Convoy HG 73
Convoy HG 73 was a trade convoy of merchant ships during the Second World War. It was the 73rd of the numbered HG convoys Homeward bound to the British Isles from Gibraltar. The convoy departed Gibraltar on 17 September 1941Hague, pp. 177–178 and was found on 18 September and was attacked over the next ten days. Nine ships were sunk from the convoy before the submarines exhausted their torpedo inventory on 28 September.Rohwer & Hummelchen, p. 86 Surviving ships reached Liverpool on 1 October. Forces involved HG 73 comprised 25 ships homeward bound from Gibraltar, many in ballast, or carrying trade goods. The convoy commodore was Rear admiral. K.E.L Creighton in the cargo liner ''Avoceta'' and the convoy was protected by a Western Approaches Command escort group. This consisted of the sloop HMS ''Fowey'' and eight corvettes, reinforced by the auxiliary anti-aircraft cruiser/Fighter catapult ship HMS ''Springbank''. The convoy escort was augmented during the first few da ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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HMS Fowey (L15)
HMS ''Fowey'' was a ''Shoreham''-class sloop of the Royal Navy. She served during the Second World War. Construction and commissioning ''Fowey'' was ordered on 4 December 1929, under the 1929 Programme. She was laid down at Devonport Dockyard on 24 March 1930, and was launched on 4 November that year by a Mrs Treffery. She was commissioned on 11 September 1931 and was initially manned by the Devonport Port Division. She was then assigned to the Persian Gulf and served there until August 1939. She then spent a period under repair at Bombay, before being manned by the Portsmouth Port Division. She was adopted by the civil community of Wincanton, Somerset in March 1942, following a successful Warship Week National Savings campaign. Wartime career Early duties and successes ''Fowey'' was transferred to serve in the Mediterranean on 9 September after her repairs had been completed. By October she was engaged on contraband patrols, before being transferred to Freetown to join ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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German Submarine U-371
German submarine ''U-371'' was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine'' during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 17 November 1939 in Kiel, launched on 27 January 1941, and commissioned on 15 March under the command of ''Oberleutnant zur See'' Heinrich Driver. After training, ''U-371'' was ready for front-line service with the 1st U-boat Flotilla from 1 July 1941. Operating mostly in the Mediterranean Sea, in 19 patrols between June 1941 and May 1944 the U-boat sank 11 ships totalling 51,946 GRT and 2,286 tons, including the American destroyer , and damaged six more totalling 28,072 GRT and 2,500 tons. ''U-371'' was sunk at 04:09 local time on 4 May 1944 in the Mediterranean north of Constantine, in position by a force of American, French and British destroyers. Three men were killed, with 49 survivors. Design German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. ''U-371'' had a displacement of when at the surface and while ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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German Submarine U-205
German submarine ''U-205'' was a Type VIIC U-boat of the ''Kriegsmarine'' during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 19 June 1940 by the Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft yard at Kiel as yard number 634; launched on 20 March 1941; and commissioned on 3 May 1941 under the command of Franz-Georg Reschke. She was sunk on 17 February 1943 by at . Design German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. ''U-205'' had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. She had a total length of , a pressure hull length of , a beam of , a height of , and a draught of . The submarine was powered by two Germaniawerft F46 four-stroke, six-cylinder supercharged diesel engines producing a total of for use while surfaced, two AEG GU 460/8–27 double-acting electric motors producing a total of for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to . The submarine had a maximum ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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German Submarine U-203
German submarine ''U-203'' was a German Type VIIC submarine U-boat built for Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine'' for service during World War II. Built as yard number 632 of Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft AG in Kiel, she was laid down on 28 March 1940, launched on 4 January 1941 and commissioned on 18 February under ''Kapitänleutnant'' Rolf Mützelburg. ''U-203'' carried out eleven patrols with the first flotilla and is credited with sinking 21 ships for and damaging a further three for . She was a member of eleven wolfpacks. She was sunk by British carrier-borne aircraft and a British warship southeast of Greenland on 25 April 1943. Design German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. ''U-203'' had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. She had a total length of , a pressure hull length of , a beam of , a height of , and a draught of . The submarine was powered by two Germaniawerft F46 four-stroke, six-cylinder super ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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German Submarine U-201
German submarine ''U-201'' was a Type VIIC U-boat of the ''Kriegsmarine'' in World War II. The submarine was laid down on 20 January 1940 by Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft yard at Kiel as yard number 630, launched on 7 December 1940, and commissioned on 25 January 1941 under the command of ''Kapitänleutnant'' Adalbert Schnee. Attached to the 1st U-boat Flotilla, she made nine successful patrols in the North Atlantic, the last two under the command of ''Oberleutnant zur See'' Günther Rosenberg. She was a member of eight wolfpacks. She was sunk on 17 February 1943 in the North Atlantic, by depth charges from a British warship. All 49 hands were lost. Design German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. ''U-201'' had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. She had a total length of , a pressure hull length of , a beam of , a height of , and a draught of . The submarine was powered by two Germaniawerft F46 four-stroke, s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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German Submarine U-124 (1940)
German submarine ''U-124'' (nickname "Edelweissboot") was a Type IXB U-boat of Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine'' during World War II. She operated in the Atlantic as part of the 2nd U-boat flotilla, both west of Scotland and east of the eastern US coast. She was also present off northern South America. She was sunk with all hands west of Portugal on 2 April 1943. Service history ''U-124'' was laid down on 11 August 1939 at the DeSchiMAG AG Weser yard in Bremen as yard number 956. She was launched on 9 March 1940 and commissioned on 11 June, with ''Kapitänleutnant'' Georg-Wilhelm Schulz in command. The core of the crew came from Schulz's previous command, U-64, which had been sunk during the Norwegian campaign, the survivors had been rescued by Wehrmacht mountain troops and their badge, the Edelweiss, was painted on U-124's conning tower in appreciation. He was relieved on 8 September 1941 by ''Korvettenkapitän'' Johann Mohr. He remained in command until the boat's loss in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Wolfpack (naval Tactic)
The wolfpack was a convoy attack tactic employed in the Second World War. It was used principally by the U-boats of the during the Battle of the Atlantic, and by the submarines of the United States Navy in the Pacific War. The idea of a co-ordinated submarine attack on convoys had been proposed during the First World War but had no success. In the Atlantic during the Second World War the Germans had considerable successes with their wolfpack attacks but were ultimately defeated by the Allies. In the Pacific the American submarine force was able to devastate Japan’s merchant marine, though this was not solely due to the wolfpack tactic. Wolfpacks fell out of use during the Cold War as the role of the submarine changed and as convoys became rare. World War I During the (German war on trade) Allied ships travelled independently prior to the introduction of the convoy system and were vulnerable to attacks by U-boats operating as 'lone wolves'. By gathering up merchant ships into con ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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HMS Farndale (L70)
HMS ''Farndale'' was a Type 2 destroyer of the Royal Navy which served in World War II. She was scrapped in 1962. She has been the only British Warship so far to bear this name. Service history ''Farndale'' was ordered on 4 September 1939 under the 1939 War Emergency Build Programme. She was completed in April 1941. She was adopted by the civil community of Southgate, then in Middlesex, as part of Warship Week in 1942. She earned eleven battle honours for extensive service during the Second World War. This included service in the Mediterranean where she was severely damaged in February 1942, and resulted in extensive repairs in the UK that year. She then saw service with Russian convoys, followed by work to support the allied landings in Italy. Towards the end of the war she was nominated for service in the Far East in support of Operation Zipper for landings in Malaya, which was cancelled with the end of the War. She returned to Sheerness from the Far East in November 1945 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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HMS Vimy
HMS ''Vancouver'' was a British V and W-class destroyer, V-class destroyer. She was launched on 28 December 1917; in July 1922 she accidentally rammed the submarine . She was renamed HMS ''Vimy'' in April 1928. She served with distinction during World War II, earning two battle honours and damaging or sinking three enemy submarines. The Royal Navy retired her in 1945 and she was scrapped in 1948. Service history Service during World War II In September 1939 she was part of the 11th Destroyer Flotilla. On 6 February 1940, ''Vimy'' rescued the sole survivor of a crew of four from an Avro Anson that had crashed into the sea while escorting a convoy. In May 1940 she participated in the Dunkirk evacuation. Anticipating the need, the Royal Navy had sent 200 seaman and marines aboard ''Vimy'', to organise the port of Boulogne on 23 May. At one point, fired at her but without result as the torpedoes were faulty. Also on 28 May, small arms fire from the shore fatally wounded Lieuten ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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HMS Duncan (D99)
HMS ''Duncan'' was a D-class destroyer leader built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s. The ship was initially assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet before she was transferred to the China Station in early 1935 where she remained until mid-1939. ''Duncan'' returned to the Mediterranean Fleet just after World War II began in September 1939. She was transferred to the Home Fleet in December 1939, although she was badly damaged in a collision the following month, and required repairs that lasted until July 1940. The ship joined Force H at Gibraltar in October, escorting the larger ships and various convoys until March 1941 when she was transferred to West Africa for convoy escort duties for a few months. ''Duncan'' rejoined the 13th Destroyer Flotilla at Gibraltar in July and escorted several convoys to Malta during the rest of the year. After a refit, she briefly returned to the 13th Destroyer Flotilla before joining the Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean to participate in Op ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in 1885 by Fernando Villaamil for the Spanish NavySmith, Charles Edgar: ''A short history of naval and marine engineering.'' Babcock & Wilcox, ltd. at the University Press, 1937, page 263 as a defense against torpedo boats, and by the time of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, these "torpedo boat destroyers" (TBDs) were "large, swift, and powerfully armed torpedo boats designed to destroy other torpedo boats". Although the term "destroyer" had been used interchangeably with "TBD" and "torpedo boat destroyer" by navies since 1892, the term "torpedo boat destroyer" had been generally shortened to simply "destroyer" by nearly all navies by the First World War. Before World War II, destroyers were light vessels with little endurance for unattended o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |