NAVAL EVENTS-Friday, 3 November
American steamer CITY OF FLINT (4963grt) departed Murmansk during the night of 26/27 October, called at Tromso on the 30th and was ordered to leave, escorted by Norwegian destroyer SLEIPNER. On the 3rd, she was interned at Haugesand by Norwegian minelayer OLAV TRYGGVASON after entering the port without permission, arrived at Bergen on the 4th and was later set free after the German prize crew was removed. CITY OF FLINT departed Bergen on the 27th and arrived at Haugesand later that day to discharge her cargo, departed there on 20 December and Bergen on the 22nd, arriving at Narvik on the 28th.
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German steamer NEW YORK (22,337grt) successfully ran the blockade while the Home Fleet was involved with CITY OF FLINT. She departed Murmansk on 31 October and successfully used the Indreled, arriving at Hamburg on the 12th escorted by three minesweepers and aircraft.
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Light cruiser GLASGOW and destroyers KELLY, BEDOUIN, ESKIMO and MATABELE had been involved in trying to intercept CITY OF FLINT and NEW YORK as they came down the Norwegian coast. All four destroyers arrived back at Scapa Flow on the 5th after sustaining severe weather damage. GLASGOW arrived at Rosyth that day with her forecastle dropped by two inches from the effect of the weather.
Light cruiser NEWCASTLE arrived at Sullom Voe on the 3rd for refuelling, then went off on Northern Patrol.
KELLY, after emergency repairs at Kirkwall departed with destroyer ICARUS for temporary repairs from depot ship GREENWICH at Scapa Flow, before going on to Hebburn for permanent repairs. She was back in service on 14 December. ESKIMO departed Scapa Flow on the 6th and arrived at Newcastle on the 7th, repairing until the 24th. MATABELE and BEDOUIN departed Scapa Flow on the 7th, MATABELE arriving at Rosyth on the 8th and reaching Newcastle on the 10th, where she repaired until the 25th, while BEDOUIN arrived at Rosyth on the 8th for boiler cleaning and repairs.
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Convoy OA.28G departed Southend on 31 October escorted by destroyers ACASTA and ARDENT, while OB.28G departed Liverpool on the 1 November escorted by destroyers VERSATILE and VOLUNTEER. On the 3rd, the convoys with 33 ships merged as OG.5, and were joined in the Western Approaches by French large destroyers VAUQUELIN and TARTU the same day. The British escorts were relieved and returned to England. The convoy and the French escorts arrived at Gibraltar on the 9th.
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Light cruisers DRAGON, COLOMBO, DIOMEDE arrived at Sullom Voe.
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On Northern Patrol were light cruisers CALEDON and CERES between the Orkneys and the Faroes, three cruisers and one AMC between the Faroes and Iceland, and three AMCs in the Denmark Strait. Light cruiser SOUTHAMPTON was returning to Scapa Flow from Denmark Strait patrol.
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Anti-aircraft cruiser CALCUTTA departed Grimsby on escort duties and arrived back later the same day.
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Convoy FS.31 departed Methil escorted by destroyers VALOROUS, WOOLSTON and sloop HASTINGS, and arrived at Southend on the 5th. There was no convoy FN.31.
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German steamer SCHWABEN (7773grt) had departed Santos on 26 September and passed through the Denmark Strait on 21 October. She entered Haugesand shortly after the CITY OF FLINT and was allowed to continue, arriving safely in the Weser on the 8th.
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French torpedo boat BRANLEBAS reported the track of a torpedo in 49-38N, 2-50W.
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Heavy cruisers DEVONSHIRE and SUFFOLK departed Alexandria and NORFOLK Malta on the 5th. All three cruisers called at Gibraltar on the 7th and 8th, and left on the 8th, escorted by destroyers DOUGLAS and KEPPEL. The destroyers were relieved in 44N by destroyers ISIS and ILEX which had escorted battleship WARSPITE from Gibraltar on the 6th. DEVONSHIRE and NORFOLK arrived at Plymouth on the 11th and SUFFOLK at Portsmouth on the 12th. NORFOLK reached the Clyde on the 18th and departed the same day on Northern Patrol duties. SUFFOLK arrived in the Clyde on the 19th and also departed later the same day for Northern Patrol. DEVONSHIRE repaired at Devonport until the 21st, and then arrived at the Clyde on the 22nd for duty with the Home Fleet.
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Destroyer DECOY departed Malta after refitting, and escorted steamer NEVASA to Marseilles. The destroyer returned, escorting ocean boarding vessel VAN DYCK and reached Malta on the 7th.
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Destroyers ISIS and ILEX, which had departed Plymouth, arrived at Gibraltar for escort duties with battleship WARSPITE and later, with cruisers of the 1st Cruiser Squadron.
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Submarine OSIRIS was damaged by a motor room fire at Alexandria. She departed Alexandria on the 8th escorted by anti-submarine trawler CORAL and arrived at Malta on the 13th, where she was under repair and refit until 30 December.
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Light cruiser CARADOC departed Kingston for duty in the Pacific Ocean.