Saturday news

By
Saturday, May 08, 2004

*'America's Tall Ship' visits Savannah Coast Guard vessel Eagle pays courtesy call this weekend
-Savannah Morning News, 5-8-04

*Blue sky likely to draw crowds to beach
-Pensaocla News Journal, 5-8-04

14.

which had passed through several columns of the convoy without a hit, and explode at the end of its run on the port quarter, indicating that the attack had been launched from the starboard side. The rescue trawler Northern Gem, attained an ASDIC contact, and dropped 3 depth charges with a negative result. McKeesport had a hole opened up by the torpedo abreast No.1 hold which was filled with sand as ballast. It quickly filled with inrushing sea water, and the ship lurched off to port, almost running down the British Baron Graham, which took avoiding action.

For another 50 minutes the torpedoed freighter maintained her station and the speed of the convoy, but with her engine room now flooding, at 0815 ( 8.15 AM ) she started to sink, and her Master ordered "ABANDON SHIP." There was but one fatality on board, a Swede, John A. Anderson, now Northern Gem came alongside and picked up 43 seamen and 25 naval personnel, she now tried to sink the wreck by gunfire, but without result, Tay was ordered by Gretton to dispose of the sinking ship, which she did by use of depth charges blasting another hole in her hull.

No further attacks over the night of 29th./30th.
The night of the 29th./30th. passed without further U-Boat attacks, and HMS Oribi joined, homed in on the convoy from astern, by means of HF/DF bearings, she too was fitted with this HF/DF equipment, a most useful adjunct for the convoy defences.

Coastal Command was able to reestablish air contact, when a Liberator flew over ONS5 from Iceland at 0645 ( 6.45 AM ) on the morning of the 30th. But this cover was short lived, visibility soon diminished, and the
aircraft left for its base. All morning the hungry U-Boats were kept at bay, and during this lull Oribi, also an oil guzzler, was able to replenish from British Lady.

Once more the the wild Atlantic lived up to its awesome reputation, as a full gale struck, by 2100 ( 9. PM ) the height of the waves was causing the escorts "To roll their guts out." But even in the appaling weather some U-Boats had maintained contact with the convoy, a new day had started, and at 0105 ( 1 AM ) Snowflake had found a U-Boat by her radar at 3,000 yards away, she rushed down the bearing firing off a starshell to illuminate the scene, catching the U-Boat in the glare of light only 3,000 yards away. Both her 4 inch deck gun and the 20mm AA Oerlikons loosed off rounds which forced the boat to dive.

A depth charge was dropped over the diving swirl of water caused by the crash dive, in rough weather, always an event that the escort does not relish, the hunter needs to quickly put distance between her stern and the forthcoming Depth Charge explosion, no easy task in the teeth of an Alantic gale. Otherwise the escort risks having her stern blown off.

Duncan, only a short time earlier, had dropped two DC's on a suspected submarine, the prevailing sea conditions only allowed her to make off at 8/9 knots, the explosion lifted her stern right out of the water, causing some alarming leaks, but even worse, this movement, caused all the Wardroom gin glasses to be smashed, really serious stuff indeed !!

During the night, two more DC drops were made, but no concerted U-Boat attacks were made on ONS 5. By the 1st. of May, the weather was alarming, a force 10 gale blowing directly into the face of the convoy front, an advance at only a snail's pace could be maintained, the columns, and ships within them all drifted apart.

The Convoy Commodore noted in his log: " Half convoy not under command, hove to, and very scattered." Commander Gretton in Duncan found it hard to accept that the awful weather could virtually halt the whole convoy dead in its tracks. By the next morning the weather had somewhat moderated, and 5 knots was being achieved, but over the previous 24 hours, only 20 miles had been covered, this suffices to indicate the ferocity of the incredible
weather conditions that ONS 5 faced.

A Liberator from Reykjavic flew many miles acting as a the eyes of the Escort Commander locating convoy ships scattered as far apart as 30 miles from him. By evening, Escort Group 3 Support Group made up of HM Ships Offa, Penn, Panther and Impulsive had joined at 2040 ( 8.40 PM.) Gretton as a Commander, now found himself junior
to Captain J. A. McCoy RN. in Offa, but he was appointed as the Escort Commander, and he was relieved to quickly find out that his senior officer was friendly and ready to cooperate, when he asked McCoy's ships to take station as an extended screen.

No sign of the German U-Boats over the night of the 2nd of May.
The night of the 2nd. of May remained quiet, the U-Boats had either been evaded, or perhaps were busy regrouping. When the new day dawned, 32 ships of the convoy were together, and their escorts still trying to bring the stragglers back into the fold, gale force winds from the south west, still battering the struggling convoy vessels.

Gretton in Duncan was still fretting about his falling fuel supply, it was still too rough to refuel from British Lady, and the weather ahead no calmer. He had just enough oil remaining to make it to Newfoundland at economical speed, he considered transferring his command to another Escort, but the wretched weather stopped that move. He was stuck in Duncan, his baby, and his duty, the safe escort of ONS 5, would have to do without his drive and dynamic leadership. By means of his Radio Telephone, Gretton at 1600 ( 4 PM ) handed over the  duties as Senior Officer Escort to Lieutenant Commander Robert Sherwood Royal Navy Reserve in Tay.

It had been as far back as the 1920's that Royal Navy planners had decided what fuel capacity was adequate for a Destroyer, and that decision had now decided the fate of Gretton's ship Duncan, and who knew at that specific time,
perhaps the fate of Convoy ONS 5. Once more the past had come back to haunt a heavy hearted Escort Commander,

Commander Gretton as he gave up command and struggled off to St Johns at only 8 knots. That night, and by the next morning, the 4th. of May, three more destroyers had to exit from their support of ONS 5 for exactly the same reason, very little fuel left. Impulsive went off to Iceland, Panther and Penn to Newfoundland, all to refuel.

The burden of command already pressed heavily upon Sherwood, he sent off Northern Gem with her load of McKeesport's survivors to Newfoundland, the fuel shortage was a major problem and anxiety for him as he warned C-in-C Western Approaches unless the weather let up so that oil aboard USS Argon became available, he would need to detach both destroyers Offa and Oribi by Wednesday morning the 5th. of May.

But back to HMS Duncan, by the time she tied up at St Johns, she had a meagre 4 % of her fuel capacity slopping about in her tanks. If the last two destroyers were forced to abandon the convoy through oil shortage, it would leave Sherwood bereft of any destroyers at all, only Corvettes remaining, and now to compound his troubles, Tay's ASDIC equipment went on the blink, and was declared irreparable.

To fill some of the blank spots in the Convoy defences, the First Escort Group at St Johns, HM Ships Wear, Jed and Spray, all River Class Frigates, plus an ex US Coastguard Lake Class Cutter, now renamed HMS Sennen were ordered to: "Proceed at best speed through 47 Degrees North, 47 Degrees West, and thence to reinforce
ONS 5."