HMS Charybdis (88)

HMS ''Charybdis'' was a built for the Royal Navy during the Second World War and was sunk with heavy loss of life by German torpedo boats in an action in the English Channel in October 1943.

Design and construction

''Charybdis'' was intended to fulfill a primarily anti-aircraft role and was designed with a primary armament of ten QF 5.25 inch guns. This gun had also been selected as the secondary armament for the battleships also under construction at this time. Delays in the delivery of the turrets, prioritised for the battleships after the outbreak of the Second World War, resulted in several of the ''Dido'' class being fitted with different primary armament. ''Charybdis'' and another ''Dido''-class cruiser, , were armed with four twin QF 4.5 in Mk.III guns instead of the 5.25 inch guns.Campbell, p. 33 These 4.5 inch guns had originally been intended for the s as part of an upgrade programme. ''Scylla'' and ''Charybdis''s armament put them on a par with the destroyers for surface action, but with much superior high angle capability. ''Charybdis'' differed from ''Scylla'' in having a single QF 4 inch Mk V gun mounted. Her armament changed during her time in service, with the 4 inch Mk V gun removed in an early 1943 refit and ten 20 mm guns added. As originally fitted, ''Charybdis'' also had eight QF 2 pounder guns arranged in two quadruple mountings, and six 21 inch torpedo tubes arranged above water in two triple banks.

Like the other ships of the class, ''Charybdis'' was named after a character in Greek mythology. Charybdis is the name of a sea monster, usually mentioned alongside Scylla, the name given to another ''Dido''-class ship, in the idiom " between Scylla and Charybdis". She was laid down at the yards of Cammell Laird at Birkenhead on 9 November 1939, and launched on 17 September 1940. After fitting out and undergoing trials, she was completed for service on 3 December 1941.

Service

Home waters and Mediterranean

After trials ''Charybdis'' joined the Home Fleet and in December 1941 escorted the 1st Minelaying Squadron during Operation SN81, the laying of mines in the Northern Barrage. She remained with the Home Fleet into 1942, and in March was adopted by the civil community of Birkenhead, Cheshire, where she had been built, after a Warship Week savings campaign. On 30 March ''Charybdis'' sailed as an escort for another minelaying operation, SN87. In April 1942 she was assigned to join Force H at Gibraltar, and sailed for there as an escort for the aircraft carrier and battlecruiser . ''Charybdis'' joined Force W at Gibraltar and escorted ''Wasp'' into the Mediterranean to deliver aircraft to Malta as part of Operation Calendar. After the aircraft had been successfully flown off, ''Charybdis'' returned to Gibraltar with ''Wasp'', and escorted her part of the way into the Atlantic. Deployed for the next few months with Force W, ''Charybdis'' escorted a number of aircraft carriers on journeys into the Mediterranean to a point where their aircraft could be flown off to reinforce Malta. As one of the escorting ships, ''Charybdis'' screened ''Wasp'' and the British carrier for Operation Bowery in early May, and ''Eagle'' and at the end of the month in Operation LB. Aircraft carrier operations continued into June 1942, with ''Charybdis'' supporting Operation Style and then Operation Salient.

On 11 June Force W, including ''Charybdis'', joined the carriers ''Eagle'' and ''Argus'', with further escort provided by the battleship , the cruisers and and a number of destroyers to screen Operation Harpoon. The convoy in Operation Harpoon was run in conjunction with a convoy from Egypt, Operation Vigorous, both of which tried to supply food and matériel by splitting enemy forces. In July 1942 ''Charybdis'' covered Operations Pinpoint and Insect, two more carrier deliveries of aircraft to Malta. By August 1942 ''Charybdis'' joined Force Z to provide an escort for HMS ''Eagle'' in the Malta convoy Operation Pedestal.

Operation Pedestal

Operation Pedestal was built around a 15-ship convoy of merchantmen, escorted by a powerful force consisting of two battleships, four aircraft carriers, seven cruisers and twenty six destroyers. The convoy came under heavy air and U-boat attack, sustaining high losses. HMS ''Eagle'' was sunk by torpedoes from German submarine , and only five merchant ships, including the damaged tanker , survived to reach Malta. After ''Eagle''s sinking, ''Charybdis'' launched a series of depth charge attacks in an unsuccessful hunt for ''U-73''.Moses, 2007. p 136 She then stood by the damaged carrier and provided anti-air defence while salvage operations were carried out.Moses, 2007. p155 On 13 July the taskforce's commander, Admiral Edward Neville Syfret, sent her to join Force X, in company with and , as the merchants came under heavy air attack while passing through the Strait of Sicily.Moses 2007 p.171 ''Charybdis'' took the place of the crippled for this, before returning to Force Z on 14 July and continuing to engage enemy aircraft.

Atlantic and return to the Mediterranean

The focus of ''Charybdis''s operations changed in September 1942, and she was assigned to patrol in the Atlantic, searching for German blockade runners attempting to reach Atlantic ports from the Far East. At the end of October she took part in Operation Train, escorting the carrier with further aircraft reinforcements for Malta. On 25 November 1942 she was allocated to the 12th Cruiser Squadron in Force H and sailed from Gibraltar for Algiers to take part in Operation Torch - the landings in Morocco and Algeria. She escorted the invasion convoys and provided bombardment support for the land forces, as well as anti-air defence. On 12 December 1942 ''Charybdis'' sailed for the United Kingdom to undergo a refit.

''Charybdis'' joined the Home Fleet after the completion of the work and trials in March 1943. Initially based at Scapa Flow, she covered minelaying operations and patrolled the North Sea until April 1943, when she was transferred temporarily to the Plymouth Command. There she was assigned to escort allied convoys and patrol in the Bay of Biscay. ''Charybdis'' was again back in Gibraltar in August 1943 and from there escorted Mediterranean convoys.

In September ''Charybdis'' was part of Force V covering Operation Avalanche, the landings at Salerno. During her time off the Italian coast she carried US General Dwight D. Eisenhower to Salerno. She returned to Plymouth the following month, supposedly for a short period of leave. However, operational requirements directed that, almost immediately, the leave was cut short, and she resumed work in the Bay of Biscay.

Operation Tunnel and sinking

In late 1943, the British authorities were aware of the approach of the German blockade runner ''Münsterland'', which was carrying an important cargo of latex and strategic metals. The Germans had a well-rehearsed procedure for escorting such vessels. The British reacted by executing "Operation Tunnel", a standard operation whereby available ships would attempt to intercept. Of the planning of this operation Lieutenant-Commander Roger Hill voiced his reservations to senior staff, but his advice was not heeded. ^{5/sup> ''Charybdis'' was assigned to the operation on 20 October, and on 22 October the British force put to sea. With ''Charybdis'' were the fleet destroyers and , and four s: , , and . ''Münsterland''s escorts consisted of five Type 39 torpedo boats of the 4th Torpedo Boat Flotilla, commanded by Franz Kohlauf.}

''Charybdis'' picked up the convoy on her radar at a range of , but did not intercept radio transmissions, ''Limbourne'' heard radio transmissions but could not pick up the ships on radar as ''Charybdis'' was blocking her view. At 1:38am the German torpedo boat ''T23'', under the command of Friedrich-Karl Paul, spotted ''Charybdis'', which was hit on the port side by two torpedoes out of a salvo of six fired by ''T23'' and ''T27''. ''Limbourne'' was also hit during this action and was later scuttled by HMS ''Rocket''. The German force escaped unharmed. ''Charybdis'' sank within half an hour, in position , with the loss of over 400 men including her captain George Voelcker. Four officers and 103 ratings survived. ''Münsterland'' was eventually forced ashore and destroyed west of Cap Blanc-Nez on 21 January 1944 by fire from British coastal artillery after she ran aground.

Legacy and commemoration

''Charybdis'' gained six battle honours during her service: Malta Convoys 1942, North Africa 1942, Salerno 1943, Atlantic 1943, English Channel 1943 and Biscay 1943.

Soon after the sinking, the bodies of 21 Royal Navy and Royal Marine men were washed up in Guernsey. The German occupation authorities buried them with full military honours. The funerals became an opportunity for some of the islanders to demonstrate their loyalty to Britain and their opposition to the Nazi occupiers: around 5,000 islanders attended the funeral, laying some 900 wreaths – enough of a demonstration against the Nazi occupation for subsequent military funerals to be closed to civilians by the German occupiers. Every year a commemoration service is held, in October, which is attended by survivors of the action and their relatives, the Guernsey Association of Royal Navy and Royal Marines, Sea Cadets, St John's Ambulance Brigade, the Police, the Red Cross and representatives of the Royal Navy and the public.

Other members of the crew are buried in Jersey at St Helier (38), and in France at Dinard (96), St Brieuc (47), Ile de Brehat (1), St Germain sur Ay (1) and St Charles de Percey (2).

The wrecks of ''Charybdis'' and ''Limbourne'' have been located. ''Charybdis'' was found in 1993, lying in 83 metres of water.

Notes

Citations

15. Hill, Roger. (1979). pp. 167–176.

References

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*Hill, Roger Percival (1979). ''"Destroyer Captain".'' Granada Publishing Ltd, London. -0.

Further reading

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External links

HMS ''Charybdis'' at navalhistory.net

IWM Interview with survivor Ronald Sleigh

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charybdis (88)
Dido-class cruisers
Ships built on the River Mersey
1940 ships
World War II cruisers of the United Kingdom
World War II shipwrecks in the English Channel
Maritime incidents in October 1943