KKpt Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat.

Attacked in the Atlantic:

U-190, a Type IXC U-boat, KptLt Max Wintermeyer commanding, on her 3rd war patrol, was surfaced ahead of convoy GUS-18 when attacked by the US Navy Gleaves-class destroyer USS Turner (DD-648). The Turner attacked the surfaced U-boat with her Mk 12 5-inch/38-caliber guns. When the U-190 submerged, the Turner attacked with depth charges… shock waves from which disabled the destroyer’s radar and sound gear. By the time Turner was able to resume her search, U-190 had escaped.

USS Turner (DD-648).

Royal Navy suffers double disaster during Operation Tunnel:

During Operation Tunnel, HMS Charybdis, a Dido-class cruiser commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1941, Captain George Arthur Wallis Voelcker, RN commanding, was sunk off north coast of Brittany, France in position 48º59’N, 03º39’W by 2 torpedoes from the German Elbing-class torpedo boats T-23 and T-27 (not MTBs, but torpedo-armed destroyers). 464 men died (including the commanding officer) and 107 survived.

HMS Charybdis.

During the same action, HMS Limbourne (L57), a Hunt-class escort destroyer, Cdr Walter John Phipps, RN commanding, was heavily damaged by German torpedo boats T-22 and T-24. Damaged beyond repair, Limbourne was sunk by gunfire from HMS Rocket (H92) and HMS Talybont (L18).

HMS Limbourne.