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Convoy RA 55A
Convoy RA 55A was an Arctic convoy during World War II. It was one of a series of convoys run to return Allied ships from Soviet northern ports to ports in Britain. It sailed in late December 1943, reaching British ports at the end of the month. All ships arrived safely. Forces RA 55A consisted of 23 merchant ships which departed from Kola Inlet on 22 December 1943. Close escort was provided by the two destroyers, ''Westcott'' and ''Beagle'', a minesweeper and three corvettes. There was also an Ocean escort, comprising the destroyer ''Milne'' (Capt. IMR Campbell commanding) and seven other Home Fleet destroyers. A cruiser cover force comprising ''Belfast'' (V.Adm R Burnett commanding), ''Norfolk'', and ''Sheffield'' also followed the convoy from Murmansk, to guard against attack by surface units. Distant cover would be provided by a Heavy Cover Force comprising the battleship ''Duke of York'', the cruiser ''Jamaica'' and four destroyers under the command of V Adm. B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arctic Convoys Of World War II
The Arctic convoys of World War II were oceangoing convoys which sailed from the United Kingdom, Iceland, and North America to northern ports in the Soviet Union – primarily Arkhangelsk (Archangel) and Murmansk in Russia. There were 78 convoys between August 1941 and May 1945, sailing via several seas of the Atlantic and Arctic oceans, with two gaps with no sailings between July and September 1942, and March and November 1943. About 1,400 merchant ships delivered essential supplies to the Soviet Union under the Anglo-Soviet agreement and US Lend-Lease program, escorted by ships of the Royal Navy, Royal Canadian Navy, and the U.S. Navy. Eighty-five merchant vessels and 16 Royal Navy warships (two cruisers, six destroyers, eight other escort ships) were lost. Nazi Germany's '' Kriegsmarine'' lost a number of vessels including one battleship, three destroyers, 30 U-boats, and many aircraft. The convoys demonstrated the Allies' commitment to helping the Soviet Union, prior to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bruce Fraser, 1st Baron Fraser Of North Cape
Admiral of the Fleet Bruce Austin Fraser, 1st Baron Fraser of North Cape, (5 February 1888 – 12 February 1981) was a senior Royal Navy officer. He served in the First World War, saw action during the Gallipoli Campaign and took part in the internment of the German High Seas Fleet at the end of the war. He also served in the Second World War initially as Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy and then as second-in-command and afterwards as commander of the Home Fleet, leading the force that destroyed the German battleship . He went on to be First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff in which role he assisted in establishing NATO and agreed to the principle that the Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic should be an American admiral, in the face of fierce British opposition. Early naval career Born the son of General Alexander Fraser and Monica Stores Fraser (née Smith), Fraser was educated at Bradfield College. He joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in the training ship HM ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Acanthus (K01)
HMS ''Acanthus'' was a ''Flower''-class corvette of the Royal Navy. Construction and design ''Acanthus'' was one of ten Flower-class corvettes ordered on 21 September 1939, in the fourth of a series of orders. She was laid down at Ailsa Shipbuilding Company's Troon Troon is a town in South Ayrshire, situated on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland, about north of Ayr and northwest of Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Troon has a port with freight services and a yacht marina. Up until January 2016, P&O Ferrie ... shipyard on 21 December 1939, was launched on 26 May 1941 and completed on 1 October 1941. References * * * Flower-class corvettes of the Royal Navy 1941 ships {{UK-mil-ship-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Poppy (K213)
HMS ''Poppy'' was a that served in the Royal Navy as a convoy escort during World War II. Design and construction The Flower class arose as a result of the Royal Navy's realisation in the late 1930s that it had a shortage of escort vessels, particularly coastal escorts for use on the East coast of Britain, as the likelihood of war with Germany increased. To meet this urgent requirement, a design developed based on the whale-catcher - this design was much more capable than naval trawlers, but cheaper and quicker to build than the s or sloops that were alternatives for the coastal escort role. The early Flowers, such as ''Aubrietia'' were long overall, at the waterline and between perpendiculars. Beam was and draught was aft. Displacement was about standard and full load. Two Admiralty three-drum water tube boilers fed steam to a vertical triple-expansion engine rated at which drove a single propeller shaft. This gave a speed of . 200 tons of oil were carried, giv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Dianella (K07)
HMS ''Dianella'' was a of the Royal Navy. She served during the Second World War. The Flower-class corvettes were designed as a cheap and simple multi-role warship capable of being built in the multitude of small civilian shipyards not usually accustomed to building to naval standards. John Lewis, & Sons Ltd, Torry, Aberdeen was such a company that constructed coasters, drifters and cargo vessels. During the Second World War, John Lewis & Sons built more than thirty vessels, including small warships. minesweeper trawlers and patrol vessels; six of these were Flower-class corvettes. She had been launched with the name HMS ''Daffodil'' and, unusually, this was changed to HMS ''Dianella'' on 26 October 1940 prior to commissioning. She sailed from Aberdeen in January 1941 for Tobermory, to work-up before being sent to join a group on ocean escort of convoys. After a few weeks working-up the ship and the crew, Admiral Stephenson would the personally inspect each escort and put th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Seagull (J85)
HMS ''Seagull'' was a , and the first Royal Navy ship to be built entirely without rivets. She was completed on 30 March 1938. She was adopted by the civil community of Christchurch, Hampshire after a successful Warship Week National Savings campaign in February 1942 During the Second World War she helped escort 21 Arctic convoys, and participated in Operation Neptune. She was also involved in the accidental sinking of the Polish submarine ORP ''Jastrząb'', along with HNoMS ''St Albans'', during the passage of Arctic Convoy PQ 15. Five crewmen were killed. A court of Enquiry found that ''Jastrząb'' was out of position, in an area where U-boats were expected to operate, and no blame could be attached to either commander. However, other sources maintain the convoy changed its course and entered ''Jastrząb's'' patrol sector. Also that the Allied ships ignored identification marks, while on surface, and that ''Seagull's'' commander was later found guilty by the Admiralty. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Loch Ewe
Loch Ewe ( gd, Loch Iùbh) is a sea loch in the region of Wester Ross in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. The shores are inhabited by a traditionally Gàidhlig-speaking people living in or sustained by crofting villages, the most notable of which, situated on the north-eastern shore, is the Aultbea settlement. History Due to the rugged and inaccessible terrain in which it is located, Loch Ewe has always been an assembly point for maritime trade. Around 1610 the area at the head of Loch Ewe, today known as Poolewe, was urbanised around an iron furnace using charcoal produced in the surrounding woodlands for fuel. English ironmasters found it more economic to ship the ore to Poolewe for smelting than to ship the processed charcoal to England to run furnaces there. The crofting villages which were established in the 1840s, as a result of the local parish's estate being reformed from run-rig to fixed holdings properties, were always quite small. Bualnaliub, nine miles (f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of The North Cape
The Battle of the North Cape was a Second World War naval battle that occurred on 26 December 1943, as part of the Arctic campaign. The , on an operation to attack Arctic Convoys of war materiel from the Western Allies to the Soviet Union, was brought to battle and sunk by the Royal Navy's battleship with cruisers and destroyers, including an onslaught from the destroyer of the exiled Royal Norwegian Navy, off the North Cape, Norway. The battle was the last between big-gun capital ships in the war between Britain and Germany. The British victory confirmed the massive strategic advantage held by the British, at least in surface units. It was also the penultimate engagement between battleships, the last being the October 1944 Battle of Surigao Strait. Background Since August 1941, the western Allies had run convoys of ships from the United Kingdom and Iceland to the northern ports of the Soviet Union to provide essential supplies for their war effort on the Eastern Front. Thes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Opportune (G80)
HMS ''Opportune'' was an O and P-class destroyer, O-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was ordered from John I. Thornycroft & Company, Woolston, Hampshire, Woolston on 3 September 1939 for the 1st Emergency Flotilla. She was commissioned on 14 August 1942. She was the second Royal Navy ship borne ''Opportune''. She served throughout the World War II, Second World War, mainly as an escort ship for convoys, and remained with the Royal Navy until the mid-1950s. Service history Convoy Duty 1942 Enemy action affected ''Opportune'' before she was even completed, as German bombing in 1940 severely damaged the shipyard and enemy action delayed the delivery of components. It was for these reasons that her completion was delayed until 1942. When she was eventually launched, she was with the 17th Destroyer Flotilla with the Home Fleet. During trials, she assisted in escorting convoy PW-202 to Bristol. Her first real duty was escorting the Arctic convoys of World War II, Arctic co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Musketeer (G86)
HMS ''Musketeer'' was a M-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy during World War II. She was ordered from Fairfield's, Govan, Glasgow on 7 September 1939 under the 1939 Build Programme and laid down on 7 December the same year. She was launched on 2 December 1941 and completed on 18 September 1942 at a cost of £462,543. ''Musketeer'' was adopted in December 1941 by the community of East Barnet, now part of Greater London. ''Musketeer'' was the second RN ship to carry this name; the first was a destroyer built in 1915 and sold in 1921. World War 2 Service Arctic Convoys ''Musketeer'' commissioned on 9 September 1942 and joined the Home Fleet as part of the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla covering the North Sea and the North Western Approaches. In November 1942 she was switched to duty with the convoys to the Soviet Union, protecting merchant shipping delivering vital supplies to Russia for her war against Nazi Germany. This was a role that ''Musketeer'' was to perform for most of h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Matchless (G52)
HMS ''Matchless'' was a M-class destroyer built during World War II. After the war she was placed in reserve until August 1957 and eventually sold to the Turkish Navy, who renamed her TCG ''Kılıç Ali Paşa''. She was struck from the Turkish Navy list and scrapped in 1971. Adoptions Maidenhead Borough Council in Berkshire officially adopted HMS ''Matchless'' after holding a Warship Week in March 1942 that raised £550,296. A ship's badge was presented to the borough in September 1942. Associated Motor Cycles in southeast London, which made Matchless motorcycles, unofficially adopted the ship in 1943. After the Battle of the North Cape in December 1943 her battle flag and other mementoes were presented to the company. Service Scapa Flow ''Matchless'' undertook sea trials in the Firth of Clyde and then joined the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow for crew training in gunnery and torpedo attacks. Her first active service was on an Arctic convoy to Murmansk and the Kola Inlet. On 13 M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Altenfjord
Altafjord ( en, Alta Fjord;Koop, Gerhard, & Klaus-Peter Schmolke. 2000. ''Heavy Cruisers of the Admiral Hipper Class: Warships of the Kriegsmarine''. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing, p. 55. no, Altafjorden; fkv, Alattionvuono) is a fjord in Alta Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The long fjord stretches from the town of Alta in the south to the islands of Stjernøya and Seiland. The long river Altaelva empties into the fjord at the town of Alta. At Stjernøya and Seiland islands, the fjord splits into two straits before emptying into the Norwegian Sea. Some of the larger side-branches off the main fjord include Langfjorden, Kåfjorden, and Korsfjorden. The fjord was historically known as "Altenfjord", and was referred to as such by British historians throughout most of the 20th century. History Prehistoric culture A large number of prehistoric rock carvings have been found along the fjord, particularly at the bay Jiepmaluokta. These locations at K ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
