FLEET "SUPPLY TRAIN"

Chronicle (Levin), 8 November 1946, Page 7

FLEET "SUPPLY TRAIN"

i LONDON, Nov. 5. Before the British Home F,leet return ' ed to port after taetieal cxercises it carr.ied out au operation which it was j hever called.upon to perform during the • war- — rei'uelling from a iieet ' 'supply train ' ' at sea. The operation- was carried out undex grov,, overcaat skies, with ji wind which , whipped up a restless, white-coated sea. For the purposes of the exercise, the tleet, actually located in 'tlie strait be- | tween the Gcottish Hebrides and the mainland, was eonsidered to be 20UU . miles from land, and the probleni was to bring up a supply train and refuel while it was subjected to air and sub- j uiarine attacks. A tieet supply train was lirst used in j the Bacilic, where it x>roved the only pructicabie means of keeping a large I oflensive lieet at sea when the nearest j naval base was tliousands of miles away. I Though the lieet train was attacked by ' 'Japanese aircrai't in the Bacilic it never had to undergo a combined air and , undersea attack. j A large screon of destroyers and frigates surrouuded the main lieet, which consisted of the battleship King George V, the aireraft-carrier Iniplacable,- and the cruisers hluperb, Diadem, CJcopatru, and Dido. The lieet supply train consisted oi" a submarine depot sliip, a tug, j a destroyer, and au oiler. • j Before the operation, aircrai't were j llown from the lmplacable to carrv out! a search for "hostile" submarines uinlj aircraft. The eommander-iu-chiof theu ordered the Dido to go alougside audjj fuel thc carrier, and the actual opera- j Lion of fuelling at sea was carried out to the last detail. The Diadem was also ordered to fuel bv^a dift'ercnt niethod, which eutailed the use of a buoyant hose. This oixeralion had been conipleted and tlie cruiser was taking on ammunition when reports of approacliing "hostile" aircraft and submarines were reeeived. Oue. group of aircraft actually dived through the clouds of a niock attack on the King George V, but whetlier they were ellectively engaged by the. lieet 's guns and aircraft on tlie way will be a watter to be decided at a port-mortem which will be lield now that the lieet has returned to port. Aircraft from the carrier proved invaluable in locating surfaced submarines many miles away from the lieet, forcing tliem to dive and diverting theni from their course. The wliole exercise was carried out uxider strict active . service conditions and full reports are now being analysed.