HMS Laforey (G99)

HMS ''Laforey'' was an L-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was commissioned in and served during the Second World War, and was torpedoed and sunk by a U-boat in 1944. She had been adopted by the civil community of Northampton in November 1941.

Construction and commissioning

''Laforey'' was ordered from the yards of Yarrow Shipbuilders, Scotstoun, Glasgow on 31 March 1938 under the 1937 Naval Estimates. She was laid down on 1 March 1939 at the same time as her sister, . She was launched on 15 February 1941 and commissioned on 26 August 1941. She cost £445,684, excluding items such as weapons and communications equipment supplied by the Admiralty. On commissioning she was assigned to the 19th Destroyer Flotilla of the Home Fleet as the Flotilla leader.

Career

Mediterranean waters

''Laforey'' was almost immediately reassigned to the Mediterranean, where she joined Force H in escorting a relief convoy to Malta as part of Operation Halberd. Despite heavy air attacks, the convoy reached Malta on 28 September, and ''Laforey'' returned to Gibraltar with the ships of Force X. In October she was permanently assigned to Force H, to carry out convoy escort duties, and fleet screening patrols. On 10 November she and the destroyers , , , , and the Dutch were deployed to escort the cruiser , the battleship and the aircraft carriers and during an operation to deliver aircraft to Malta. ''Ark Royal'' was torpedoed by the German submarine on 13 November as the task force returned to Gibraltar. ''Laforey'' made several unsuccessful anti-submarine attacks against suspected sonar contacts, before standing by the stricken carrier. Later in the day, ''Laforey'' ran power cables across to ''Ark Royal'' to support damage control measures. These were ultimately unsuccessful and ''Ark Royal'' sank the next day, and ''Laforey'' returned to Gibraltar.

''Laforey'' spent January as part of anti-submarine patrols that had been instigated to intercept U-boats as they passed through the Strait of Gibraltar. On 18 January she and intercepted and attacked with depth charges. February and March were then spent escorting convoys through the Atlantic, and screening aircraft carriers on operations to deliver aircraft to Malta. On 1 April ''Laforey'' was detached from Force H and sailed to Freetown to screen fleet units and cover convoys in the Atlantic. She arrived at Cape Town on 18 April with a military convoy, and escorted them on to Durban, arriving there on 22 April.

Operation Ironclad

On 28 April she was deployed to support Operation Ironclad, the planned Invasion of Madagascar. She carried out shore bombardments on 2 May and then, together with the destroyers and ''Lightning'', used buoys to mark the approach channel to the landing areas at Diego Suarez on 4 May. The next day, ''Laforey'' and ''Lightning'' led landing ships into the harbour, and provided naval gunfire support. On 6 May, ''Laforey'' and her sisters ''Lightning'' and screened the battleship during a search for Japanese warships that had been reported in the area. On 7 May ''Laforey'' covered ''Anthony'' as she landed marines and the next day she began a series of anti-submarine patrols that would last until she was detached from the operation on 27 May, when she, ''Lookout'' and ''Lightning'' sailed for Colombo to join the Eastern Fleet. She spent June with the Eastern Fleet, mostly carrying out exercises and conducting offensive sweeps, before sailing to Mombasa on 23 June.

Return to the Mediterranean

Arriving at Mombasa on 1 July, she was initially deployed in the South Atlantic to hunt commerce raiders and escort convoys. On 19 July she was detached and nominated to rejoin Force H. After sailing around Africa with a number of other capital ships, she arrived at Gibraltar in early August. She sailed on 9 August, escorting the ships comprising Operation Pedestal. On 10 August she and ''Lookout'' escorted the aircraft carrier in an attempt to deliver aircraft to Malta, but were detached on 11 August to rescue survivors from the torpedoed aircraft carrier . The two ships and a rescue tug were able to rescue 927 survivors. After transferring survivors to , ''Laforey'' continued escorting the convoy. Together with and , she launched an unsuccessful attack on the later that day.

The next day, 12 August, the ships of the convoy came under heavy air attack. ''Laforey'' managed to escape damage and with a number of other ships, was detached from the convoy when it reached the Sicilian Narrows. They remained in the area until 14 August, when they sailed for Gibraltar, arriving there on 15 August. She deployed the next day to escort ''Furious'' and in another delivery of aircraft to Malta. They returned on 18 August and on 21 August ''Laforey'' began anti-submarine operations off Gibraltar.

On 4 September she and ''Lookout'' escorted into Gibraltar. ''Laforey'' then sailed for Southampton for a refit, arriving there on 17 September. She spent October and most of November under refit, followed by a period of post-trial workup exercises with her sister ''Lightning'' at Scapa Flow. She and ''Lightning'' then escorted the troopship out of Liverpool en route to Gibraltar, where they arrived on 20 December. On 21 December ''Laforey'' and ''Lightning'' carried out rescue operations after the torpedoing of .

Force Q

''Laforey'' and her flotilla were assigned to Bône as part of Force Q at the start of 1943. The ships of the force came under heavy air attack and ''Laforey'' had to sink the tanker on 6 January after she had been set on fire during an air raid. ''Laforey'' carried out interception patrols and convoy defence throughout February and March. On 28 April she and took part in an action against six E-boats and a submarine. They sank one E-boat by ramming it, and damaged two others. During the action, ''Laforey'' sustained damage to her forepeak.

In May she was assigned with Force Q to intercept ships attempting to evacuate German troops from Cap Bon after the defeat of the Afrika Korps. On 8 May she and ''Tartar'' captured two merchant ships, but on 9 May ''Laforey'' came under fire from shore batteries and was hit in the engine room. She sustained damage and several severe injuries to her crew, causing her to head for Malta for repairs. After being repaired, she returned to Force Q. En route, she investigated Plane Island and discovered 23 enemy soldiers, whom she promptly took prisoner. Back with Force Q, on 23 July she sank an enemy supply ship.

In June she took part in covering the allied landings at Pantelleria (Operation Corkscrew), during which she bombarded enemy positions, before sailing to Alexandria to escort convoys for the planned invasion of Sicily. After the landings on 9 July she bombarded enemy targets inland. On 15 August she embarked General Alexander, Air Marshall Coningham and Admiral Ramsey and conveyed them to Augusta. She continued to carry out bombardments and anti-submarine patrols throughout July.

On 23 July she and engaged in a box search for the Italian submarine Ascianghi after she had torpedoed the cruiser . The Ascianghi fired two torpedoes at the Laforey which both missed and the Laforey and Eclipse carried out five depth charge attacks in response. The Ascianghi was forced to surface where it came under an immediate and heavy fire from the Laforey's guns and was at last sunk. A survivor was picked up who confirmed that the Italian sub had indeed fired four torpedoes at the Newfoundland two hours previously.

In August ''Laforey'' was nominated to support the invasion of mainland Italy and on 21 August, she and four other destroyers carried out an offensive sweep through the Strait of Messina. She then escorted the convoys and covered the landings. On 9 August she came under fire during a shore bombardment and was hit by five shells. One of the ship's company was killed and another two were injured, while one boiler room was put out of action. She returned to Malta for repairs to the structural damage. She was under repair until mid-October, when she returned to patrolling off the Italian coast.

On 1 November she escorted two merchant ships during their passage from Malta to Naples and on 3 November she escorted a military convoy en route to Augusta. On 5 November she came to the assistance of a US merchant ship that had run aground northeast of Augusta, and towed the vessel clear before returning to Malta to refuel. She spent the rest of the month and most of December at Malta, before returning to the Italian coast on 23 December. On 25 December she detected two E-boats on her radar and moved to intercept them, but they escaped contact and fled. Further shore bombardment operations followed.

''Laforey'' was deployed on patrol off Corsica on 4 January, before heading into the Bay of Naples. On 6 January she sank the hulk of a liberty ship and on 7 January was despatched to the waters off Capri to search for a lifeboat. On 18 January she and a number of other warships bombarded targets around Gaeta. The ships came under air attacks and shore bombardment during these operations. After replenishing at Naples, ''Laforey'', in company with and , joined the escort for the assault convoys of Operation Shingle, the landings at Anzio. On 22 January ''Laforey'' and ''Loyal'' led the assault force to "P" Beach landing areas. ''Laforey'' remained off the coast, to provide gunfire support and defence against air and surface attacks. On 23 January she assisted in the rescue of survivors from after she had been sunk by a radio controlled bomb. On 29 January she rescued survivors from after she too was sunk by radio controlled bombs.

In February she was transferred to the 14th Destroyer Flotilla and on 18 February she bombarded Formica and was deployed with on 25 February to intercept E-boats. ''Laforey'' was briefly detached to assist a Landing Ship, Tank that had run aground at Sabaudio, but was unable to help her. She rejoined ''Faulknor'' and together they carried out depth charge attacks on a suspected submarine contact. On 26 February they were joined by the destroyers and . ''Laforey'' herself came under attack from an acoustic torpedo, which exploded in her wake. Anti-submarine operations continued on 27 February when another two destroyers joined, and finished on 28 February when the ships returned to Naples. ''Laforey'' sailed to Naples with survivors from , which had been sunk off Anzio on 25 February by a glider bomb.

Sinking

''Laforey'' returned to Naples and was deployed off Anzio on 9 March 1944 on support and patrol duties that were scheduled to last until 19 March. On 23 March she again returned to Anzio and on 24 March she was deployed for night interception and anti-submarine patrols with . On 25 March they engaged a number of E-boats after picking them up on their radar. ''Laforey'' then sailed to Naples. She deployed for another patrol off the west coast of Italy on 28 March and on 29 March she carried out a hunt for north of Palermo, in company with the destroyers , , , ''Hambledon'' and . ''U-223'' had been detected by during a routine sweep. The search lasted until 30 March, when after sustaining several hours of depth charge attacks, ''U-223'' surfaced, and was then attacked by the destroyers with gunfire at a range of . ''U-223'' was able to fire three torpedoes which struck ''Laforey''. She sank quickly, resulting in the loss of most of her company, including her captain. There were only 65 survivors out of the 247 on board. One survivor was Petty Officer Ronald Sired, who gives an account of life on board and the sinking in "Enemy Engaged", published in 1957. ''U-223'' was sunk soon afterwards, and the survivors from ''Laforey'' and ''U-223'' were picked up by ''Blencathra'', ''Hambledon'' and ''Tumult''.

Notes

References

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*Mike Rossiter, Ark Royal: the life, death and rediscovery of the legendary Second World War aircraft carrier (Corgi Books, London, 2007).

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Laforey (G99)
L and M-class destroyers of the Royal Navy
Ships built on the River Clyde
1941 ships
World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom
Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II
World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea
Maritime incidents in March 1944