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Revision as of 20:08, 16 June 2008 by Henning M (talk | contribs) (Undid revision 219767179 by Sandahl (talk))(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)HMS Exmouth was an Exmouth Class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was an enlarged version and flotilla leader of the E class destroyer. She was built at Portsmouth Dockyard, launched in 1934 and torpedoed in 1940.
This file may be deleted after Thursday, 24 April 2008.
Introduction To The Story Of HMS Exmouth
HMS Exmouth was torpedoed by the small coastal Type II U-boat U22 on January 21, 1940 at 5:35 a.m. general continental time while escorting a single merchant ship, the Cyprian Prince. The merchant ship heard two explosions and believed the Exmouth was dropping depth charges.
The ship was the flotilla leader of the "E" class destroyers, and measured 343 feet in length, 33.75 feet in beam, and had a depth of hold of 20 feet. HMS Exmouth displaced 1,495 tons, (2,050 tons full load), and was originally armed with five 4.7" guns in single mounts, two forward, two aft and one between the funnels. It is believed that the two stern 4.7" guns were removed to make way for mine laying equipment. The anti aircraft armament was two quad .50 calibre mounts on the wings of the signal bridge and five single .303 calibre machine guns. Eight 21 inch torpedo tubes were mounted in two quad mounts, one aft of the after stack and the other just forward of the aft superstructure.
The captain of the U-22 was Karl-Heinrich Jenisch. The U-22 survived this mission, but was lost in March, 1940 off of Jutland, Denmark to unknown causes, probably a mine. U22 was also responsible for sinking another merchant ship in the same area on the same day as HMS Exmouth: the Danish merchantman MS Tekla. Another merchant ship, the MS Miranda was sunk the day before by U57 in the same area.
NB: U55 has often been identified as the sinker of MS Tekla but German records show her as on the way towards the Irish coast, her usual hunting ground. It was here that U55 was on the 21 January 1940 when she sank the SS Andalusia.
HMS Exmouth was lost with all hands – 174 men and 15 officers. Some bodies (18) were recovered after the loss of the Exmouth, and are buried in a mass grave at the cemetery in Wick. The cemetery also contains the graves of men lost on other merchant ships sunk in the area by U22, U57 and U55.
21 January 1940
At 04:40hrs, Jenisch was scanning the surface of the Moray Firth through U22s periscope. His crew had spent the night laying magnetic mines across this vital convoy route and now they proceeded out of the Firth and north towards the Orkneys. It’s possible that they saw or heard the approach of HMS Exmouth and the Cyprian Prince then lay in wait or that they were simply attempting to slip out of the Firth when paths crossed. Either way, the U22s captain was being careful. A professional naval officer, he understood that the patrol objectives had to be completed before his open orders to attack enemy shipping could come into play. To their crews, U-Boats like U22 were known as ‘canoes’. Jenisch was fully aware that a small U-Boat like his should not be a match for the well armed opponent that head just been spotted. However, this was 1940 and the U-Boats were gaining a terrible ascendancy over the Royal and Merchant Navies. U22 may have been small but her confidence was high against a foe she believed to be poorly armed with an inefficient ASDIC system and depth charges U22 could dive to avoid. His prime target was the Cyprian Prince and he began to track her path, keen to avoid contact with HMS Exmouth is this could be avoided.
With her Moray Firth mission objectives completed, a submerged U22 was carefully moving on when opportunity presented itself in the shape of a small convoy – a large merchantman and her destroyer escort. Rather than heading for the safety of the north sea, U22 slipped into position – stalking the two ships across Naval Grid 1681 then continuing westerly into 1673 for over an hour. With a maximum submerged speed of seven knots, U22 would not have been able to keep pace with her prey as they steamed at 10. Therefore, U22 slowly manoeuvred into an attack position, intercepting the ships as they headed off of the Firth and north to Scapa.
After about an hour, the Cyprian Prince and her escort finally hove into torpedo range and Jenisch issued orders to open the outer doors of U22s torpedo tubes. However, Jenisch wasn’t after the Exmouth. As U22s Exec carefully noted in the log, the Cyprian Prince was her real target. To make sure, a spread of two torpedoes would be fired with the third retained for the inevitable counter attack by her escort.
The captain and crew of U22, on their way home from a successful mission did not hesitate. At a distant of 1600 metres, an extreme range, Jenisch issued orders to fire when suddenly the Exmouth altered course suddenly. Jenisch, watching as the destroyer swam across his bows with the moon at her back and heard, if not saw, his first torpedo strike the destroyer.
A single torpedo had hit HMS Exmouth, striking a fatal blow that started to list heavily almost immediately. Then a second explosion capsized the ship. As her first victim foundered, U22 realised that their second torpedo had also missed the Cyprian Prince. She too had suddenly altered course towards the crippled destroyer.
U22 did not get another chance to attack the Cyprian Prince. It must have come as no surprise to Jenisch that his intended target did not stop for survivors but sailed on northwards accelerating as quick as her engines would allow. He was more than prepared to wait for another target. As the crew or HMS Exmouth died in the cold waters of winter sea, U22 slipped back into the Moray Firth to look for fresh victims and an hour later the Danish merchant ship Tekla was also on her way to the bottom. On the 28th, MS Eston of convoy FN-81s shared the same fate.
Seven days later U22 returned to her home port at Kiel to a heroes welcome. As her crew lined the deck, the band played and girls briefly excused from jobs at the Naval Hospital and Flotilla headquarters waited with flowers and a warm welcome for Germany's latest U-Boat ace.
It was already late in the day when the MS Cyprian Prince met her escort off Aberdeen. Captain Wilson knew that HMS Exmouth was to escort him and his vessel northwards to Scapa Flow. Wilson and his crew were no doubt reassured that they had not only a modern destroyer watching over them but the E-Class flotilla leader herself. Aboard the Exmouth, Benson signalled simply to the ‘Prince "Follow me" and with the destroyer was showing a very bright stern light, together they sailed on away from the Aberdeen coast and towards Scapa Flow.
The Cyprian Prince was following at a safe distance of four cables astern of Exmouth on a course of 330° at 10 knots and both vessels continued to steam northwards as night fell. The sea was calm, and visibility good with the moon almost full. Despite these conditions the Exmouth’s stern light was still showing clearly. In fact it was still in sight of the Cyprian Princes Chief Officer Albert Clark at 04.44hrs (5.44 CET). It shortly after then, whilst his gaze was elsewhere, that Clark heard the first of two explosions. Quickly he turned and called down to Captain Wilson, resting in his cabin. Without looking at or for HMS Exmouth, both men presumed that their escort was dropping depth charges. Then, only four minutes later, came the final explosion of the night – a terrific noise that shook the crew of the Cyprian Prince from their bunks and lit the night sky. Springing from his bunk, Wilson dashed to the bridge and turned his ship towards the last visible position of HMS Exmouth.
By the time his vessel reached the site of the last explosion, HMS Exmouth was already gone. Their were 20 or so men in the water struggling to stay alive amongst the fragments of their ship. Captain Wilson slowed his vessel briefly but with his duty to the men on the Cyprian Prince and those reliant on the cargo she carried clear, Full Ahead was the signal. Wilson and the crew of the Prince continued their lonely passage to Scapa Flow with the cries of Exmouth's survivors drifting behind them.
Early morning, all was quiet aboard HMS Exmouth as she steamed across the Moray Firth. The captain and crew knew that they were in a U-Boat hunting ground and would have been working quietly and diligently at their tasks. Benson and his officers knew that there was a sub in the area and having left the Cyprian Prince with orders to proceed to Scapa, they swept out into the Firth. Despite this. a bright stern light was showing and the bold signal 'Follow Me' was broadcast to their merchant charges en clair.
Some worked, some slept or tried to sleep, others kept their assigned watches. HMS Exmouth was overcrowded with her wartime complement and many men would have been sleeping, smoking or playing cards long after dinner in her mess deck. In the engine room, the stokers kept the engines fired and probably wondered what their petty officer was up to as he worked this trip as acting-chief up on the bridge. In the signal room, Bill Hawkins and his colleagues listened out for enemy traffic whilst maintaining radio silence themselves. The men manning the Asdic equipment would have been patiently scanning the sea ahead for u-boats. The sets in 1940 were not particularly effective and only really scanned ahead and slightly below – sonar was still a way off and U-Boat hunting remained more of an art than a science.
The decks were deserted except for the lookouts and probably the depth charge crew. No one wanted to be topside on a freezing cold night like this unless they had to be - and that meant when Action Stations sounded. Even the gunners were nowhere to be seen - U-Boats didn't attack on the surface anymore and there usefulness was limited on a night like this.
On the open bridge, wrapped against the cold were the lookouts and a collection of officers and petty officers who performed or waited to be assigned tasks. The war was only five months old and this was a good ship with a top line crew yet to prove itself in conflict. Their chance came just after 04:00hrs when a signal was received ordering the Exmouth to search for U-Boats. Something was sinking shipping in the Firth and the Admiralty wanted it stopped. The available information all pointed to the U-Boat responsible still being in the area and as such unlikely to pass up an opportunity like the Cyprian Prince. The officer in command read the dispatch and woke Benson via the speaking tube. Then he sounded ‘Actions Stations” and the game was afoot. The crew started to move from their bunks and struggled into cold weather gear.
On the bridge, Capt Benson rang full ahead as the signaller passed the Admiralty co-ordinates to the cox’n. Down at the bows, a sub-lieutenant fused depth charges as his make-do crew of off duty stokers and sailors scrambled towards firing positions and heaved the heavy charges into place for launching.
It’s reasonable to suppose that the crew were responding to the call when the torpedo struck. Had they all made it to their action station, more than the handful reported by the Cyprian Prince would have made it into the water. What we do know is that a single torpedo caused tremendous damage, tearing a huge and mortal wound in HMS Exmouth's side and probably causing a secondary explosion that caused her to sink so quickly. Jenisch and his crew fired and left once they realised the destroyer was crippled and the chance to hit the Cyprian Prince had been lost.
On the bridge, Capt Benson would barely have had time to request damage reports before his ship listed over. Millions of gallons of seawater would now be flooding through HMS Exmouth, in itself doing terrible damage as it tore through the ship causing as many explosions as it extinguished. One of these struck the fatal blow. Most likely, either freezing sea water hit red hot boilers or a fire in the forward magazine caused the secondary explosion. A boiler explosion would have blown HMS Exmouth apart from the inside. Cordite exploding in a magazine fire would have incinerated everything inside her, heat and pressure rupturing hull plates.
The ship lurched, a few men grabbed lifejackets, then the final explosion turned the ship over. Instinctively, the men on deck would have scrambled against the list of the deck. Gunners would have been thrown from their guns, the depth charge crew (if they made it from their bunks) and the sub-lieutenant responsible may have spent final moments trying to disarm charges before the ship sank. Mostly, it would have been terror and confusion for the survivors of the second explosion. Then, with a final in-rush of water, she was gone leaving a handful of men struggling in water at five degrees or less. Before the Cyprian Prince cleared the horizon, they too were gone. Although no one lived to bear witness to her final moments, HMS Exmouth once capsized probably floated for no more than a few minutes before sinking quickly to the bottom of the Moray Firth.
The crew stood no chance at all. That any survived long enough to reach the upturned hull or surface was a miracle in itself. It appears that only the depth charge crew, who were wearing lifejackets as the loaded the launchers at the stern, survived long enough to make it into the water.
The Official Admiralty Report
The sinking of HMS Exmouth was investigated by the Admiralty in spring 1940. This was a common practice throughout the war and records of these investigations are available from the Public Records Office at Kew.
The report concerning the Exmouth and her crew states that:
"The entire crew of 189 were lost when the 1934-built Admiral-Class destroyer HMS Exmouth (Cdr.R.S.Benson), was torpedoed north east of Tarbat Ness in the Moray Firth by the U-22 (KL Karl-Heinrich Jenisch), at 04.44 hrs on 21 January 1940. The crew figure given at the time of her loss is in excess of her official full complement figure, given as 175 (Admiralty).
At the time of her loss it is reported that HMS Exmouth was leading MS Cyprian Prince and was showing a stern light. She was sunk in the early hours off Kinnaird Head. Some eight hours after her loss a signal was made ordering her to search for a submarine which had earlier sunk a merchant ship at 0535. This vessel has often been identified as MS Tekla, a Danish vessel actually sunk one hour after HMS Exmouth, again by U22. It is believed that HMS Exmouth has unknowingly been directed to search for U55, responsible for the earlier sinking of MS Miranda.
Some hours after her loss two signals were made to her, at 1546 and 1725 to report her position, following an earlier order at 1239 to search for a submarine which had sunk a Danish ship, the Tekla. She had in fact been sunk before the Tekla. Obviously the signal was not acknowledged and it was not until the Cyprian Prince arrived at Kirkwall that the loss became known. Why the Cyprian Prince did not report or make any kind of search is obscure, but the master stated that at 0544 (Central European Time) he heard an explosion which he thought was Exmouth dropping depth charges, followed by a further explosion four minutes later.
The wreck is in position 58-18N, 02-25W in 40 metres. This is 22 miles from Wick and 51 miles from Tarbat Ness - bearing 110 degrees. It is marked as 'position approximate' on the Admiralty chart.
The sinking was reported at position 58-18N, 02-25W in U22's Report.
The Teklas position was given as 58ƒ18'N, 02ƒ25'W - Grid AN 1681.
The Exmouth had met the Cyprian Prince (Captain Wilson) off Aberdeen, to escort her northwards to Scapa Flow. Benson signalled simply "Follow me". The destroyer was showing "a very bright stern light". Chief Officer Albert Thomas Clark was on watch in Cyprian Prince, which was following at a safe distance of four cables astern of Exmouth on a course of 330ƒ at 10 knots. Both vessels continued to steam northwards as night fell. The sea was calm, and visibility good. The Exmouths stern light was still in sight of the Cyprian Prince at 04.44hrs when Clark heard one explosion, and thinking Exmouth was dropping depth charges, called Captain Wilson, who was in his bunk, to the bridge. Wilson had arrived on the bridge when, at 04.48hrs there was a second detonation which Clark described as "A terrific explosion, much louder than the first".
At 04.50, the Cyprian Prince stopped her engines to look for survivors. Her helm was turned to port to clear the upturned hull of the Exmouth. Voices were heard in the water, and flashing lights were seen, and at 04.51, she went full ahead and put her helm over to starboard to close on the men in the water. At 04.53 she stopped engines again and, according to Marine Gunner Ronald Arthur Sheen, about 10 men could be heard in the water. Captain Wilson had already ordered men to stand by the boats, ready to go and pick up the survivors, but considered that stopping in good visibility to rescue them carried too great a risk of his own vessel being torpedoed, and at 04.56hrs he rang down for full ahead and turned to port, leaving the men in the water. Cyprian Prince continued northwards alone with its urgent cargo of searchlights, anti-aircraft guns, and mobile units, Scammel trucks, cars and ammunition for the defence of Scapa Flow.
Cyprian Prince's radio operator William Costello, logged at 05.07hrs "Called GKR (Wick Radio), giving secret call sign, Unknown vessel sinking in 5818N, 0225W". (The "Unknown vessel" was, of course, the Exmouth, but Costello would not have wanted to broadcast its identity en clair). Costello then looked out to see the two well lit neutral ships which had been following Cyprian Prince all night. (These were the Danish Tekla, and the Norwegian Miranda).
Seaman Cyril Monck in Cyprian Prince jumped out of his bunk on hearing the first explosion, and was pulling on his trousers at the time of the second. He went on deck and saw the lights of two neutral steamers on the port beam, apparently heading south. (He may have been confused by the fact that, by then, Cyprian Prince had reversed course to close the men in the water).
The Admiralty alleges that the first news of the sinking of the Exmouth was when Cyprian Prince reached Kirkwall at 13.00hrs. This was despite the fact that Captain Wilson had attempted to send a visual signal by Aldis lamp to Noss Head, Duncansby Head and Muckle Skerry, as he passed each in turn, but had been unable to elicit any response.
The destroyer HMS Sikh, the rescue ships Sphinx, and St.Mellons, the A/S trawlers King Sol, Loch Monteith, St. Elstan and St.Cathan, and the Wick lifeboat City of Edinburgh immediately rushed to the area and found one lifebuoy from the Exmouth floating among a handful of orange crates and other flotsam, but no survivors. The lifebuoy was picked up by HMT Sphinx, and the rescue ships also picked up a raft bearing two dead bodies and marked M/S Maurija, in 5817N, 0126W."
It is interesting to note that the relatives of the deceased were told that the ship had been lost to an unknown magnetic mine. This was reiterated in subsequent press reports. Interestingly, the loss of HMS Exmouth is omitted from the January 1940 war diary (post war omnibus reprint) whilst the Tekla is included.
The German Naval Grid Square for the attack by U-22 was given as AN1684, which equates to about 582100N, 022400W. This is according to "Axis Submarine Successes 1939-1945" by Jurgen Rohwer.
It would appear that the Exmouth had suffered either a second torpedo strike or a secondary (magazine?) explosion then capsized, sinking shortly afterwards). It is also possible that U22 had been mine-laying and that it was a mine that caused the initial explosion.
Warship Losses of WW2 by David Brown gives the position of torpedoing as 5818N, 0225W, but this was the position originally given for the torpedoing of the Tekla. That ship was initially considered to have been torpedoed by U-55 (Heidel), who was en route from Germany to his designated operating area off the south of Ireland. He was also thought to have torpedoed the Swedish ship Andalusia in the North Sea that same day. Heidel may well have passed through these waters, but must have been well clear of the area by the time HMS Exmouth was torpedoed (U-55 torpedoed the Andalusia NW of Ireland on the 21st). Meanwhile, Jenisch, in U-22 was operating in the Moray area, and it is now believed that the Tekla was sunk by U-22.
On 28 January, bodies from HMS Exmouth were washed ashore at Lybster. A mass funeral took place in Wick on the 31st. Eighteen ratings were buried in a mass grave. One of them was PO Joe OBrien, a pre-war athlete of note, who had 200 medals for swimming. Six of the bodies were unidentified. (Other bodies in the same mass grave came from HMS Sphinx). The Admiralty Board of Enquiry heard that Exmouth had been having trouble with her Asdic, and found that Benson had not given Wilson clear instructions and that his signal "Follow me" was wholly inadequate. They also stated that Benson should not have shown a stern light, as this was inviting attack. Normal convoy practice would have been for the escort to take station on the convoy rather than the other way around. They also debated whether the captain of the Cyprian Prince had done the right thing in obeying the Admiralty DMS (Defence of Merchant Shipping) instructions in abandoning the survivors of the destroyer when he might have rescued them, but concluded that his action had been correct.
Discovery
The wreck of HMS Exmouth was discovered in the Moray Firth in July 2001 by an independent expedition. Their findings were verified by Historic Scotland. HMS Exmouth today is almost unrecognisable. What was once a substantial warship was shattered, first by the sinking and probably later by depth charges dropped from vessels during WW2 searching for u-boats in the Moray Firth. Research showed that other vessels hunted U-Boats during WW2 and dropped charges in the area of the wreck site.
By way of a text description, in July 2001 the vessels bow was largely unrecognisable and was identified by the remains of the forward gun. This is completely tangled debris with only the barrel emerging. The mid section of the vessel including the bridge do not remain but sections were identified by the distinctively shaped windows on some plate panels and the remains of radio equipment. Below decks simply does not exist other than the existence of a large debris field. The rear of HMS Exmouth retains some shape but nothing to indicate the proud lines of a ship of the line.
Subsequently, a successful campaign by the HMS Exmouth Relatives Association saw the wreck site added to list of sites covered by the Protection Of Military Remains Act which effectively banned further diving on the site. This has included a subsequent request to the MOD to allow ashes of the remains of a relative of the crew to be placed at the wreck site. The wreck site does not appear to have been visited since this came into force.
Archaeological Evidence: 2001
During Summer 2001, several years of research culminated in a series of dives on a number of wreck sites in the Moray Firth. These were conducted by highly experienced divers with a wealth of experience and qualifications in the field of deep, cold water mixed gas diving. Several were serving or ex-members of HM Forces.
This team took video and still images, measurements and recorded evidence of several wrecks. Using this evidence, their own research and experience (the team included several local divers with hundreds of hours diving time in the Firth), the HMS Exmouth 2001 Archaeological Expedition was able to positively identify the following vessels:
(1) MS Tekla, sunk on 21 January 1940 by U22
(2) MS Miranda, sunk on 20 January 1940 by U57 but often attributed to U55
(3) Fishng vessel Trident, lost with all hands in 3 October 1974
(4) HMS Exmouth, sunk on 21 January 1940 1940 by U22
The above findings were presented to Historic Scotland and verified by their Marine Archaeologist.
With regard to HMS Exmouth, the team was able to positively identify the wreck site thanks to a number of factors. These include, but were not limited to the following:
(*) Number and calibre of guns
(*) Boilers and engine room machinery inc unique identifiers
(*) Unique (to E-Class vessels) hull features such as number and type of portholes
(*) The absence of any other WW2 vintage military vessels of a simlar size or type lost in that area
From the evidence, it was concluded that HMS Exmouth had suffered catastrophic damage at the time of her sinking. Witnesses all report hearing two explosions at the time, one distinctly louder than the other but are divided on which came first (e.g. 'bang BANG' or 'BANG bang'). This leaves us with three scenarios as to the fate of HMS Exmouth:
'Single Torpedo'
She was hit by a single torpedo. This, combined with the effects of a large vessel travelling at speed suffering substantial hull damage, was enough to capsize and sink HMS Exmouth. The second explosion was that of the second torpedo which, having failed to find a mark, self-detonated at the end of its run.
'Double Torpedo Strike'
She as hit by two torpedoes, either of which could have been the fatal blow.
'Secondary Explosion'
She was hit by a single torpedo whilst travelling at speed. This caused a secondary exploson where ether fire detonated a magazine or a boiler explosion, most likely where freezing sea water made contact with an extremely hot engine room.
Having reviewed all the evidence, the team concluded that HMS Exmouth was hit by a single torpedo. No evidence was found of a second torpedo either at the wreck site itself or within the surrounding debris field. This appears to be confirmed by a contemporary statement from a member of the Cyprian Princes crew who heard what they believed to be the distinctive sounds of a torpedo hitting the hull obliquely and 'skipping' along the side of the vessel.
So if HMS Exmouth was hit by a single torpedo, was this enough to sink a vessel of her size? The answer is unclear: traveling at speed, perhaps 20 knots the damage inflicted by a torpedo would have been hugely exacerbated by the force of water subsequently entering the hull. This could have torn a hole big enough to flood the vessel below the waterline and capsize her. However, this does not explain the scale of the damage that was evident to the dive teams in 2001. A vessel sunk in this manner could be expected to maintain some semblance of it identity and be recognisable as a ship: HMS Exmouth as she exists today is a shattered wreck that needed substantial work before she could be positively identified. More a wreckage field than a wreck as most people would understand.
However, if the second torpedo theory is discounted what events conspired to sink HMS Exmouth? A study of contemporary sources and evidence from other sinkings appears to indicate two other possibilities: a secondary explosion in either the magazine or engine room. Given the damage to the wreck, it's likely that we will never now for sure. What we do know is that something happened to HMS Exmouth to cause catastrophic damage to the interior of the vessel. The team found evidence of this at the site, including shells and other equipment that appeared to have damaged by fire or explosion (or both).
Where all the facts are not known, the evidence has suffered for 60 years at the hands of the sea and the resources employed were limited by both the harsh environment and the time available (work has not completed when HMS Exmouth was added to the Protection act list of vessels) it would be easy to write a ream of dramatic prose contemplating theories. What is more appropriate is that it is stated that HMS Exmouth, struck by a single torpedo foundered and capsized in a very short space of time. Very few of her crew survived this event and none survived the subsequent exposure to the winter sea.
"Lest We Forget"
Relaives Association And The 2001 Memorial Service
A relatives association for the crew of HMS Exmouth was formed in 2001 with the aim of remembering the sacrifice made by these men and boys and commerating this with a permanent memorial in Wick, the nearest town to the wreck site. On 2 September 2001 a service was held at the Old Parish Church, Wick and a permanent memorial listing all the crew lost on 21 January 1940 was dedicated.
Since 2001, the association has been involved in a subsequent memorial events involving HMS Exmouth in Portsmouth (2002), Exmouth (2004) and again in Wick in 2005.
MS Cyprian Prince
The "Cyprian Prince" was operated by the Prince Line Ltd., Furness House, Leadenhall St., London EC3. Built in 1937 by Furness Shipbuilding Company Ltd., Haverton Hill, Middlesbrough, she was 1,988 registered tons, was 306 feet in length, 44.3 feet in beam and 18.11 feet in depth.
On April 6, 1941 the "Cyprian Prince" was damaged by the explosion of a parachute mine dropped by a German He-111 aircraft. The next day she was badly damaged when the ship "Clan Fraser" exploded after being bombed by He-111 aircraft at Piraeus, Greece. The "Cyprian Prince" lost four men killed, but 32 survived. The ship was beached and was found post-war in a wrecked condition at Peristeri, Salamis Island and it would appear that the ship was later scrapped.
U22
U22 was a small, coast U-Boat. She carried only five torpedoes fired through three bow tubes, twelve mines and no deck armament at all. Her primary role was as a mine layer and harasser of Allied shipping. However, captained by Karl-Heinrich Jenisch (brother of Knights Cross winner and fellow submariner Hans) U22 sank eight ships for a total of almost 10000 tons during her short career.
U22 left Wilhelmshaven on the 16 January 1940. Her patrol route would have taken the ship up the east coast of Scotland, through the coastal hunting grounds off Greenock then across the Moray Firth and up towards the Orkneys before turning for home. It appears that having missed any possible targets off Greenock, where convoys assembled for the run north to Scapa and beyond, U22 sailed on towards the Moray Firth knowing that any convoys would have to pass her way. It is most likely that, given her limited torpedo capacity, U22s mission was to lay mines along the convoy route across the Firth. Following her engagements with HMS Exmouth and MS Tekla, we can calculate that U22 headed north away from the heavily defended coastal areas and up into the North Sea towards home.
U22s patrol start date gave her three days to reach the patrol route along the UK northern coast, probably starting near Greenock then heading north towards Wick for the following 24-36 hours. After sinking the Exmouth and Tekla, it appears that U22 concluded her patrol (possibly early) and headed home, reaching Wilhelmshaven three days later on the 24th.
U22s true location today is a total mystery. For her next patrol after sinking HMS Exmouth, U-22 was ordered to operate west of the Orkneys. However, once at sea, she was ordered to divert to Ryvingen, Norway. Although she acknowledged receipt of this order, this was the last ever communication with U22 and her crew. Despite efforts to track her down, it seems that the German Navy wrote her off as another spurious wartime loss. Allied records do not indicate any coincidental events and the sinking of U22 has never been claimed.
As no report was ever received from U22 after her new orders were sent, it seems that she could have lost either in the Jammer Bay area, west of the Orkneys or somewhere in between the two. Many U-Boats were sunk off the Orkneys during WW2 by both convoy escorts and specific anti-submarine patrols – British Sunderlands were based in Kinloss and Lossiemouth.
References
http://www.uboat.net/ The absolutely definitive source for U-Boat information.
http://www.btinternet.com/~byrnell/hms_exmouth/hms-exmouth.htm?speed=high HMS Exmouth relatives association.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1458634.stm BBC news links relating to the discovery of the wreck
http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/189.html MS Miranda at uboat.net
http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/194.html MS Tekla at uboat.net
http://www.fv-trident.org.uk/ Information about FV Trident
See also
| E- and F-class destroyers | |||||||
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| E class |
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| F class |
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| Interwar standard destroyer classes of the Royal Navy | ||
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| List of destroyers of the Royal Navy | ||