BATTLE WITH U-BOATS
ATLANTIC CONVOY Y.C.’S SHIP MAKES FIRST HIT LONDON, March 19. The first full account of one of the greatest winter battles of the Atlantic between a pack of U-boats and convoy escorts, in which at least three German submarines were probably destroyed and many others seriously damaged, was issued by the Admiralty early this morning. The battle was fought out by British, American, and Fighting French escort ships, together with Liberator and Sunderland aircraft. . Although heavy damage was fnjj'cted on the U-boats, the convoy aid Hoi', escape without loss. The fight, which raged for three days and nights last month, began when the former American destroyer, H.M.S, Beverley sighted a U-boat at seven miles’ range. The Beverley stalked the U-boat until she was within two and a half miles, at the same time calling up the 25-year-old destroyer HJM.S. yimy (Captain R. B. Stannard, V.C.) to join in the hunt. The U-boat dived, but while the BeVerley circled, penning it into a restricted. area, the Vimy attacked with depth charges. Her third . attack brought the U-boat to the surface between the two ships. Both destroyers opened fire, and the U-boat crew were seen jumping into the water. The Üboat sank stem first until only her bow was visible, vertical above the water. Before this disappeared the Vimy scored a direct hit on it' Forty prisoners were picked up by the Beverley, The Vimy then picked up nine prisoners, four of whom subsequently died and were buried at sea. Pack Grows Every Hoar That night the attack was resumed by five U-boats, and the numbers continued to increase as the hours went by. With her 40 Germans as an uneasy audience below decks, the Beverley hunted them and ran one submarine down on the surface to 200 yards. The U-boat dodged from side to side of her bow, disappearing and reappearing in the mist in an effort to escape being rammed. The destroyer yawed at full speed in pursuit with tracer bullets streaming from her Oerlikon and Lewis guns. When the U-boat made a crash dive the Beverley attacked with depth charges. . . On her way back to rejoin the convoy the*Beverley sighted another Üboat at a range of 500 yards. Another chase began, the U-boat turning sharply and the Beverley following her m an effort to ram, at the same time firing on her at close range. Even the men posted as sentries over the prisoners joined in this fight. The next morning the Beverley again attacked two U-boats on the surface, with promising signs of damage or destruction. Aircraft Successes During the three days of the battle the Liberators and Sunderlands destroyed at least one U-boat and damaged four. For four hours on one night the corvette Mignonette (Lieutenant H. H. Brown) had frequently to break off the work of rescuing survivors to drive off U-boats on the surface. Time after time she returned to her task and saved a total of 88 men from the water. Other attacks on U-boats were carried out by the British corvettes Abelia (Lieutenant-Commander F. Ardem) and Campanula (LieutenantCommander B. A. Rogers), the American destroyer Babbitt and the Fighting French corvette Lobelia, to which went the credit of another U-boat probably destroyed. Lieutenant-Commander Stannard won the Victoria Cross while in command of the trawler H.M.S. Arab at Nam sos. The battle against U-boats was made on bis first voyage in command of the Vimy. It was also the Vimy’s first Atlantic convoy, although she had rammed and sunk a U-boat off Trinidad in September, taking 39 prisoners on that occasion. She lost a screw in the encounter, but after being patched up made a 4000-mile trip on one screw, taking an important supply convoy to North Africa. Her emblem is a Mills bomb m honour of the Canadians at Vimy Ridge, and her motto, “Fortune favours the brave.” Originally named the Vancouver, she fought in the last war with the Grand Fleet. The Beverley, which already has one U-boat to her credit, claims to be the first of the former American destroyers to be in action against enemy surface craft. That was in convoying ships to North Russia last year.
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Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23963, 2 June 1943, Page 3
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699BATTLE WITH U-BOATS Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23963, 2 June 1943, Page 3
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