HMS IRON DUKE
Germans raid Scapa Flow
Tuesday, October 17, 1939 www.onwar.com
In Britain... German Ju88 bombers strike the British naval base at Scapa Flow. The training battleship Iron Duke (which was the flagship of Admiral Jellico — 1914 to 1917 — during World War I) is damaged and has to be beached.
In the North Sea... German destroyers lay mines by night off the Humber estuary.
In Paris... The French report sharp infantry engagements on the front near Saarbrucken.
In Berlin... The Germans report “absolute quiet” on the Rhine Front. A lone German soldier was accidentally killed by falling shrapnel from a German anti-aircraft gun.
In Moscow... Turkish representatives break off talks for a defense treaty with the Soviet Union. While the prolonged Turkish-Soviet negotiations end without agreement there are professions of mutual friendliness. Soviet representatives paid tribute to Turkish Foreign Minister Sarajoglu before his departure. Last minute Soviet proposals conflicted with Turkish engagements to Britain and France and these were rejected by Sarajoglu.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Iron_Duke_(1912)
During the Second World War, she was used as a base ship at Scapa Flow, where she was forced to beach during an air attack in 1939. She was refloated and saw continued service until the conclusion of hostilities. She was sold in 1946 as scrap, and broken up in Glasgow in 1948. Iron Duke’s bell is on display at Winchester Cathedral. A wide variety of domestic nick-nacks made of teak from Iron Duke [1] are sold to the public.
HMS IRON DUKE
http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-28Depot-Iron%20Duke.htm
1939
October 16th
Scapa Flow deployment in continuation. During attack by Ju88 aircraft on Scapa Flow sustained some damage from near misses. One Boiler Room and two magazines were flooded
Ship developed significant list had to be beached at Ore Bay..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Southampton_(C83)
HMS Southampton was a member of the first group of five ships of the “Town” class of light cruisers. She was built by John Brown & Company, Clydebank, Scotland and launched on 10 March 1936.
Southampton was later damaged on 16 October, 1939 whilst lying at anchor off Rosyth, Scotland, when she was struck by a 500 kg bomb in a German air raid. The bomb was released from only 150 m height by a Ju-88 of I/KG.30, and hit the corner of the pom-pom magazine, passed through three decks at an angle and exited the hull, detonating in the water. There was minor structural damage and temporary failure of electrical systems. She was repaired and at the end of the year she was one of the ships involved in the hunt for the German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau after the sinking of HMS Rawalpindi. She then served with the Humber Force until February 1940, and then went to the 18th Cruiser squadron at Scapa Flow. On 9 April 1940, Southampton was operating off the Norwegian coast when she sustained splinter damage in a German air attack. The main battery director was temporarily knocked out. After being repaired, she had anti-invasion duties on the south-coast of England until she returned to Scapa Flow in October.
HMS SOUTHAMPTON
Another bomb exploded in the water beside the destroyer Mohawk, causing only superficial damage, said the official version of the attack by the Germans. Commander R.F. Jolly of the Mohawk was one of those killed.
Unofficially, Cdr. Jolly might take issue with the "superficial" part.
NAVAL EVENTS-Tuesday, 17 October
Light cruiser SHEFFIELD departed Loch Ewe for Northern Patrol in the Denmark Strait, arriving back on the 22nd after capturing German steamer GLORIA.
Four light cruisers were on Northern Patrol between the Orkneys and the Faroes, four AMCs between the Faroes and Iceland, and three AMCs in the Denmark Strait. The armed merchant cruisers were ASTURIAS, AURANIA, CALIFORNIA, CHITRAL, RAWALPINDI, SCOTSTOUN, and TRANSYLVANIA.
Convoy OA.21 of 21 ships departed Southend escorted by destroyers VANSITTART and WIVERN, which remained with the convoy until it dispersed on the 22nd.
Convoy OB.21 departed Liverpool escorted by destroyers WINCHELSEA and WITHERINGTON.
Convoy BC.10S of steamers BARON GRAHAM, BEAVERDALE, BELLOROPHON (Commodore), CITY OF DERBY DORSET COAST, EILDON, ERATO, FLORISTAN, GLAMIS, GLYCAON, MERLAND, PEMBROKE COAST, TASSO and VOLO departed the Loire, escorted by destroyers MONTROSE and VIVACIOUS, and arrived safely in the Bristol Channel on the 19th.
Anti-aircraft cruiser CALCUTTA departed Grimsby and arrived back on the 18th.
Destroyer BEAGLE attacked a submarine contact.
French large destroyer LEOPARD, which had been covering minelaying in the Pas de Calais area, returned to Brest on the 17th. Large destroyer JAGUAR sailed from Dunkirk on 1 November and with large destroyer PANTHERE, which had been at Cherbourg under repair, also arrived at Brest, but on the 2nd.
U.19 laid mines off Inner Dowsing near Yarmouth during the night of the 16th/17th, on which three merchant ships were sunk.
Three German aircraft bombed Scapa Flow, one of which was shot down by destroyer ESKIMO. Two near misses damaged old battleship IRON DUKE which took a heavy list and bomb blast damaged her electrical installations. She was towed into shallow water, settled onto the sea bed and ESKIMO provided electric power. Destroyers SOMALI and ASHANTI were also at Scapa Flow at the time of the raid, and later in the day, four more aircraft attacked, near-missing ASHANTI, but causing no damage.
Destroyer JUNO fired on German aircraft shadowing her SW of Farne Island. British aircraft came to her assistance and shot down a Dornier flying boat.
German destroyers PAUL JACOBI, THEODOR RIEDEL, HERMANN SCHOEMANN and torpedo boats LEOPARD, ILTIS, WOLF conducted an anti shipping patrol in the Skagerrak from the 17th to 19th.
U.37, U.46, U.48 attacked convoy HG.3 off Cape Trafalgar while it was protected by aircraft. Steamer YORKSHIRE (10,184grt) was the convoy commodore ship with Rear Admiral D M T Bedford Rtd as commodore on board and she carried military families which had been embarked from steamer NEVASA (9213grt) at Gibraltar.
U.46 attacked YORKSHIRE without success, but she was then sunk by U.37 with the loss of 58 lives, including 25 crew. Steamer CITY OF MANDALAY (7028grt) was also sunk by U.46, with seven crew lost and 17 survivors being picked up by Norwegian whaler SKUDD IV.
Destroyers WAKEFUL, ELECTRA and ESCORT were ordered to attack a submarine reported near the convoy. The last steamer was CLAN CHISHOLM (7256grt), sunk by U.48, 150 miles from Cape Finisterre with the loss of four crew. Survivors from all three ships, including Rear Admiral Bedford, were picked up by American steamer INDEPENDENCE HALL (5050grt) and taken to Bordeaux.
ELECTRA and ESCORT had departed Dover on the 13th and joined the convoy on the 18th from OA.19. In addition, destroyers ARDENT and ACASTA left Dover on the 20th and joined.
Convoy HX.5 departed Halifax at 0900 escorted by heavy cruiser YORK and Canadian destroyers FRASER and ST LAURENT. RCAF flying boats accompanied the convoy until 1800/17th. ST LAURENT was detached at 0830/18th, FRASER at 1630/19th, and YORK at 1000/19th, arriving back at Halifax the same day. Light cruiser EMERALD departed Halifax on the 17th as ocean escort, and she arrived at Portsmouth on the 29th. YORK left Halifax again on the 22nd to support the convoy and search for German battleship DEUTSCHLAND. Destroyers GRAFTON, GALLANT, WESSEX escorted the convoy on the 28th and 29th, when it arrived at Liverpool.
Convoying in the Mediterranean was discontinued:
(1) destroyer DUCHESS and sloop FOWEY, awaiting convoy Green 5, were sent from Gibraltar to Malta, arriving on the 20th
(2) destroyer DIANA and sloop DEPTFORD, en route to Port Said from Blue 5, were sent to relieve destroyers GRENVILLE and GIPSY on contraband patrol
(3) destroyer DUNCAN from Blue 4 was sent to escort battleship RAMILLIES, relieving destroyers GRAFTON and GALLANT
(4) destroyers DAINTY and DEFENDER departed Malta on the 18th to escort RAMILLIES, which reached Alexandria on the 20th
(5) French destroyers CASSARD and KERSAINT returned to Bizerte, and
(6) destroyers DECOY and DELIGHT were at Malta. After refitting, DELIGHT reached Gibraltar on the 31st for escort duty, and DECOY, her refit completed on 3 November, left Malta to escort steamer NEVASA to Marseilles.