Deyatelny
 HMS Churchill leaving a US shipyard
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Deyatelny was a Soviet American Clemson-class destroyer . The ship came in the summer of 1944 with eight other destroyers of the British Town-class to the Soviet Northern Fleet and was the only one to be lost under the Soviet flag on January 16, 1945 off the Kola Peninsula .
The destroyer was built as the USS Herndon (DD-198) in 1920 for the United States Navy and only had two short service periods in the American Navy. In addition, the Herndon served from 1930 to 1934 with the United States Coast Guard as CG-17 . In the autumn of 1940 she was given to the Royal Navy as HMS Churchill (I45) under the destroyer-for-bases agreement , before she was made available to the Red Fleet as Deyatelny in 1944 .
Career in three navies
The destroyer USS Herndon , completed in the USA in September 1920 , was used by the US Navy , the US Coast Guard , the British Royal Navy and the Soviet Northern Fleet until its sinking in January 1945 .
USS Herndon (DD-198)
The destroyer was the first ship in the US Navy to be named after Commander William Lewis Herndon (1813–1857), who had made a great voyage to the Amazon from 1851–52 and died in 1857 when the Pacific Mail steamer Central America sank . Baptized by a niece of the namesake, the Herndon was launched on May 31, 1919 at Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company . On September 14, 1920 it was taken over by the US Navy in Norfolk, Virginia . After test and practice drives off New England , the new destroyer came to the reserve on November 3, 1920 in Charleston (South Carolina) . After being briefly activated for some exercises and maneuvers, Herndon was decommissioned on June 6, 1922 in Philadelphia .
Herndon then served with the United States Coast Guard from 1930 to 1934 to stop alcohol smuggling. On September 13, 1930, the USN made the destroyer available to the Coast Guard , which had been in reserve for eight years . After some overhauls, the ship came into service on March 7, 1931 as CG-17 and was then returned to the Navy on May 28, 1934 after prohibition was lifted . During this time, the destroyer collided with the coal steamer Lemuel Burrows in mid-January 1932 . The severely damaged destroyer was towed by its opponent in the accident until the customs cutter Acushnet (AT-63) arrived, which towed the Herndon to Boston .
After another five years in the US Navy's material reserve, the Herndon was put into service again on December 4, 1939 because of the outbreak of war in Europe. After practice drives and tests, the destroyer transferred to the Caribbean Neutrality Patrol in Guantanamo Bay on January 23, 1940 and became the lead ship of the Destroyer Division 67 , which also included USS Welborn C. Wood (DD-195) , USS Abel P. Upshur (DD- 198) and USS Welles (DD-257) belonged. In July / August 1940, Herndon was deployed from the Panama Canal Zone and trained anti-submarine defenses. When the destroyer-for-base agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom came about, the Herndon was delivered as one of 50 destroyers and transferred to Canada, where the delivery took place.
HMS Churchill (I45)
On September 9, 1940, the Royal Navy took over the destroyer in Halifax (Nova Scotia) . Due to a collision with the Welborn C. Wood, which had also been surrendered, and necessary repairs, the transfer to Great Britain was delayed until November 1940. The destroyer, renamed HMS Churchill (I45), went to St. Johns on Newfoundland and then crossed the Atlantic. From the 5th, the Churchill searched unsuccessfully for survivors of the auxiliary cruiser Jervis Bay, sunk by the German ironclad Admiral Scheer on November 3rd . After calling in from Iceland for supply, the destroyer then ran to Plymouth, where it arrived on November 17th and further adjustments were made in HM Dockyard Devonport for service in the British convoy security. As with almost all of the destroyed destroyers, the rear 102 mm gun, the 76 mm L / 23 gun and 2 TR triplet sets were removed; For these weapons a 76 mm L / 45-20cwt anti-aircraft gun and 4 depth charges were newly installed, the remaining torpedo tube sets were placed on the center line and the depth of charge was increased to 60. A British sonar device was also on board. In 1941 a British radar device was installed. In the end, the destroyer only had one 102 mm L / 50 cannon, one 76 mm L / 45-20cwt anti-aircraft gun, four 20 mm L / 70 automatic cannons and three 12.7 mm Flak guns -MGs, a triple set of 533 mm torpedo tubes, a 24-way hedgehog launcher, as well as 4 launchers and two drop rails for 60 depth charges .
The Churchill served as leader of the first flotilla of the captured US destroyers . She accompanied convoys across the Atlantic and was used as a security ship against submarines on the western approaches to the United Kingdom. In the spring of 1941, Iceland served as a base for a time. In the summer, the Churchill was with the 18th Escort Group in Newfoundland and was visited by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill on his return trip from a meeting with American President Franklin D. Roosevelt in August 1941 . After several months of repairs in Liverpool and Dundee by January 1942 , the Churchill was assigned to the 5th Escort Group , which then relocated to Newfoundland and was supposed to work with the US Navy.
The old destroyer shifted its operational area further and further south. On June 9, 1942, the Churchill rescued another three survivors of the American tanker Franklin K. Lane and 47 survivors of the sinking of the Belgian Bruxelles near La Guaira . U 502 , which had torpedoed both ships, was attacked in vain with 27 depth charges. The destroyer then had to sink the drifting wreckage of the American tanker. Together with the newer Havelock , the Churchill secured two convoys in the Windward Passage . On August 13th, the Churchill found 50 survivors of the U 600 sunk Delmundo south of Cuba . The old destroyer then secured additional convoys in preparation for the Allied landing in North Africa in the western Atlantic, but then had to be overtaken in Charleston (South Carolina) .
In January 1943, Churchill was assigned to the 4th Canadian Escort Group , which also included the Canadian destroyer Restigouche and Canadian Flower-class corvettes. Until November of that year, the destroyer was regularly used in convoy security. For example, the destroyer was at the security of escorts ON 158 (January 5-17 ), MKF 10B (March 10-17), KMF 10B (April 2-7), ON 177 ( April 7-17 ) April), HX 235 (April 24 to May 3), ONS 8 (May 18 to 29), SC 133 (June 8 to 19), ONS 12 (July 4 to 15), SC 137 (July 23 to August 3), ON 197 (August 15 to 22), HX 254 (September 2 to 9), ON 203 (September 23 to October 3), HX 200 (September 11 to October 18), ON 209 (November 9/10), HX 266 (November 18-26 ), ON 215 (December 10-22 ) and HX 272 (December 27 to January 4, 1944) involved. The destroyer was not awarded a Battle Honor for its missions . Due to increasing deficiencies and since more modern escort vehicles were available, the Churchill was transferred to Great Britain with HX 272 in January 1944 and assigned to the reserve. The ship laid up in the Tyne was then planned as a loan for the Soviet Union in March, overhauled again and taken over as Deyatelny by the Soviet Navy in Great Britain on May 30, 1944 .
Deyatelny
In May 1944, the Soviet crews arrived in Great Britain for the eight ships to be taken over by the Royal Navy. On May 30, it was taken over by the Soviet Navy , which was given the name Deyatelny (Russian Деятельный, "active"). When the convoy JW 59 left for Murmansk on August 15, 1944 , the Soviet transport association under Admiral Levtschenko also went with the battleship Arkhangelsk (former Royal Sovereign ) and seven other destroyers Zharki ex USS Cowell (DD-167) / HMS Brighton (I08) , Zhivuchi ex USS Fairfax (DD-93) / HMS Richmond (G88), Zhyuchi ex USS Twiggs (DD-127) / HMS Leamington (G19), Zhestki ex USS Maddox (DD-168) / HMS Georgetown (I40), Derzki ex USS Crowninshield (DD-134) / HMS Chelsea (I35), Doblestny ex USS Foote (DD-169) / HMS Roxborough (I07) and Dostojny ex USS Thomas (DD-182) / HMS St. Albans (I15) at sea . The convoy was secured by the 20th and 22nd Escort Group with two destroyers, four sloops, a frigate and five corvettes. The escort carriers Vindex and Striker , the cruiser Jamaica and the four M-class destroyers as well as the Caprice were responsible for securing the convoy .
The Deyatelny became part of the Soviet Northern Fleet in Murmansk with the sister boats and secured the Allied convoys in support of the Soviet Union on the last leg of their voyage and Soviet convoys in the North Sea between the various bases. From November 13 to 23, the destroyer secured the first part of convoy AB.15 with eight minesweepers and eight U-fighters to bring the heavy icebreaker Stalin from the Kara Sea to the White Sea . The second part of the convoy around the icebreaker Severnyj Veter , USCGC Staten Island (WAGB-278) was secured by the flotilla commander Baku of the Leningrad class , with Gremjashchij , Razumnyj and Razjarennyj three destroyers of the Gnevny class and three destroyers of the Town class with Zhyuchi , Derzki and Doblestny on November 23. reach Molotovsk . From the 24th, Dejatelnyj secured convoy BK.38 with six transporters and three tankers from Arkhangelsk to Murmansk with Baku , Razumnyj , Razjarenyj , Zhivuchij .
At the beginning of December 1944, the Dejatelnyj and her sister ships Derzki , Doblestnyj , Zhivuchij strengthened the convoy security of the incoming convoy JW 62 . Dejatjelnyj is unsuccessfully attacked by U 295 on the 5th and U 293 on the 6th with Wren torpedoes .
At the beginning of January 1945, Deyatelny secured the BK-41 convoy with fourteen allied merchant ships from Arkhangelsk to Murmansk with initially two, and finally four, sister ships and other Russian units .
The end
Dejatelny , who arrived in Murmansk on January 5, 1945 , left the Kolafjord to the White Sea on the 16th with the Soviet convoy KB.1 of six Allied freighters and two tankers. The flotilla leaders Baku and Grozny and seven other destroyers, including the sister ships Zhestki , Derzki , Doblestny , Zhivuchi and Dostoiny , also belonged to the security . On the evening of the 16th there was a submarine alarm on the Dejatelnyj , which immediately threw WaBos. When turning to make a new attempt, there was a serious explosion that tore off the rear of the destroyer as far as the collision bulkhead of the aft machine. All attempts to keep the ship afloat were unsuccessful. The Dejatelnyj decreased after 50 minutes to 69 ° 15 ' N , 37 ° 2' O . 117 men of the occupation lost their lives; only seven men could be saved by the Derzki . It is unclear which of the boats used hit the destroyer with a torpedo of the wren type . A lot speaks for U 997 . Dejatelnyj was the only Town- class destroyer in Soviet service to be lost.
Town- class destroyer for the Soviet Union
 Soviet Unionperiod of service |
Surname | Type | ex HMS etc. | ex USS | finished | Final fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.44 - 16.01.45 † | Deyatelny | CL | Churchill (I45) | Herndon (DD198) | 14.09.20 | January 16, 1945 sunk by a German submarine (?) |
| 7.44 - 6.49 | Derzkiy | W. | Chelsea (I35), RCN 42/43 | Crowninshield (DD134) | 8/6/19 | 6.49 Abort |
| 08/10/44 - 49 | Doblestnyy | W. | Roxborough (I07) | Foote (DD169) | 03/21/19 | scrapped in the UK from May 1949 |
| 7.44 - 2.49 | Dostoynyy | W. | St. Albans (I15), 41/42 NorN | Thomas (DD182) | 04/25/19 | Scrapped in the UK May 1949 |
| 08/26/44 - 8:52 | Druzhny | W. | Lincoln (G42), 42/44 NorN | Yarnall (DD143) | 11/29/18 | originally only material reserve, scrapped in September 1952 |
| 7.44 - 2.49 | Zharkiy | W. | Brighton (I08) | Cowell (DD167) | 03/12/19 | 18.05.49 sold for demolition |
| 7.44 - 1.50 | Zhguchiy | W. | Leamington (G19), RCN 42/43 | Twiggs (DD127) | 07/28/19 | 1950 in the film The Gift Horse , demolished from July 1951 |
| 06/16/44 - 49 | Zhivuchi | W. | Richmond (G88) | Fairfax (DD 93) | April 6, 2018 | scrapped from June 1949 |
| 8.44 - 9.09.52 | Zhostki | W. | Georgetown (I40) | Maddox (DD168) | 03/10/19 | Wrecked in 1952 |
swell
- ↑ These three destroyers were also delivered to Great Britain in the fall of 1940 and became HMS 's Chesterfield (I28), Clare (I14), Cameron (I05).
- ^ Tanker Franklin K. Lane
- ^ Steam merchant Bruxelles
- ↑ steam merchant Delmundo
- ↑ Rohwer: naval warfare , 15.8.- September 6, 1944 North Sea convoy operation JW.59.
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War , November 13-23, 1944 North Sea.
- ↑ Rohwer: Sea War , November 27–7, 1944 North Sea, Allied Convoy Operation JW.62 .
- ↑ Rohwer: naval warfare , 3.- January 5, 1945 North Sea.
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War , January 5-24, 1945 North Sea.
- ↑ so Rohwer ; and U 956 and U 286 are cited as the starting point of the hit.
- ↑ Dejatelnyj Soviet Destroyer on uboat.net
literature
- Arnold Hague: Destroyers for Great Britain: A History of 50 Town Class Ships Transferred From the United States to Great Britain in 1940 , Naval Institute Press, Annapolis / Maryland (1988), ISBN 0-87021-782-8 .
- HF Lenton, JJ Colledge: British and Dominion Warships of World War II , Doubleday and Company, 1968.
- Marc Milner: North Atlantic Run . Naval Institute Press, 1985, ISBN 0-87021-450-0 .
- Jürgen Rohwer , Gerhard Hümmelchen : Chronicle of the naval war 1939-1945 , Stalling, Oldenburg 1968.
