HMS Charybdis (88)
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HMS Charybdis was (88), a light cruiser of the British Dido class during the Second World War . It was built at Cammell Laird in Birkenhead . She and her sister ship Scylla were equipped with four 4.5-inch (113-mm) twin guns instead of the class-typical 5.25-inch-133-mm twin towers , as there were bottlenecks in the delivery of the twin towers. Due to their name and the nominally weaker armament, the two ships were nicknamed "Toothless Terror".
The Charybdis was used to secure the aircraft overpasses and the supply convoys to Malta and to secure the Allied landings in North Africa and Salerno. When it was first used against German shipping in the English Channel , it was sunk by German fleet torpedo boats on October 23, 1943 . Over 400 men lost their lives in the process.
Building history
When the order was placed with Cammell Laird in August 1938, the Charybdis was planned as a normal anti-aircraft cruiser. At the beginning of the war, however, the battleships of the King George V class (eight towers each) were given priority in equipping them with the 5.25-inch twin towers, the production of which proved to be very complex. Of the seven ships in the first batch of the Dido class, three ships were only able to receive four instead of the planned five towers upon completion. In order to defuse this problem, the Admiralty decided to redesign two of the three ships in the second batch. They were to receive the 4.5-inch multi-purpose gun that had been developed for the British naval carriers from Ark Royal . In order to be able to install the twin guns of this type, the Charybdis and the subsequent Scylla received newly constructed deckhouses in front and aft, in each of which two towers were installed. The new main armament was originally intended for the conversion of light cruisers of the Danae class to anti-aircraft cruisers ; a project that was abandoned because of the outbreak of war. In the two different Dido cruisers, the quadruple anti-aircraft machine guns originally intended for the class were no longer installed, but replaced by other light anti-aircraft guns. The different construction of the two ships was issued as the construction of flagships for the admirals of the destroyers in the two British fleets. In fact, they did not lead any larger destroyer formations during the war, as the destroyers were rarely deployed as a unit over flotilla strength.
The keel of the Charybdis was laid at Cammell Laird on November 9, 1938 as the first ship of the second construction lot. Like the other two ships in this order, it was built at a shipyard that already had a cruiser from the first batch under construction. The shipyard in Birkenhead has been building the Dido, which gives the class its name, for thirteen months . On September 17, 1940, the Charybdis was launched just two weeks before the Dido was delivered as the ninth ship of the class and was then delivered on December 3, 1941 as the seventh cruiser of the Dido class. At this point in time, the shipyard had already launched the Argonaut, its third cruiser of the class.
The name Charybdis comes from Greek mythology . There Charybdis is the name of a sea monster that is said to have lived along a strait with the Scylla . The Royal Navy first gave the name Charybdis to a brig sloop with 18 cannons in 1809. Since then, three other ships had borne that name; last from 1893 to 1922 an Astraea-class cruiser , which was still used in the North Atlantic at the beginning of the First World War .
Calls
The fifth HMS Charybdis then came to the Home Fleet and in December 1941 secured mine-layers for the expansion of the Northern Barrage north of the Faroe Islands .
On April 19, 1942 strengthened the Charybdis with the converted to Flakkreuzer Cairo the C-Class and the old destroyers Westcott , Wishart , Vidette , wrestler of the V- and W-Class and Antelope against Gibraltar in 14 Greenock leaked Force W with the battle cruiser Renown , the US carrier Wasp , and four British and two American destroyers that were to fly Spitfire fighters into Malta ( Operation Calendar ). On the 20th, 47 fighters took off in the Mediterranean, 46 of which reached the target but were almost immediately destroyed by a German air raid. Immediately after the successful launch of the fighter aircraft, the Charybdis returned to Gibraltar with the Wasp and escorted the American carrier a long way into the Atlantic. In the following months, the Charybdis secured even more aircraft carriers on their forays into the western Mediterranean to a point from which they could launch aircraft destined for Malta. At the beginning of May she again accompanied the Wasp and the British aircraft carrier Eagle ( Operation Bowery ), which launched 61 Spitfires to Malta, and in the same month Eagle and Argus ( Operation LB ). In this mission, 17 Spitfires flew from the porters to Malta; six Albacores also destined for Malta were not started. In early June, Operation Style made it possible to transfer another 28 Spitfires from the Eagle after losing four fighters who were shot down by enemy machines on the transfer flight.
In mid-June 1942, the British tried to supply Malta again by means of a double operation, also by ships, by launching Operation Vigorous from Egypt and Operation Harpoon from Gibraltar . The forces of the Axis powers were to be split up in this way and made a success possible. The Charybdis was immediately after the operation style at the same time to secure the transport convoy still in undetected by the Axis powers surgery Salient involved in the 32 Spitfires from Eagle flying to Malta. The hunters transferred to Malta were supposed to secure the overall operation from Malta in the final phase. The backup Association of carrier was next to the Charybdis from Cairo and the destroyers Partrigde , Ithuriel , Antelope , Wishart , Wrestler and Westcott . After the aircraft took off, the association joined in securing the Harpoon convoy, which included the Argus , the battleship Malaya , the cruisers Kenya and Liverpool, and other destroyers.
The association from the east ( Vigorous ) with nine transporters and two tankers was attacked intensively from the air and by submarines by Germans and Italians. To do this, the Italian battle fleet stood in the way of the unit, which the British could only oppose light cruisers, including four cruisers of the Dido class, and finally canceled the operation.
The Harpoon convoy was a little happier. Two of the four transporters and one tanker made it to Malta (one was badly damaged). The air raids, attacking submarines and Italian cruisers, which were also intense here, damaged many ships. In addition to the tanker and two transporters, the destroyers Bedouin and Kujawiak were lost . On June 17, 1942, the association returned to Gibraltar. The supplies brought to Malta were insufficient and the Royal Air Force (RAF) in Malta had only a small supply of fuel.
Following Harpoon , Charybdis secured two more plane transfers to Malta in July 1942: during Operation Pinpoint , 32 Spitfire fighters from the Eagle started undetected south of the Balearic Islands, temporarily securing the Welshman , which was a fast transporter to Malta , and 31 of them reached Malta; in the following Operation Insect , the Italian submarine Dandolo attacked the Eagle with four torpedoes in vain, which then brought 29 Spitfires into the air to Malta.
Operation pedestal
To replenish supplies on Malta, the Royal Navy launched Operation Pedestal from Gibraltar on August 10, 1942 with fifteen transporters, which were secured by two battleships, four aircraft carriers, seven cruisers and 26 destroyers. Charybdis initially secured the carrier Eagle , which was sunk by U 73 with four torpedoes on the morning of August 11, 1942 , and was then involved in the unsuccessful pursuit of the submarine. She then secured the aircraft carrier Indomitable , which was burning after bomb hits, and the rescue units against further air strikes.
On the 13th, the Charybdis was commanded forward with the tribal destroyers Eskimo and Somali to secure the transports. None of the originally four cruisers that were directly secured to the transporters were ready for action. The Cairo had sunk, Nigeria and Kenya were on their way back, badly damaged, and the tribal destroyers were left with the badly damaged Manchester , which they eventually sank. Despite further heavy air strikes, four transporters and the damaged Ohio tanker made it to Malta, with the Charybdis excelling in combating air strikes by the Central Powers on the convoy.
The evaluation of the result of the operation is different. The high losses suffered by the British make the Italians appear victorious. The ships that were brought through ensured the ability of Malta to act, and the Welshmann took over the supply of food and submarines for the RAF units on the island in terms of fuel and ammunition. The advance of the Allies in North Africa soon enabled convoys to the island with extensive air security from land.
Immediately after the completion of Pedestal , when not even all deployed units were back in Gibraltar, the Charybdis secured the carrier Furious with twelve destroyers in Operation Baritone to strengthen Malta's defensive capabilities, in 29 of the 32 Spitfires launched south of the Balearic Islands -Hunters reached the "besieged" island.
Further missions in the Mediterranean and Atlantic
In September 1942, the Charybdis was used in the Atlantic, as more blockade breakers from East Asia were expected on the way to ports in France. At the end of October, she took part in Operation Train , on which the Furious 29 Spitfires were flown to Malta again, all of which reached Malta on October 29.
Then the Allied landing in North Africa ( Operation Torch ) was prepared. The Charybdis was assigned to the 12th Cruiser Squadron to be used off Algiers. She accompanied and secured the convoy of the invasion troops and, in addition to the air defense, also gave artillery support to the landing troops. During this mission, she worked for the first time with her sister ship Scylla , which had the same different armament. On December 12, 1942, the Charybdis returned to Great Britain to be overtaken. In March 1943, the cruiser resumed its service with the Home Fleet in Scapa Flow . After the overhaul, the cruiser first secured mine operations in the North Sea until April 1943. With Plymouth as the new base, the anti-aircraft cruiser then secured convoys that ran relatively close to the Bay of Biscay . From August 1943 the Charybdis was again stationed in Gibraltar and secured convoys into the Mediterranean.
In September the Charybdis was assigned to the security forces for the Allied landing in Salerno ( Operation Avalanche ) and secured with Euryalus and Scylla the British escorts who were supposed to provide direct protection for the landing forces. During this mission, the cruiser brought the Allied Commander in Chief Dwight D. Eisenhower into the landing head. In October 1943 the cruiser was moved back to Plymouth to be used in the Channel and the Bay of Biscay.
Last bet and loss
In autumn 1943 the Germans occasionally moved ships through the English Channel and had developed a security procedure for this. The British had developed Operation Tunnel as a defense measure , which was supposed to quickly bring all available ships into operation against such an attempt, and wanted primarily to prevent the Germans from succeeding in escorting blockade breakers from East Asia into the Reich. In October 1943, the British knew through their radio reconnaissance that the blockade breaker Münsterland was to be guided through the English Channel with a rubber load and rare metals.
Charybdis , who had just returned from the Mediterranean, was assigned to the expected mission on October 20, 1943 and set sail on October 22 with the two naval destroyers Grenville (II) and Rocket as well as four Hunt III escort destroyers Limbourne , Wensleydale , Talybont and Stevenstone . Without being pointed out, this association was supposed to sink the Münsterland , which ran into the English Channel by five fleet torpedo boats of the 4th torpedo boat flotilla, secured under Corvette Captain Franz Kohlauf .
The 4th T-Flotilla left Brest on October 22, 1943 with T 23 , T 26 , T 27 , T 22 and T 25 as remote security for the German escort around the blockade breaker Münsterland . Shortly after midnight on October 23, the T 22 and T 23 for the first time located the approaching British units with their radio measuring devices . The flotilla chief Kohlauf thought the British attackers were superior, had his boats launch a torpedo attack and then turned away. The commander of the Charybdis, as the British unit leader, had presumably recognized enemy units in front of him on his radar, wanted to surprise them and ran towards the flotilla. When he opened fire, Charybdis suffered a torpedo hit by T 23 almost simultaneously , which put the cruiser out of action; Another torpedo hit by T 27 made the rescue of the cruiser, on which 462 men lost their lives, hopeless. The Charybdis dropped within half an hour at 48 ° 59 ' N , 3 ° 39' W . In addition, T 22 hit the destroyer escort Limbourne with a torpedo , which also failed. The other German torpedoes missed their targets. The Commander of the Limbourne was the longest-serving in command of the British Union, so the Union was leaderless for a time.
The Wensleydale and Stevenstone tried to rescue shipwrecked Charybdis , while the Talybont tried to tow the broken-down Limbourne . Grenville and Rocket searched for the attackers on orders from headquarters ( speedboats were suspected ). Not discovering any attackers, the destroyers returned to the wrecks and completed the rescue operation. 107 men from the Charybdis and 100 men from the Limbourne were rescued by the other British units; the Germans stopped attacking the British who were rescuing the shipwrecked. Since the severely damaged Limbourne could not be towed, she had to be sunk by the Talybont with a torpedo. 42 men had lost their lives on it.
The Münsterland made further small stages in the canal at night and was finally destroyed by British coastal artillery west of Cap Blanc-Nez on January 21, 1944.
Commemoration
Shortly after the sinking of the Charybdis, 21 bodies drifted into Guernsey . The German administration of the Channel Islands buried them with military honors. The islanders demonstrated their loyalty to Great Britain at the funeral. About 5000 residents of the island took part in the celebrations and laid around 900 wreaths. Understood by the German occupiers as a demonstration against them, they forbade civilians to participate in the future. This event is commemorated annually in a memorial service, attended by survivors of the Battle of Sept-Îles and their families. 38 dead were buried in Jersey and almost 150 in France at various locations.
The location of the wrecks of the Charybdis and Limbourne is known. The Charybdis was found in 1993 at a depth of 83 m. 1969 received the Royal Navy with HMS Charybdis (F75) the Leander class again a Charybdis , which remained in service until 1991.
Individual evidence
- ^ Raven: Dido Class Cruisers. P. 8.
- ↑ a b c d Conway’s All The World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. P. 33.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j HMS Charybdis (88): Light cruiser of the Dido class
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. April 14–26, 1942, Mediterranean
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. May 8-15, 1942, Mediterranean Sea, Allied supply company for Malta (Operation "Bowery")
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. June 12-16, 1942, Mediterranean Sea, double convoy operation to supply Malta.
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. July 14-19, 1942, Malta / Mediterranean.
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. July 20-22, 1942, Mediterranean.
- ↑ Moses: At All Costs. P. 136.
- ↑ Moses: At All Costs. P. 155.
- ↑ Moses: At All Costs. P. 171.
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. August 10–15, 1942, Mediterranean Sea, Operation “Pedestal”.
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. August 16-18, 1942, Mediterranean.
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. October 28–30, 1942, Mediterranean Sea, supply company for Malta (Operation “Train”).
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. November 8-11, 1942, French North Africa, Operation "Torch"
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. 9. – 16.9.1943, Tyrrhenian Sea, Operation "Avalanche"
- ↑ a b c d e f H.MS CHARYBDIS - A Record of Her Loss and Commemoration by the CHARYBDIS ASSOCIATION.
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. October 23, 1943, Kanal.
- ↑ Local History: HMS Charybdis . BBC.co.uk. October 7, 2008. Retrieved August 3, 2012.
Remarks
- ↑ November 15, 1941 according to naval-history.net.
- ↑ The Sirius of the first construction lot had suffered bomb damage during the equipment at the state building yard in Portsmouth and its completion was delayed considerably.
- ↑ Seven private and two state shipyards built the Dido- class cruisers ; Like Hawthorn Leslie and Scotts, Cammell Laird built three ships.
- ↑ The Northern Barrage was a mine barrier, which should hinder the German submarines marching out and back
- ↑ "426" / "462" / "over 500" dead alone in various places naval-history.net.
literature
- Roger Chesneau (Ed.): Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships. 1922-1946. Conway Maritime Press, London 1980, ISBN 0-85177-146-7 .
- James J. Colledge, Ben Warlow: Ships of the Royal Navy. The complete record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th century to the present. New revised edition. Chatham, London 2006, ISBN 1-86176-281-X .
- Bernard Ireland: The Illustrated Guide to Cruisers. Hermes House, London 2008, ISBN 978-1-84681-150-0 .
- Alan Raven, H. Trevor Lenton: DIDO class Cruisers (= Ensign. 2). Bivouac books, London 1973, ISBN 0-85680-003-1 .
- Ben Warlow: Battle Honors of the Royal Navy. Maritime Books, Liskeard 2004, ISBN 1-904459-05-6 .
