Manchester HMS 1937
Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2012 10:24 pm
Name: HMS MANCHESTER
Builder: Hawthorn Leslie, Hebburn on Tyne, Laid down: 28 March 1936, Launched: 12 April 1937, Commissioned: 4 August 1938, Fate: Scuttled on 13 August 1942 off Tunisia
General characteristics:
Displacement: 11,930 tons full load, Length: 591 ft 6 in (180.29 m), Beam: 64 ft 9 in (19.74 m), Draught: 20 ft 6 in (6.25 m), Propulsion: Four-shaft Parsons geared turbines, Four Admiralty 3-drum boilers, 82,500 shp (61.5 MW), Speed: 32 knots (59 km/h), Range: 7,320 nm at 13 kt (13,560 km at 24 km/h), Complement: 750, Armament: Original Configuration: , 12x 6 in (152 mm) guns in triple turrets (4x3), 8x 4 in (102 mm), 8x 40.5 mm, 8x 0.5 in (12.7 mm) MG, 6x 21 in (530 mm) deck mounted torpedo tubes (2x3) (later removed), Aircraft carried: Two Supermarine Walrus aircraft, 1 catapult (Removed in the latter part of WWII), Notes: Pennant number C15
October 1938 - Passage to join Squadron. November to December - Deployed with Squadron in Indian Ocean and took part in exercises and visits Programme.
January to August 1939 - Squadron deployment with 4th on East Indies Station in continuation.
Early war service
MANCHESTER was serving in the East Indies with the 4th Cruiser Squadron at the outbreak of war, but was ordered home and arrived back Britain on 25 November 1939. She subsequently served with the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow, on Northern Patrol duties, capturing the German merchantman WAHEHE on 21 February 1940. She first saw action during the ill-fated Norwegian campaign in 1940, where she won her first battle honour. She was then based in the Humber for anti-invasion duties, but on 15 September sailed to the Mediterranean for Operation Collar. In 1940, MANCHESTER, along with other Royal Navy warships, engaged an Italian cruiser squadron, in an engagement that became known as the battle of Cape Spartivento.
BISMARCK and the Mediterranean convoys
MANCHESTER returned to Britain on 13 December 1940 and spent the first four months of 1941 under refit, then patrolled the Denmark Straits during the BISMARCK sortie. In July she returned to the Mediterranean for an important Malta convoy, but on 23 July she was hit on the port quarter by an aerial torpedo and badly damaged. Temporary repairs were made at Gibraltar, and the ship then sailed for Philadelphia for complete repair. This was finished on 27 February 1942, after which she returned to Portsmouth, where final work was completed by the end of April. On her return to service she joined the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow during the first week of May, then carried out Russian convoy cover duties and the reinforcement of Spitzbergen. In August she returned to the Mediterranean.
Sinking
MANCHESTER took part in Operation Pedestal, an operation to supply the besieged island of Malta, and which cost a number of warships, including the loss of the carrier HMS EAGLE. During the operation, on 13 August, she was torpedoed by the two Italian motor torpedo boats and subsequently scuttled by explosive charges. She was the biggest ship sunk by torpedo boats during the Second World War.
Aftermath
Her commanding officer, Captain Harold Drew, was court-martialled due to the Admiralty's belief that the ship was still navigable and capable of reaching a neutral port. Captain Drew was initially led to believe that he was taking part in an enquiry, and was only informed at the end of the trial that he was in fact being charged with negligence by a court martial. He was found guilty, and was reprimanded and dismissed. It was and remains a contentious decision; the ship had been very badly damaged, and the Captain had feared the ship, including her radar gear, might fall into enemy hands. Many of the ship's crew were rescued by an Allied warship; however, many became prisoners of the Vichy French in Tunisia. Notably, the surviving crew soundly support both Captain Drew's assessment of the ship's situation and his decision to scuttle her, with one seaman stating "We were down to 10-15% ammunition, listing at nearly 45 degrees, with one engine destroyed and not much hope of getting the other working. [Captain Drew] decided that his choices were to wait until dawn and get blown to buggery, or to save the men."
Sources: Wikipedia. http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono ... hester.htm. http://www.wartimememoriesproject.com/w ... hester.php.
Information Mr P Crichton
Builder: Hawthorn Leslie, Hebburn on Tyne, Laid down: 28 March 1936, Launched: 12 April 1937, Commissioned: 4 August 1938, Fate: Scuttled on 13 August 1942 off Tunisia
General characteristics:
Displacement: 11,930 tons full load, Length: 591 ft 6 in (180.29 m), Beam: 64 ft 9 in (19.74 m), Draught: 20 ft 6 in (6.25 m), Propulsion: Four-shaft Parsons geared turbines, Four Admiralty 3-drum boilers, 82,500 shp (61.5 MW), Speed: 32 knots (59 km/h), Range: 7,320 nm at 13 kt (13,560 km at 24 km/h), Complement: 750, Armament: Original Configuration: , 12x 6 in (152 mm) guns in triple turrets (4x3), 8x 4 in (102 mm), 8x 40.5 mm, 8x 0.5 in (12.7 mm) MG, 6x 21 in (530 mm) deck mounted torpedo tubes (2x3) (later removed), Aircraft carried: Two Supermarine Walrus aircraft, 1 catapult (Removed in the latter part of WWII), Notes: Pennant number C15
October 1938 - Passage to join Squadron. November to December - Deployed with Squadron in Indian Ocean and took part in exercises and visits Programme.
January to August 1939 - Squadron deployment with 4th on East Indies Station in continuation.
Early war service
MANCHESTER was serving in the East Indies with the 4th Cruiser Squadron at the outbreak of war, but was ordered home and arrived back Britain on 25 November 1939. She subsequently served with the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow, on Northern Patrol duties, capturing the German merchantman WAHEHE on 21 February 1940. She first saw action during the ill-fated Norwegian campaign in 1940, where she won her first battle honour. She was then based in the Humber for anti-invasion duties, but on 15 September sailed to the Mediterranean for Operation Collar. In 1940, MANCHESTER, along with other Royal Navy warships, engaged an Italian cruiser squadron, in an engagement that became known as the battle of Cape Spartivento.
BISMARCK and the Mediterranean convoys
MANCHESTER returned to Britain on 13 December 1940 and spent the first four months of 1941 under refit, then patrolled the Denmark Straits during the BISMARCK sortie. In July she returned to the Mediterranean for an important Malta convoy, but on 23 July she was hit on the port quarter by an aerial torpedo and badly damaged. Temporary repairs were made at Gibraltar, and the ship then sailed for Philadelphia for complete repair. This was finished on 27 February 1942, after which she returned to Portsmouth, where final work was completed by the end of April. On her return to service she joined the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow during the first week of May, then carried out Russian convoy cover duties and the reinforcement of Spitzbergen. In August she returned to the Mediterranean.
Sinking
MANCHESTER took part in Operation Pedestal, an operation to supply the besieged island of Malta, and which cost a number of warships, including the loss of the carrier HMS EAGLE. During the operation, on 13 August, she was torpedoed by the two Italian motor torpedo boats and subsequently scuttled by explosive charges. She was the biggest ship sunk by torpedo boats during the Second World War.
Aftermath
Her commanding officer, Captain Harold Drew, was court-martialled due to the Admiralty's belief that the ship was still navigable and capable of reaching a neutral port. Captain Drew was initially led to believe that he was taking part in an enquiry, and was only informed at the end of the trial that he was in fact being charged with negligence by a court martial. He was found guilty, and was reprimanded and dismissed. It was and remains a contentious decision; the ship had been very badly damaged, and the Captain had feared the ship, including her radar gear, might fall into enemy hands. Many of the ship's crew were rescued by an Allied warship; however, many became prisoners of the Vichy French in Tunisia. Notably, the surviving crew soundly support both Captain Drew's assessment of the ship's situation and his decision to scuttle her, with one seaman stating "We were down to 10-15% ammunition, listing at nearly 45 degrees, with one engine destroyed and not much hope of getting the other working. [Captain Drew] decided that his choices were to wait until dawn and get blown to buggery, or to save the men."
Sources: Wikipedia. http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono ... hester.htm. http://www.wartimememoriesproject.com/w ... hester.php.
Information Mr P Crichton