HMS Broadway (H90)
 HMS Broadway (H90) ex USS Hunt (DD-194)
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HMS Broadway (H90) was built as the Clemson-class destroyer USS Hunt (DD-194) , which entered service with the United States Navy in 1918 . As early as 1922, the destroyer was assigned to the reserve, in which the ship remained in Europe until the start of the war. However, the destroyer was loaned to the US Coast Guard from 1930 to 1934 and used to combat alcohol smuggling.
After the outbreak of war in Europe, the USS Hunt was put back into service, but was then handed over to the Royal Navy in the fall of 1940 under the destroyer-for-bases agreement .
The ship, renamed HMS Broadway , was used to secure North Atlantic escorts. After an overhaul in Belfast in September 1943, the Broadway was only used as a target ship for aircraft with Rosyth as a port in Scotland until the end of the war in Europe. In May 1945 the ship moved to Norway and supervised the delivery of the German submarines stationed in Norway . It was awarded the Battle Honors ATLANTIC 1941–43 and NORTH SEA 1944 for its missions .
History of the ship
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The destroyer USS Hunt was built at the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company in Newport News ( Virginia ) under construction number 236. The ship, first named after Secretary of the Navy William H. Hunt (1823-1884), ran on 14 Launched February 19, 1920 and entered the Navy on September 30, 1920 with Lieutenant Roswell H. Blair as Commanding Officer.
The new destroyer was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet and went through the usual training. After intensive torpedo training in Newport (Rhode Island) , the ship moved December 3, 1920 to its future home port Charleston (South Carolina) . Already on May 29, 1922, the destroyer left its home port and reached the Philadelphia Navy Yard on June 6 , where it was decommissioned on August 11, 1922 after only 30 months of service and assigned to the reserve.
Fight against alcohol smugglers
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Since mid-January 1920 there has been an extensive alcohol ban in the USA. The Coast Guard and its units were hardly able to prevent the import of alcohol by smugglers. Starting in 1924 , the Navy made over 20 older destroyers available to the United States Coast Guard in charge of the fight against organized alcohol smuggling. In 1930 it was decided to equip the Coast Guard with modern destroyers for this fight . Between 1930 and 32, six modern Clemson-class destroyers were loaned to the Coast Guard fleet to replace older destroyers.
The Hunt was posted for this task from September 13, 1930. As early as October 8, 1930, the destroyer was ready for this task with the new identification CG-18 . The lifting of prohibition on February 20, 1933 ended the US Coast Guard's need for destroyers,
| CGD | Surname | BNo. | 1. Period of service | Coast Guard | Final fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15th | Abel P. Upshur (DD-193) |
235 | 11/23/20 == 06/28/22 | 11/5/30 == 05/21/34 | 12.39 i. D., 9.40 RN HMS Clare 8.45 a. D. |
| 16 | Georg E. Badger (DD-196) |
238 | 07/28/20 == 08/11/22 | 1.10.30 == 21.05.34 | 10.39 Seaplane tender AVP-16 / AVD-3 , 11.43 DD 5.44 Transporter APD-33 10.45 a. D. |
| 17th | Herndon (DD-198) |
240 | 14.09.20 == 6.06.22 | 09/13/30 == 05/28/34 | 12.39 i. D., 9.40 RN HMS Churchill , 8.44 to the Soviet Union: Deyatelny , sunk in the North Sea on January 16, 1945 |
| 18th | Hunt (DD-194) |
236 | 09/30/20 == 08/11/22 | 09/13/30 == 05/28/34 | 1.40 i. D., 10.40 RN HMS Broadway , 1947 demolition |
| 19th | Welborn C. Wood (DD-195) |
237 | 11/14/21 = 8/8/22 | 1.10.30 == 1.05.34 | 12.39 i. D., 9.40 RN HMS Chesterfield , 1.45 a. D., 1947 demolition |
| 20th | Semmes (DD-184) |
231 | 02/21/20 == 07/17/22 | 25.4.32 = 20.4.34 | 11.34 Experimental ship AG24, especially for sonar and radar , canceled and broken off in 1946 |
Escort destroyer HMS Broadway
In January 1940 the USS Hunt was put back into service in Philadelphia after almost six years in the reserve and from the 26th it was used for surveillance trips in the Caribbean. In addition, the destroyer secured transfer trips for American units and completed the training of its crew. Since April 17, 1940 back in Norfolk, the destroyer remained on the American east coast and took part in maneuvers on the Chesapeake Bay.
On October 5, 1940, the Hunt was handed over to the Royal Navy by the US Navy as one of 50 destroyers under the Destroyers for Bases Agreement between the United States and Great Britain in Halifax (Nova Scotia) . The following day, 100 members of the Royal Navy boarded the destroyer to familiarize themselves with the American destroyer. On October 8, the ship retired from the US Navy and was taken over by the Royal Navy as the first HMS Broadway (H90) . The Broadway hit on October 24, 1940 in Belfast , where she from the 11th Escort Group of Western Approaches Command was acquired. On the 29th, the destroyer arrived in Devonport to be adapted for use in the Royal Navy. The rear mast was removed and the front shortened. The American 3-in anti-aircraft gun and the 4-in rear gun were removed and replaced with a British 12pdr anti-aircraft gun in the rear gun position. The aft torpedo tube set was removed to starboard and the forward torpedo tube set to port and the depth charge system replaced by a British one. On November 19, this adjustment was completed and the destroyer moved to Scapa Flow to bring in the new crew. This had to be canceled on December 7th, as damage made further repairs necessary, which were carried out at a shipyard in Hull by January 7, 1941 . Further repairs were made to the Clyde and Liverpool in February and March . In April, Broadway was finally able to complete its training in Tobermory and on the 28th transferred to Liverpool to the Western Approaches Security Command. The destroyer escort was assigned to the 3rd Escort Group based on Iceland. This group used the ship regularly to secure Atlantic convoys.
In the 3rd EG , together with the destroyers Bulldog and Amazon and corvettes , she secured convoy OB 318 going to Canada from May 7, 1941 . While the fuse was being changed, German submarines attacked the convoy and U 94 was able to sink two freighters with 15,901 GRT. This German submarine had to give up the chase of the convoy damaged. On the 8th three corvettes and three anti-submarine trawlers of the 3rd EG arrived, so that the remaining corvettes of the 7th EG could be replaced. While securing the convoy, Broadway succeeded in capturing the German submarine U 110 on May 9, 1941 with the Bulldog and the corvette Aubrietia . The submarine had tried in vain to penetrate the convoy while diving. The convoy's strong security gave it no opportunity to surface and it tried to stay with the convoy underwater. In the early afternoon it fired three torpedoes from periscope depth at OB 318 and sank the British steamers Esmond (4976 GRT, in ballast , 50 survivors) and Bengore Head (2609 GRT, loaded with 1200 t of coal, 1 dead / 40 survivors). The attack immediately triggered a counterattack by the aforementioned British escort vehicles, whose depth charges pushed U 110 to the surface. A boarding party of the Bulldog succeeded in manning the boat, abandoned by the Germans, on which the commandant, Corvette Captain Fritz-Julius Lemp , and 14 men had fallen. The British pirates were able to recover documents and an Enigma key machine from the sinking submarine before it sank on the 11th in tow of the destroyer. A war correspondent, four officers and another 28 men from U 110 were taken prisoner of war. The Broadway collided during the struggle for the submarine with this and had to because of a crack in the bow in the shipyard. The necessary repairs were carried out in Dundee and on August 2, 1941, Broadway was operational again.
After temporary security tasks at two troop escorts, the destroyer moved to St. John's on Newfoundland at the end of August 1941 . In October, Broadway was assigned to the 4th Canadian Escort Group as the lead ship. On September 1, 1941, the Canadian escort forces were reorganized and now formed the twelve escort groups ( 14 to 25 ) with mostly four ships. A total of four fleet destroyers (1 RN), twelve escort destroyers of the Town class (2 RN) and 32 corvettes (4 RN) were now available to the Canadian security portion. Broadway led the EG.17 to which the corvettes Polyanthus , Cobalt and Trail belonged. During the week, the British succeeded in decoding the radio messages from the BdU for the Markgraf submarine group, which was set up with fourteen submarines southwest of Iceland , so that four convoys, including HX.146 (fuse EG.17 with British Broadway and two Canadian and one British corvette) around the Margrave group .
In November the destroyer was withdrawn from active service in order to be modernized again in Sheerness . Now the two side 4-in cannons have also been removed and four 20 mm Oerlikon cannons set up. The two American torpedo tube triplets also came off board and were replaced by a British triple torpedo tube set, which could be pivoted to both sides when mounted centrally. For the first time during this overhaul, the destroyer also received a radar device and a Hedgehog mortar on the forecastle. The bridge has also been modernized. This work was completed in April 1942.
On August 31, 1942, U 609 sighted convoy SC.97 (58 ships, secured by EG C2 with destroyers Burnham and Broadway and four corvettes) in the north of the search strip of the U Group Forward . The boat attacked immediately and sank the Capira (5625 BRT) and the Bronxville (4663 BRT) before it could be displaced. The next morning six submarines were in the vicinity of the convoy, attacks by U 604 and U 756 were unsuccessful. During the day, the submarines were pushed away from Iceland by Catalina flying boats of the American VP-73 and U 91 was slightly damaged in the process. U 756 was sunk by the Canadian corvette Morden . In the night of September 2, only U 91 was shot unsuccessfully; during the day the operation was canceled due to the strong air security. The Broadway then went to Liverpool for overhaul and received a new target direction finder of the type FH3.
When convoy ON.139 was secured by EG C2 , which formed Broadway with the British destroyers Sherwood (also Town- class) and Winchelsea as well as three Canadian and two British Flower corvettes , an attack by U 443 took place on October 22 , the southernmost boat of the Puma group , which received permission to attack, as it seemed hopeless to bring more boats. The submarine was able to sink the Winnipeg II (9807 GRT) and the tanker Donax (8036 GRT) in the evening . The security ships could save the 255 men on the two ships. Attempts by the Germans to keep in touch failed.
By the Broadway run EC C2 to which even the destroyer Sherwood included as well as three British and two Canadian corvettes, secured the convoy HX.237 , the undiscovered, the submarine group warhorse could happen. When it came to the "largest convoy operation" of the Second World War for the convoys SC.122 (51 ships) and HX.229 (38 ships) in March , Broadway was not available because it was connected to the EG C2 (with Sherwood ) , the frigate HMS Lagan (K 259) of the River class , two British and three Canadian Flower corvettes and the free French Aviso Savorgnan da Brazza of the Bougainville class secured the convoy KMS.11 (62 ships) to Gibraltar . This important convoy was not only threatened by submarines, but also by the air force , but only lost the steamer City of Christchurch (ex Aschenburg , 1915 DDG Hansa , 6009 GRT) due to an aircraft attack on the way to Gibraltar .
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While searching for the convoy HX.234 , U 732 came across the oncoming convoy ONS.4 (41 ships), secured by EG B2 under Commander MacIntyre with three destroyers and four corvettes. To support this convoy as well as the nearby ON.179 (secured by EG C2 with the Broadway , the frigate Lagan and four corvettes plus two corvettes returning from Operation Torch ), the 5th Support Group with the escort carrier Biter and the Destroyers used Pathfinder , Obdurate and Opportune . Swordfish from the Biter pushed U 732 underwater. The new U 191 feeler holder was aligned by Hesperus with HF / DF and sunk with Hedgehog . Of the following six submarines, only U 108 got in touch with the convoy. On the morning of April 25, U 404 shot a fan at the support group carrier, who had been wrongly identified as a ranger , but failed due to early ignition. On the same day the sighted Swordfish , L 'the FAA sqadron 811 of Biter the rückmarschierende U 203 , which from the Pathfinder was sunk. During the attacks by the Meise group (21 boats), five merchant ships and a straggler with 37,331 GRT were sunk from both convoys, but four submarines were lost.
The Rhine group, newly formed on May 8, 1943 with twelve submarines, was supposed to attack the convoy HX.237 . On May 9, U 359 captured the convoy comprising 46 ships, which was secured by EG C2 with Broadway , Lagan , four corvettes and the rescue tug Vizalma . The boat in contact was immediately aligned with HF / DF and pushed under water. A strip of the submarine pack formed in front of the convoy was breached after the U 454 in the way was pushed under water. The 5th Support Group with the escort carrier Biter and the destroyers Inglefield , Obdurate , Opportune and Pathfinder now strengthened the regular escort group. U 403 regained contact on May 10 by pursuing the rescue tug that remained behind, was able to repel a Swordfish with flak, but was pushed under water by one of the destroyers of the 5th SG . Since the Rhine boats could no longer move forward, the operation was continued from May 11 with the eight boats from the Drossel group coming from the east . The U 436 found the HX.237 with the help of a passage point deciphered by the B service . U 403 and U 456 were brought in and sank the British Fort Concord (7138 GRT), U 753 missed the convoy. After it got light on the 12th, the submarines tried to keep the Swordfish planes of the Biter at bay with their flak, U 230 shot down one of them, but the boats were forced to dive by escorts who were called up. U 89 was carried by a Swordfish approach called Broadway and the frigate Lagan sunk. The Type VII boat, commanded by Korvettenkapitän Dietrich Lohmann (1908-1943), sank with its entire crew. U 456 was no longer ready to dive after being severely damaged and was sunk by a hit by the Liberator 'B' / 120 Squadron RAF with a target-seeking torpedo and by the approaching destroyers Pathfinder and Opportune . A Swordfish of the escort carrier Biter brought the destroyer Pathfinder to U 603 , but only slightly damaged the submarine. U 628 a march back, kept in touch until the 13th morning, while astern U 221 and U 603 sank a straggler, the Norwegian tanker Sandanger (9432 GRT) and the Norwegian Brand (4819 GRT), respectively .
In June 1943, Broadway was withdrawn from use as a convoy escort. In July, the decision was made to use it as a target ship for aircraft at sea, as it was no longer ready for use as an escort ship due to the overuse. The corresponding renovation took place in Belfast by the end of the year. After radar, Hedgehog launchers, torpedo tubes and the HF direction finder were expanded. This created space to accommodate dropped practice torpedoes. The use of the Broadway should be done in the North Sea off the Scottish coast.
Last mission and end of the destroyer
On May 13, 1945, the Norwegian destroyer Stord (on board the new Sector Commander Northern Norway , the Norwegian Rear Admiral Danielsen ) ran out of Rosyth together with the Broadway, which was last used as a target ship . On the 16th, the destroyers met German Arctic submarines off the Vestfjord , which were on the march to Trondheim . They were handed over to the 9th Escort Group , withdrawn from the JW 67 convoy , which was to accompany them to Drontheim. The two destroyers reached Tromso on the evening of May 16 .
In June / July the old destroyer resumed its activity as a target ship. On August 9, 1945, Broadway was decommissioned and cleared. The ship was assigned to Reserve without any maintenance measures and was offered for sale in 1947. The sale took place on February 18, 1947 and the demolition began in March 1948 in Charlestown near Rosyth.
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
- Hunt I (Destroyer No. 194) on DANFS
- CLEMSON destroyers (1918-1922) on navypedia.org
- CLEMSON ex-US destroyers (1919-1921 / 1940) on navypedia.org
- USS HUNT (DD-194) images on navsource.org
- Coast Guard Cutters on destroyerhistory.org
swell
- ↑ a b Hunt I (Destroyer No. 194)
- ^ Coast Guard Cutters
- ↑ USS Abel P. Upshur (DD-193)
- ^ Georg E. Badger (DD-196)
- ↑ USS Welborn C. Wood (DD-195)
- ^ USS Semmes (DD-184)
- ↑ a b c d e HMS BROADWAY (H 90) - ex-US Destroyer
- ^ Esmond British Steam Merchant
- ↑ Bengore Head British Steam Merchant
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War , May 1–11, 1941 North Atlantic / radio reconnaissance
- ↑ Rohwer: naval warfare , 09/01/1941 North Atlantic
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War , September 1-6, 1941 North Atlantic
- ↑ Rohwer: naval warfare , 27.8.- 2.9.1942 North Atlantic
- ^ Winnipeg II British Steam passenger ship
- ↑ Donax British motor tanker
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War , October 16–25, 1942 North Atlantic
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War , February 9–19, 1943 North Atlantic
- ↑ Rohwer: naval warfare , 14.- 03.20.1943 North Atlantic
- ↑ Rohwer: naval warfare, 14.- 20.03.1943 North Atlantic Largest Geleitzugsoperation of World War II.
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War , April 21-27, 1943, North Atlantic, »Meise« submarine group
- ↑ Dietrich Lohmann, Corvette Captain (Crew 30)
- ^ Sandanger Norwegian motor tanker
- ^ Brand Norwegian Motor merchant
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War , May 8-15, 1943, North Atlantic
- ↑ Rohwer: naval warfare , 6.5.- 07.06.1945 Northern / Western Europe, Norway