HMS Broadwater (H81)

HMS Broadwater (H81)

the similar HMCS St. Francis after RN adaptation

Ship data flag  United Kingdom 20-40: United States  other ship names USS Mason (DD 191) Ship type destroyer class Clemson class Shipyard Newport News Shipbuilding , Newport News Build number 231 Keel laying July 10, 1918 Launch March 8, 1919 Commissioning February 28, 1920 USN October 9, 1940 RN Whereabouts sunk in the Atlantic by U 101 on October 18, 1941

Ship dimensions and crew length 95.8 m ( Lüa ) 94.5 m ( KWL ) width 9.68 m Draft Max. 2.84 m displacement 1190   ts standard; 1590 ts maximum   crew 101-130 men

Machine system machine 4 White-Forster boilers 2 Westinghouse - geared turbines Machine performance 26,500 Top speed 35 kn (65 km / h) propeller 2

Armament 3 - 102mm L / 50 Mk-IX gun 1 - 76 mm L / 45 Fla gun 3 - 12.7mm L / 90 machine guns 2 × 3 533 mm torpedo tubes 60 depth    charges, 4 launchers, 2 drop rails Sensors 1940: sonar ,

HMS Broadwater (H81) was the former destroyer USS Mason (DD 191) of Clemson-class destroyer , which in October 1940 by the Royal Navy as part of the Destroyer for bases Agreement was adopted by the US Navy. All destroyers taken over with the agreement, despite their differences, were referred to as the Town class by the British .
The destroyer, used by the United States Navy from 1920 to 1922 and 1939/40, was torpedoed south of Iceland by U 101 after just one year on October 18, 1941 , immediately lost its forecastle and was finally abandoned after ten hours. 56 men died on the ship, three seriously injured on the voyage to Great Britain and 65 men survived the sinking of the destroyer.

History of the destroyer

The Broadwater was the first Town-class destroyer to be sunk with a British crew in action. The destroyer, completed in the USA at the end of February 1920 as the USS Mason , was the third ship of the class to be lost when it sank in October 1941 after Cameron (I05) (see below) and the Bath (I17) , which was used under the Norwegian flag .

USS Mason (DD 191)

USS Mason (DD-191) between 1920 and 1922

The destroyer was the first US Navy ship named after former Secretary of the Navy John Y. Mason (1799-1859) who served as the 16th Secretary of the Navy from March 1844 to March 1845 and then again from September 1846 to March 1849 Office was. The lawyer was first elected to Congress in 1831. He was Secretary of the Navy under President John Tyler and then under President James K. Polk . Most recently, Mason was American ambassador to France from January 1854 until his death in Paris on October 3, 1859.

The keel-laying of the Clemson-class destroyer named after him took place on July 10, 1918, the launching on March 8, 1919 at Newport News Shipbuilding , Newport News , Virginia. The destroyer was baptized by the namesake's great-granddaughter. On February 28, 1920, the destroyer was taken over by the US Navy in the Norfolk Navy Yard . After 33 months in active service with the fleet, the destroyer came to the reserve and was decommissioned on July 3, 1922.

Only more than 17 years later, on December 4, 1939, the now obsolete destroyer was put back into service because of the outbreak of war in Europe. Because of the urgent need for escort vehicles, negotiations began between Great Britain and the USA for the transfer of such vehicles, which were concluded in the Destroyers for Bases Agreement (German: " Destroyer for Base Agreement ") of September 2, 1940.

From the beginning of September, the US Navy in Halifax (Nova Scotia) handed over 50 destroyers of the US smooth-deck type of the Caldwell class (3 RN), the Wickes class (27 RN / RCN) and the Clemson class (20 RN / RCN) to the Royal Navy or the Royal Canadian Navy. In return, the US Navy received bases in the Bahamas , Jamaica , St. Lucia , Trinidad , Bermuda , British Guiana and Argentia on Newfoundland .

HMS Broadwater (H81)

The USS Mason arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia on October 2, 1940 and was taken over by the British Royal Navy as HMS Broadwater (H81) the following day . The name of a former town in Virginia , USA and a town in West Sussex in Great Britain had not previously been used by a British ship. On October 15, the destroyer began its ferry voyage via St. John's to Great Britain, where the ship arrived on the River Clyde on the 26th . By the end of January 1941, the Broadwater was prepared for use in the Royal Navy at the Naval Shipyard in Devonport and at a shipyard in Cardiff . A deployment in the 11th Escort Group of the Western Approaches Command was planned . The first use of the destroyer took place from February 9 to 12, 1941 to secure the convoy WS 6A leaving the Clyde together with the destroyer escorts Atherstone and Cottesmore and the flotilla leader Keppel . A boiler damage forced the return of the destroyer. At the end of March, the repaired Broadwater was able to secure the departure of convoy WS 7 in the area of ​​the North Western Approaches and then the last leg of convoy HG 56 from Gibraltar from March 28th to 30th. From April 4 to 7, 1941, the destroyer was used to secure convoy OB 306 with 19 merchant ships from Liverpool into the Atlantic, which split up on the 9th and independently sought out its targets without any security. The Broadwater had urgent repairs done on the Clyde and was then overhauled in Southampton.

The Corvette Bittersweet

The destroyer should in future belong to the Newfoundland Escort Force and therefore moved from the Clyde with the convoy OB 339 together with the corvettes HMCS  Bittersweet and Fennel to Newfoundland on the other side of the Atlantic, where it was stationed in St. John's. In addition to the three transferred ships, the sloop HMS Leith had secured the convoy of 52 ships that was not discovered / attacked by German submarines. From July 2, the security to the Canadian coast was reinforced by units deployed off Newfoundland, such as the town-class destroyers Ramsay , Burwell and Richmond . Just a few days after arrival, the Broadwater accompanied the Halifax convoy HX 138 with 55 merchant ships to Great Britain from July 15 to 23, 1941 . From July 26th until August 1st, the destroyer was used to secure convoy OB 349 in the opposite direction, which continued from the middle of the Atlantic without security. After a short break, the HX 145 was again accompanied to Europe from August 16 to 26 . With 85 ships it was the largest convoy accompanied by the destroyer up to that point. The largest ships to be protected were the former whale factories Hectoria and Southern Princess , which were used as tankers and also had passengers on board, as well as a number of modern motor tankers such as the Charles F. Meyer and Narragansett built in Germany . The Broadwater commanded the convoy security, which also included the Canadian Flower corvettes Chilliwack , Rimouski and Spikenard , who then also formed Escort Group 16 when the Canadian ECs were reorganized . In addition, the auxiliary cruiser California and the two former whalers Kos VIII and Kos IX were used to secure them . South of Iceland the fuse was exchanged and taken over by the destroyers Boadicea , Beagle and the Salisbury of the Town class as well as the Flower corvettes Heather , Narcissus and the minesweeping sloop Hebe for the remainder of the voyage.

The end of the Broadwater

MS Capetown Castle , the largest ship of the TC14 convoy

In October 1941, the Broadwater secured convoy TC 14 with eight other escort ships ( HMS Harvester , Havelock and Highlander , HMS Buxton and Sherwood as well as HMCS Restigouche , Ottawa and Skeena ) , which carried over 12,000 soldiers and material on six ships Britain should transport. On the 15th the destroyer received the order with the destroyer Highlander to catch up with the attacked convoy `` SC 48 '' , which they reached on the 16th.

Convoy SC 48 had already left Sydney (Nova Scotia) on October 5th with 53 merchant ships and the Canadian corvettes Baddeck and Shediac as well as the British Gladiolus . At sea on the 9th, the Canadian corvettes Camrose , Rosthern and Wetaskiwin as well as the Free French Mimosa were escorted. Extremely bad weather caused the convoy to fall apart early on and prevented the town destroyer Columbia and the chief of security from catching up with the convoy as planned. Some of the corvettes lost contact with the convoy. Camrose and Rosthern finally formed a group with eleven stragglers, which also included the leader of the convoy, Commodore Sanders, on the Castalia (6601 GRT, built in 1906, 28 passengers). This group ran closed behind the actual convoy on a slightly different course and reached Great Britain ten days after the convoy without being attacked. In the front group over 40 merchant ships were still running, secured by four corvettes.
In the early morning of October 15 sighted U 553 , the most southerly boat of the now eight submarines group comprising incendiaries , the convoy. Since the commander Thurmann recognized the poor security of the convoy, he attacked immediately and was able to sink the Silvercedar (4354 BRT, built in 1924, 21 dead) and Norwegian Ila (1583 BRT, 1939, 14 dead), avoiding an attempt to ram another ship and withdrew to the position of a feeler holder. During the day, units from other escorts and from Iceland were ordered to join the attacked convoy, but only Columbia with the escort commander was able to catch up during the day and push away the contactor. In the evening, further submarines that had arrived in the meantime attacked the convoy again and U 568 under Joachim Preuss sank Empire Heron (6023 BRT, built in 1920, 42 dead). The attacking boats were pushed aside. The Gladiolus (940 ts, 1940 i. D.) was lost with the entire crew. During the night, the convoy could temporarily detach the submarines due to course changes.

The torpedoed USS Kearny next to the sister ship Monssen in Reykjavik

British and Canadian units from other convoys and from Iceland were ordered to join the attacked convoy. First the American destroyers of the DesRon 13 reached the convoy with the destroyers Decatur , Kearny , Livermore and Plunkett . Later, their fifth ship, Greer , arrived along with the Canadian corvette Pictou . As senior commander, L. Thebaud took over defense command from USS Plunkett of the US Navy, which was not yet involved in the war. The lack of experience of the American commander and the poor communication between the defenders made it easier for the attacking ten submarines to succeed the following night. First U 553 sank the Bold Venture (3222 BRT, built in 1920, 17 dead) at around 8 p.m. , an hour later the U 558 first sank the tanker WC Teagle (9552 BRT, built in 1915, 14 dead) and then the Erviken (6595 BRT , Built in 1921, 22 dead) and the Rym (1369 BRT, built in 1919), who wanted to support the damaged vessel. Around midnight, U 432 was able to sink the Evros (GR, 5283 BRT, built in 1918, all 32 men dead) and the motor tanker Barfonn (9739 BRT, built in 1931, 14 dead). Shortly after midnight, U 568 met the USS Kearney , which was not recognized as a US destroyer. Eleven men died on board the American destroyer and another 22 suffered serious injuries.

Of the British reinforcements, the Highlanders and Broadwater from convoy TC 14 first arrived in the early morning hours of the 17th, and they succeeded in pushing away submarines; however, a depth charge by Broadwater was unsuccessful. The damaged Kearney left the convoy for Iceland , secured by Decatur and Greer . The original Canadian escort ships were to remain with the convoy for one more day as the threat from the German submarine pack persisted. In the course of the day, the corvettes Abelia and Veronica from convoy ON 25 (on October 10th from Liverpool in the sea) were another reinforcement at SC 48 . On the 17th the convoy suffered no further casualties.

In the early morning hours of October 18, the Broadwater was hit by torpedoes from the German submarine U-101 and lost its forecastle. The British Escort Group 3 , which had meanwhile arrived, parked three trawlers to secure the damaged ship. The convoy continued its march with the remaining transporters and the destroyers Amazon , Bulldog , Georgetown and Richmond as well as the corvette Heartease and lost no further ship.

The submarine trawlers Angle , Cape Warwick and St. Apollo remained at the torpedoed Broadwater . After more than ten hours of efforts to save the remains of the destroyer, they were abandoned in the early afternoon when the stern of the destroyer threatened to break off. 45 crew members, including for the first time an American Royal Navy volunteer and 11 rescued from torpedoed ships, died on board the Broadwater . The Angle rescued 40 survivors , another 28 the Cape Warwick , three of whom died on board. The Broadwater ex Mason sank on October 19 shortly before 4 p.m. after several shots from St. Apollo at position 57 ° 1 ′  N , 19 ° 8 ′  W Coordinates: 57 ° 1 ′ 0 ″  N , 19 ° 8 ′ 0 ″  W is the first town-class ship to fly the British flag.

The ship's bell and documents relating to the destroyer were given to the residents of Broadwater (Nebraska) by the British government at the end of the war and can be viewed there in the public library and city museum.

More British losses

Surname	handing over	Type	ex USS		Shipyard	finished	Final fate
Cameron (I05)	9.09.40	CL	Welles	(DD257)	Bethlehem	2.09.19	Badly damaged by air raid in Portsmouth on December 5, 1940 , no active service, decommissioned October 5, 1943, sold for demolition
Stanley (I73)	23.10.40	CL	McCalla	(DD253)	Bethlehem	05/19/19	Sunk by U 574 on December 19, 1941 , over 100 dead
Belmont (H46)	8/10/40	CL	Satterley	(DD190)	Newport News	23.12.19	Sunk by U 82 south of Newfoundland on January 31, 1942 , all 138 men on board dead
Campbeltown  (I42)	9.09.40	W.	Buchanan	(DD257)	Bethlehem	01/20/19	Blown up on March 29, 1942 in St Nazaire ( Operation Chariot )
Beverley (H64)	8/10/40	CL	Branch	(DD197)	Newport News	07/26/20	Sunk on April 11, 1943 by U 188 southwest of Iceland in convoy ON-176 , 139 dead
Rockingham (G58)	11/26/40	CL	Swasey	(DD274)	Bethlehem	8/8/19	On September 27, 1944, after being hit in a British minefield, sank about 30 nm southeast of Aberdeen, last target ship, 1 dead

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 ( wlb-stuttgart.de ).

Web links

Commons : Town Class Destroyer  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

• CLEMSON ex-US destroyers (1919-1921 / 1940)
• HMS Broadwater (H 81) British Destroyer
• USS MASON (DD-191) pictures
• Flushdeckers Caldwell , Wickes and Clemson class destroyers

swell

1. ↑ USS MASON (DD-191) NavSource Naval History
2. ^ Rohwer: Sea War. September 2, 1940 General Situation / USA "Destroyer / Naval Base Deal"
3. ↑ CALDWELL ex-US destroyers (1917–1918 / 1940)
4. ↑ WICKES ex-US destroyers (1918–1920 / 1940)
5. ↑ CLEMSON ex-US destroyers (1919–1921 / 1940)
6. ↑ The corvettes built in Canada for the RN had meanwhile been taken over by the RCN, and had been fully equipped and trained in Great Britain
7. ↑ Charles F. Meyer (1938–1955)
8. ↑ Narragansett (III) - (1936–1942)
9. ↑ Arnold Hague convoy data base HX Convoy series HX 145
10. ↑ the latter three Canadian destroyers were destroyed on October 15th. by the AA cruiser Cairo and the Town Destroyer Belmont replaced
11. ↑ The Capetown Castle , Warwick Castle , Reina del Pacifico , Aorangi as well as TS Andes II and TeS Monarch of Bermuda were used as transporters, which transported 12,215 soldiers and over 20,000 t of cargo; In addition, the submarine tender HMS Forth was in the convoy
12. ↑ Silver Cedar British Motor Merchant
13. ^ Ila Norwegian Steam Merchant
14. ^ Empire Heron British Steam Merchant
15. ↑ HMS Gladiolus (K 34) British Corvette
16. ^ Bold Venture Panamanian Steam Merchant
17. ^ WC Teagle British Steam tanker
18. ↑ Erviken Norwegian Steam Merchant
19. ^ Rym Norwegian Steam Merchant
20. ^ Evros Greek Steam Merchant
21. ↑ Barfonn Norwegian motor tanker
22. ↑ USS Kearny (DD 432) American Destroyer
23. ^ Rohwer: Sea War. North Atlantic, 10-18 October 41, p. 175 f.
24. ↑ HMS Angle (FY 201) ASW Trawler
25. ↑ HMS Cape Warwick (FY 167) ASW Trawler
26. ↑ HMS St. Apollo ASW Trawler
27. ↑ David Scott: A telegram, a trenchcoat, and the sinking of HMS Broadwater.
28. ↑ HMS Broadwater (H 81) British Destroyer
29. ^ HMS Belmont (H 46) Destroyer of the Town class
30. ^ HMS Beverley (H 64) Destroyer of the Town class
31. ↑ HMS Rockingham (G58)