|
Convoy SC 2
SC 2 was an Allied North Atlantic convoy of the SC series which ran during the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II. It was attacked by a wolfpack of German U-boats, losing five merchant ships. Background SC 2 was an east-bound convoy of 54 ships which sailed from Sydney, Cape Breton in Nova Scotia on 25 August 1940 bound for Liverpool. It carried war materials and was led by Commodore EK Boddam-Whitham in SS ''Harpoon''. For the Atlantic crossing SC 2 was escorted by HMS ''Scarborough'', a pre-war sloop that had seen previous service as a survey vessel. At this stage of the campaign escorts against U-boat attack could only be provided in the Western Approaches; the Ocean escort, in this case a sloop, but usually an Armed Merchant Cruiser, was provided to give some protection against surface raiders. SC 2 was opposed by a patrol line of three U-boats, positioned at the limit of endurance to intercept east-bound convoys before the Western Approaches escort had joined. U-b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
Sloop-of-war
In the 18th century and most of the 19th, a sloop-of-war in the Royal Navy was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. The rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above; thus, the term ''sloop-of-war'' encompassed all the unrated combat vessels, including the very small gun-brigs and cutters. In technical terms, even the more specialised bomb vessels and fireships were classed as sloops-of-war, and in practice these were employed in the sloop role when not carrying out their specialised functions. In World War I and World War II, the Royal Navy reused the term "sloop" for specialised convoy-defence vessels, including the of World War I and the highly successful of World War II, with anti-aircraft and anti-submarine capability. They performed similar duties to the American destroyer escort class ships, and also performed similar duties to the smaller corvettes of the Royal Navy. Rigging A sloop-of-war was quite different from a civilian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Lowestoft (U59)
HMS ''Lowestoft'' was a sloop of the Royal Navy. Built at Devonport Dockyard in the 1930s, ''Lowestoft'' was launched in 1934 and commissioned later that year. She served on the China Station, based at Hong Kong until the outbreak of the Second World War. ''Lowestoft'' served as a convoy escort during the war, both in the North Atlantic and off the west coast of Africa. Construction and design On 1 May 1933, the British Admiralty ordered two s, ''Lowestoft'' and to be built at Devonport Naval Dockyard as part of the 1932 construction programme. Two ''Grimsby''-class sloops had been ordered as part of the previous year's pattern, and two more would be ordered in both 1934 and 1935, giving a total of eight ''Grimsby''-class ships built for the Royal Navy. Four more were built for Australia and one for India. The ''Grimsby'' class, while based on the previous , was intended to be a more capable escort vessel than previous sloops, and carried a more powerful armament. ''Lowest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Westcott (D47)
HMS ''Westcott'' (D47) was a Royal Navy Admiralty W-class destroyer that served in the Second World War. In the Second World War ''Westcott'' served in an anti-submarine role and escorted numerous Atlantic and Malta convoys. Construction and design On 9 December 1916, the British Admiralty placed an order for 21 large destroyers based on the V class, which became the Admiralty W class. Of these destroyers, two, ''Westcott'' and were ordered from the Scottish shipbuilders William Denny and Brothers. ''Westcott'' was long overall and between perpendiculars, with a beam of and a draught of between and depending on load. Displacement was standard, and up to deep load. Three oil-fed Yarrow boilers raising steam at fed Brown-Curtis geared steam turbines which developed , driving two screws for a maximum designed speed of . The ship carried of oil giving a range of at . ''Westcott''s main gun armament consisted of four 4-inch Mk V QF guns in four single mounts on the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Naval Trawler
Naval trawlers are vessels built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes; they were widely used during the First and Second World Wars. Some—known in the Royal Navy as "Admiralty trawlers"— were purpose-built to naval specifications, others adapted from civilian use. Fishing trawlers were particularly suited for many naval requirements because they were robust vessels designed to work heavy trawls in all types of weather, and had large clear working decks. A minesweeper could be created by replacing the trawl with a mine sweep. Adding depth charge racks on the deck, ASDIC sonar below, and a or gun in the bow equipped the trawler for anti-submarine duties. History Armed trawlers were also used to defend fishing groups from enemy aircraft or submarines. The smallest civilian trawlers were converted to danlayers. Contemporary Some nations still use armed trawlers for fisheries protection and patrol. The Indian Navy used naval trawlers for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corvette
A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloop-of-war. The modern roles that a corvette fulfills include coastal patrol craft, missile boat and fast attack craft. These corvettes are typically between 500 tons and 2,000 .although recent designs may approach 3,000 tons, having size and capabilities that overlap with smaller frigates. However unlike contemporary frigates, a modern corvette does not have sufficient endurance and seaworthiness for long voyages. The word "corvette" is first found in Middle French, a diminutive of the Dutch word ''corf'', meaning a "basket", from the Latin ''corbis''. The rank "corvette captain", equivalent in many navies to "lieutenant commander", derives from the name of this type of ship. The rank is the most junior of three "captain" ranks in sev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
German Submarine U-101 (1940)
German submarine ''U-101'' was a Type VIIB U-boat of Nazi Germany's '' Kriegsmarine'' during World War II. She had a highly successful career. Design German Type VIIB submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIA submarines. ''U-101'' 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 MAN M 6 V 40/46 four-stroke, six-cylinder supercharged diesel engines producing a total of for use while surfaced, two AEG GU 460/8-276 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 surface speed of and a maximum submerged speed of . When submerged, the boat could operate for at ; when surfaced, she could travel at . ''U-101'' was fitted with five torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
German Submarine U-65 (1940)
German submarine ''U-65'' was a Type IXB U-boat of Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine'' during World War II. Over the course of six war patrols between 9 April 1940 and 28 April 1941, she sank twelve ships and damaged three others for a total loss of . Construction and design Construction ''U-65'' was ordered by the ''Kriegsmarine'' on 16 July 1937. Her keel was laid down on 6 December 1938 by AG Weser, Bremen as yard number 953. She was launched on 6 November 1939 and commissioned on 15 February 1940 under the command of ''Kapitänleutnant'' Hans-Gerrit von Stockhausen. Design German Type IXB submarines were slightly larger than the original German Type IX submarines, later designated IXA. ''U-65'' had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. The U-boat 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 MAN M 9 V 40/46 supercharged four-stroke, nine-cylinder diesel engines pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
German Submarine U-28 (1936)
German submarine ''U-28'' was a Type VIIA U-boat of Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine'' during World War II. Her keel was laid down on 2 December 1935, by DeSchiMAG AG Weser of Bremen. She was launched on 14 July 1936, and commissioned into ''Kriegsmarine'' on 12 September 1936, with ''Kapitänleutnant'' Wilhelm Ambrosius in command. Ambrosius was succeeded by nine other commanding officers over the next eight years. ''U-28'' conducted seven war patrols between 19 August 1939 and 15 November 1940, all under the command of ''Kapitänleutnant'' Günter Kuhnke, sinking 13 ships totaling and damaging two others totaling . After her third patrol, ''U-28'' became a training vessel and was used to bring new U-boat crews up to standard. She was later sunk in an accident on 17 March 1944 and stricken on 4 August 1944. Construction and design Construction ''U-28'' was ordered by the ''Kriegsmarine'' on 1 April 1935 as part of the German Plan Z and in violation of the Treaty of Versail ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
German Submarine U-47 (1938)
German submarine ''U-47'' was a Type VIIB U-boat of Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine'' during World War II. She was laid down on 25 February 1937 at Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft in Kiel as yard number 582 and went into service on 17 December 1938 under the command of Günther Prien. During ''U-47''s career, she sank a total of 31 enemy vessels, including the British battleship , and damaged nine more. ''U-47'' ranks as one of the most successful German U-boats of World War II. In 2016, one of the faulty torpedoes shot at HMS ''Royal Oak'' was found and identified. Design German Type VIIB submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIA submarines. ''U-47'' 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, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
B-Dienst
The ''B-Dienst'' (german: Beobachtungsdienst, observation service), also called x''B-Dienst'', X-''B-Dienst'' and χ''B-Dienst'', was a Department of the German Naval Intelligence Service (german: Marinenachrichtendienst, MND III) of the OKM, that dealt with the interception and recording, decoding and analysis of the enemy, in particular British radio communications before and during World War II. B-Dienst worked on cryptanalysis and deciphering (decrypting) of enemy and neutral states' message traffic and security control of ''Kriegsmarine'' key processes and machinery. :"The ultimate goal of all evaluation was recognizing the opponent's goal by pro-active identification of data." B-Dienst was instrumental in moulding Wehrmacht operations during the Battles of Norway and France in spring 1940, primarily due to the cryptanalysis successes it had achieved against early and less secure British Naval cyphers. B-Dienst broke British Naval Combined Cypher No. 3 in October 1941, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
