The Imperialist was a trawler built for Hellyer Brothers Ltd, Hull, in South Bank-on-Tees, Middlesbrough, at Smith’s Dock Co Ltd, . She was completed in January 1939, and registered at Hull as H2. She had a gross tonnage of 526 tons, was approximately 176 feet long, (190ft overall), 28ft wide with a depth of 15 feet. Smith's also built her engine.
She was requisitioned for war service (at a hire rate of £380 per month) on 30th of August 1939, and fitted out for anti-submarine duties with North Atlantic Command and assigned pennant number FY126.
The ships company probably consisted of one Commanding Officer, 3 officers, one coxswain, 3 L/Seamen, 6 seamen, one cook, one steward, 3 engineers, 7 stokers, 3 telephonists, 3 signalmen, 3 coders, 3 Asdic ratings, 3 Radar ratings, 3 depth charge ratings, one gun layer and 2 gunners, a total of 47.
HMT Imperialist ship's company in 1943 (my father, William Gordon, front left, with pipe).
After her fitting out, and with subsequent additions, her armaments would probably have been a 4in gun forward, two 20mm Oerlikons — one each side of the bridge - one 40mm Bofors aft, two machine guns aft such as the Lewis or Vickers. She had depth charge rails aft, 2 depth charge throwers port and starboard, and she could carry 100 plus depth charges. She was an ASDIC ship and also had a RADAR (or RDF) cabin bolted to the port side of the well deck.
40mm Bofors
At Gibraltar in June and July 1941, HMT Imperialist with skipper Temporary Lt P E Kitto RNR was listed as an Armed Boarding Vessel along with trawlers Alouette (Lt Lord Churston RNVR), Loch Oskaig (Lt Cdr S Darling RANR) and Scottish (Cdr S A Brooks OBE Rtd).
Gibraltar, Europa Point
Gibraltar, the North Town
Also at Gibraltar were the 7th and 31st Anti-Submarine Groups. The 7th was made up of ASW Trawlers Erin (Actg Cdr J O Davies RNR), Haarlem (Ty Lt L B Merrick RNR), Kingston Chryolite (Sk G T Littey DSC RNR), Leyland (Lt Cdr A Wilkinson RNR), Lord Hotham (Sk J W Morris RNR, Actg Ty Sk F J Settesfield RNR from 20 Aug), and Arctic Ranger, (SO, Cdr J H Young Rtd) which was due to return from the Clyde.
The 31st consisted of anti-submarine trawlers Lady Hogarth (Ty Lt S G Barnes RNR), Lady Shirley (Lt Cdr A H Callaway RANVR), St Nectan (Ty Lt Cdr H B Phillips RNR) which was at Tobermory, and the Stella Carina (Lt R Lockwood, RAVNR).
Imperialist Bridge
Going to the rescue of seamen from ships which had been torpedoed must have been a frequent occurrence. One occasion was on the 19th of June 1941, when the cargo ship Gunda ( Sweden) was bombed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean (37°36′N 9°53′W) by Focke-Wulf Fw 200 aircraft of I Staffeln, Kampfgeschwader 40, Luftwaffe. All crew were rescued by the Imperialist and UK merchant ship Peterel. The Petrel was itself sunk three months later.
HMT Imperialist at Gibraltar
In Gibraltar Harbour on the 18th of January 1942, the HMT Erin, one of the anti-submarine trawlers, was sunk by an explosion. The Imperialist and Honjo were also severely damaged. It was eventually learned that the explosion on the Erin was the result of sabotage. A Spaniard who worked in the naval dockyard had packed a bomb inside one of the ship's depth charges. It is believed that the remains of the trawler were dragged through the north entrance to the harbour and dumped outside the Detached Mole.
The following is taken from Ships Nostalgia:
My name is Stephen Acton and my father in law is Harry Don Andrews. He served on the Haarlem as the signalman out in Gib. I asked him about the boats stationed there and he gave me the follwing information. The ships he remembers are HMS Honjo and HMS Imperialist. The Honjo was lost on 18/1/1942.The trawler Erin was waiting to get into position for taking on coal. To position the Erin under the shute, the Honjo had to be moved, it was eventually secured along side the Erin. The Erin finished coaling and the crew went to the showers. Suddenly there was an explosion on the Erin which sank taking the Honjo with her. There were casulties, but the incident was hushed up. It was sabotage by one of the foreign workers in the dockyard.
HMD Imperialist taken from off the port bow
30 Jul 1942: for good services in action against enemy aircraft, while serving on HMT Imperialist.
Temporary Lieutenant Philip Edward -Kitto, R.N.R.
Temporary Sub-Lieutenant Henry John Dowding, R.N.V.R.
Leading Seaman John Flett, X.2I357A, R.N.R. Seaman Fred Cook, LT/JX.268628.
Seaman Joseph Coffey, L T/JX.211550.
Smooth sailing
Rough seas
Calm again
ASW ships at Gibraltar around this time were the Alouette, St Nectan, Haarlem (FY306) Kingston Amber (FY211), Arctic Ranger (FY186), and Loch Oskaig (FY175)
Apart from anti-submarine patrols, the Imperialist also was involved accompanying ships in to and out of Gibraltar, as they left and joined convoys to and from the Mediterranean. In November 1942 she was part of Force R which consisted of a number of warships escorting fuel tankers heading into the Mediterranean to refuel the Force H group near the Algerian coast.
Force R consisted of two tankers, the Dingledale and the Brown Ranger, escorted by a corvette, the HMS Coreopsis, together with the Imperialist, St Nectan, Loch Oskaig and Arctic Ranger. They were joined by destroyers Porcupine and Isaac Sweers which were returning to join Force H from Gibraltar. However, also in the area was U-boat U431. Here is an extract from U-Boat Attack Logs by Taylor and Morgan:
Force R consisted of two tankers, the Dingledale and the Brown Ranger, escorted by a corvette, the HMS Coreopsis, together with the Imperialist, St Nectan, Loch Oskaig and Arctic Ranger. They were joined by destroyers Porcupine and Isaac Sweers which were returning to join Force H from Gibraltar. However, also in the area was U-boat U431. Here is an extract from U-Boat Attack Logs by Taylor and Morgan:
Some two-thirds of the Isaac Sweer's crew died in that inferno despite the efforts of Loch Oskaig and St Nectan to rescue them. The other escort ships maintained their station, watchful of other attacks. There were only 105 survivors. The U431 itself was sunk in October the following year by depth charges from a Wellington bomber. All 51 on board were killed.
The entrance to the crew's mess with the gun platform beyond
The four inch gun
The following report was made by the officers of Naval Intelligence who interviewed the survivors of the U 732.
| Several prisoners stated that on the night of 30th October, while "U 732" was proceeding surfaced she was attacked by aircraft. The crew heard machine gun fire and felt the explosions of bombs some distance away. Some believed that another U-Boat must have been in the vicinity and was being attacked. "U 732" crash dived immediately, attaining periscope depth in 25 seconds. (N.I.D. Note. There was only one recorded aircraft attack on the night of 30th October. At 2159, Wellington "W" of 179 Squadron attacked a U-Boat in position 35° 33' N., 6° 37' W. This may have been the attack directed against "U 340." and heard by the crew of "U 732," as the two U-Boats were in the vicinity at the time.) After the attack, "U 732" dived to a greater depth and remained submerged for about two hours, proceeding at silent running speed. She then surfaced and continued charging batteries. | ||
______________________
| ||
IV. SINKING OF "U 732"
| ||
| (i) First Attack | ||
| At dawn on 31st October, 1943, "U 732" submerged to about 60 meters (197 ft.), and proceeded at a speed of 2-3 knots. During the forenoon, faint explosions were heard by the crew, and they believed that depth-charges were being dropped at a considerable distance. At about 1300, screw noises were heard in the vicinity and, shortly thereafter , a pattern of eight depth-charges exploded immediately below the keel of the U-Boat. Prisoners' statements on the events immediately following the explosions were somewhat contradictory. Several stated that in the ensuing panic, someone blew tanks without orders, causing the U-Boat to surface suddenly. Others maintained that the force of the explosions blew her to the surface. | ||
| When "U 732" appeared on the surface, a destroyer immediately opened fire, scoring several hits on the conning tower and tanks. Carlsen ordered the U-Boat to dive and she submerged under poor control until, at a depth of about 160 meters (585 ft.), she struck bottom. (N.I.D. Note. At 1320A on 31st October, 1943, in position 35° 54' N., 5° 52' W. H.M.S. "Imperialist" attacked a submerged U-Boat with a 10-charge pattern. This U-Boat surfaced in the centre of the pattern and was seen to be damaged. "Imperialist" opened fire and many hits were scored before the U-Boat again submerged. The depth-charge attacks were resumed, a further 18 charges being dropped.) | ||
| (C51273) B4 | ||
 |  | |
| Conning tower of U732 | ||
4
| ||
| (ii) Damage from First Attack | ||
| The combined depth-charging and gunfire seriously damaged "U 732." Her W/T equipment was rendered unserviceable, the compass was broken, both periscopes were severely damaged, several tanks were pierced, and there was water entry into the pressure hull near diving tank Number 3. | ||
| Carlsen decided to remain submerged and ordered both engines to be stopped. "U 732" was slowly thrust forward by the current. Prisoners described an eerie silence, disturbed only by a strange rustling as the boat scraped along the sand. Either the impacts of sand entering the glands of the hydroplane shaft caused the hydroplanes to jam in a hard rise position. | ||
| After some hours, the air in "U 732" became foul and several potash cartridges were used to improve it. When the Engineer Officer reported that only about 30 kg./cm.² (426.7 lbs./sq.in.) of H.P. air remained, Carlsen decided to attempt to escape on the surface. Fearing the presence of destroyers, he ordered the stern torpedo tube prepared for firing. | ||
| (iii) Final Attack | ||
| At about 2100, "U-732" broke surface and made off at full speed, listing badly to starboard. Destroyers were in the vicinity and about twenty R.D.B.s were released in an attempt to mislead them. The U-Boat escaped detection for some time when suddenly she was fully illuminated by a searchlight. As the light swept over her, swept back again and then went out, the men were under the impression that the U-Boat had not been discovered. By this time, "U-732" had become slightly heavy by the stern and Carlsen ordered the cap of the after torpedo tube to be closed. The order was misunderstood and the torpedo was fired. No hit was scored. | ||
| About 10 minutes later, the shadow of a destroyer was seen in the U-Boat's wake, The destroyer immediately opened fire, killing several members of the U-Boat's crew. The men became panic-stricken and several of them jumped overboard. Only then did Carlsen give the order to abandon ship and scuttle. The prisoners stated that he remained calm throughout the attack and procured several life-jackets from the conning-tower for members of the crew. (N.I.D. Note. At about 2130A on 31st October, H.M.S. "Douglas" sighted a surfaced U-Boat in position 35° 57' N., 6° 01' W. She opened fire, ran in and dropped a pattern of ten charges ahead of the target. The U-Boat had already begun to scuttle on being sighted.) | ||
| Survivors were in the water for several hours before they were rescued. Ten ratings were picked up by H.M.S. "Witherington," the Engineer Officer and seven ratings by H.M.S. "Douglas," and the Commanding Officer by the Red Cross chartered "Ambriz." |
The full report from the interrogation of the prisoners can be found at Uboat.net
The story appeared in March the following year in The Sphere magazine.
Feature in The Sphere magazine
The illustration by Montague Dawson referred to in The Sphere article above
Claus-Peter Carlsen
The crew cheering for the camera
I found the following details and photos of the Imperialist post-war on the Bosun's Watch site.
On the 9th of October 1959 heading out for Icelandic grounds (Sk. Frank W. Drewery) she was in thick fog off the Yorkshire coast when she collided with the Turkish steamer Yelkenci (7046grt/1943) 15 miles east of Scarborough. Imperialist sustained heavy damage to shell plating on her port side and beached south of Scarborough harbour. Two days later she was refloated after temporary repairs and proceeded to Hull for permanent repair and return to service.
In 1963 she was transferred within the Associated Fisheries Group to Wyre Trawlers Ltd, Fleetwood and in 1965 registered at Fleetwood (FD83).
On the 18th of October 1965, in a heavy gale on Icelandic grounds, Imperialist went to the assistance of the Icelandic Strakur (SI145) which was disabled with engine trouble. She picked up seven crew members from a dinghy and with difficulty closed with the Strakur and took off the remaining two crew.
She was sold to West of Scotland Shipbreaking Co Ltd, Troon for breaking up, and, on the 20th of December 1966, she was delivered to Troon Harbour from Fleetwood under own power. By the 15th of July 1969 breaking up was completed. At that time we lived less than 30 miles away in Paisley, but of course my father knew nothing of his old ship's fate.
Which was probably a good thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment