HMS Marne (G35)
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HMS Marne (G35) was an M-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that was completed and used during World War II . For its missions the destroyer was awarded the Battle Honors Arctic 1942-44 , Malta Convoys 1942 , North Africa 1942 and Aegean 1944 . From April 1946 the destroyer was no longer used. A planned modernization was not carried out.
In August 1957, the Marne and her sister ships Meteor , Matchless and Milne were sold to Turkey . The overhauled and modernized Marne was handed over to the Turkish Navy with the sister ships in Portsmouth in September 1959 . As Maresal Fevsi Cakmak , she served in Turkey until 1970 and was then canceled.
History of the destroyer
The construction contract for the eight destroyers of the “M or Marne class” was awarded in pairs to four shipyards on July 7, 1939. They were supposed to be replicas of the eight L-class destroyers ordered in March 1938, none of which had been launched when the order was placed. With the destroyers of these two missions, a new main armament was to be introduced, because they were to receive a further developed 120 mm gun in a likewise new, turret-like carriage , which promised better combat against air targets. The orders for Marne and Martin went to the Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company in Wallsend-on-Tyne . The turbine manufacturer had already received several orders for destroyers, first in 1898 for the first turbine destroyer Viper , with the hulls usually being built by shipyards in the vicinity on the Tyne.
Building history
The order for the hulls went to Vickers-Armstrong shipyard High Walker Yard in Newcastle , where the keel-laying of both ships took place on October 23, 1939. On October 30, 1940, the Marne was launched. The ship was named after the battle of the First World War . The name was first given to an Admiralty M-class destroyer completed in 1916 , which had already been scrapped in 1921. The shipyard on Tyne was founded in 1913 by Armstrong-Whitworth for the construction of capital ships (the first new building was the battleship HMS Malaya ) and should only be continued as a repair company after the merger with Vickers. The rearmament of the Royal Navy then led to brisk construction activity for the British Navy with a wide variety of types, including two destroyers of the F-class and two of the H-class as well as four of the tribal class . During the construction of the Marne in 1940/41, the shipyard delivered the battleship King George V , the aircraft carrier Victorious , the cruiser Nigeria and five destroyer escorts of the Hunt class as well as several landing craft.
On December 2, 1941, the Marne was the first M-Class ship to be put into service by the British Navy.
Mission history
The Marne was assigned to the 17th Destroyer Flotilla at the Home Fleet , whose destroyers were used to protect the heavy units of the fleet and the northern sea convoys . The destroyer was retracted during security tasks and convoy trains to and from Iceland.
Use in the North Sea
After a short overhaul to eliminate defects found (defects in the boilers, leaks in the foredeck), the Marne belonged to the so-called "Ocean Escort" from April 10, 1942 for the return QP 10 of fifteen transporters that returned from Kola to the west. Initially, two Soviet destroyers and three in the Soviet Union stationed British minesweepers of the Halcyon class accompanied the "Ocean Escort" took over in the North Sea the fuse with the light cruiser Liverpool and the five destroyers Oribi , Punjabi , Fury , Eclipse and Marne and some smaller Units through April 21st.
The Marne then switched with Oribi and Punjabi to the PQ 15 cover group, which expired on April 29, 1942 from Hvalfjörður in Iceland . In this association, the tribal destroyer Punjabi collided with the King George V in the fog on May 1st and sank. The Marne , which itself narrowly escaped a collision with the USS Washington , and her sister ship Martin helped rescue the 169 survivors.
From 13 to 18 May 1942, the Marne was one of the British units that were supposed to accommodate the British cruiser Trinidad, which was badly damaged in March and marched back to Great Britain from Murmansk . The cruiser was attacked several times by the Luftwaffe, caught fire after being hit by a bomb and then had to be sunk by the Matchless before reaching the receiving association. In the following convoy PQ 16 , the Marne was assigned to an additionally formed local security group, which consisted of the four cruisers Nigeria , Kent , Norfolk and Liverpool and the destroyers Onslow , Oribi and Marne . The convoy, originally comprising 35 ships, lost seven transporters on its way to Murmansk or Arkhangelsk .
Use to supply Malta
In June 1942, the Marne was used with other units previously deployed in the North Sea for Operation Harpoon , which was supposed to bring suppliers through to Malta from Gibraltar , while at the same time the Mediterranean Fleet started a similar attempt with Operation Vigorous . The Marne was one from the 12th to secure the West convoy WS 19 , whose five freighters and a tanker from Flakkreuzer Cairo , five destroyers, three escort destroyers and some smaller units were backed up. The convoy was attacked from the air, by submarines and two Italian light cruisers ( Raimondo Montecuccoli and Eugenio di Savoia ) and five destroyers. Although inferior to the Italians in terms of the main artillery, the escort managed to drive off the Italian attackers. It was possible to set fire to an Italian destroyer, but the lead destroyer Bedouin and Die and Partridge were also badly hit and had to be left behind. The latter was able to repair itself so far that it temporarily tried to escape with the Bedouin in tow towards Gibraltar. Another attack by Italian torpedo bombers led to the sinking of the Bedouin . Shortly before Malta, the association got into a minefield and lost the destroyer escort Kujawiak ; other units were badly damaged. Two freighters could be brought to Malta. On June 16, the Marne ran in the association of the remaining operational security units ( Cairo , the miner Welshmann , who had joined the association near Pantelleria , Ithuriel , Blankney and Middleton ) from Malta back to Gibraltar. The ship survived the mission with minor damage from close hits.
Renewed use of the North Sea
The Marne , which left Gibraltar back home on June 22nd, was deployed with parts of the Home Fleet as remote security for the unfortunate convoy PQ 17 from June 29th . The extensive failure of this convoy, which lost 24 transporters, led to a special operation by the Marne with her sister ship Martin and the Hunt destroyers Middleton and Blankney to Murmansk and Arkhangelsk with ammunition and supplies for escort vehicles of convoy QP 14 . On the way, the ships are oiled by the tanker Black Ranger , which was secured by the destroyer escort Wilton . The ships remained in Soviet waters for the time being and took up the US cruiser Tuscaloosa with the American destroyers Rodman , Emmons and the British Onslaught in the Arctic Ocean on August 15 , in order to escort them to Murmansk. These had ground personnel, material and torpedoes for two squadrons of Hampden bombers of the RAF Bomber Command on board, which were to be relocated to northern Russia. Marne , Martin and Onslaught accompanied the American ships (now with survivors of convoy PQ 17 on board) on their march back from the 24th.
However, the British destroyers were detached to intercept the German mine ship Ulm , which set out for Operation Zar to mine the area northwest of Novaya Zemlya . The instructions given by radio to the German company had been deciphered by Bletchley Park . Marne , Martin and Onslaught found the German ship southeast of Bear Island on the 25th and sank it.
Since the beginning of September 1942, the Marne and three sister ships belonged to the “3rd Destroyer Flotilla” in the Home Fleet. The convoy PQ 18 that followed in September and the other convoy QP 14 were secured considerably more intensively than PQ 17 . The Marne belonged with her sister ships Milne , Martin and Meteor as well as twelve other destroyers to the close security of the convoy under Rear Admiral Burnett on the anti-aircraft cruiser Scylla . The convoy was heavily attacked by the Luftwaffe and submarines. Despite the loss of thirteen merchant ships, PQ 18 was viewed as a success by the Allies. On the one hand, 27 fully loaded ships had reached the port of destination, landing more cargo than all the convoys of 1941 had delivered together, and on the other hand, the Germans believed they had suffered heavy losses of aircraft and submarines. It was the last major operation of the Luftwaffe against a Northern Sea escort. Since the planned Operation Torch limited the number of escort ships available, a convoy on the North Sea route did not follow until the end of December 1942.
Torpedoing the Marne
The Marne was transferred after a brief repair the Humber end of October 1942 to Gibraltar, to secure the aufmarschierenden convoys for the planned landing in North Africa (Operation Torch). On November 9, 1942, she ran with the old destroyer Venomous from Gibraltar towards the approaching tender Hecla and the old cruiser Vindictive, which had been converted into a workshop ship . The support ships should go to Oran . On November 12, 1942, the Hecla was torpedoed and sunk 180 nautical miles west of Gibraltar by the German submarine U 515 . During the rescue of the castaways, the same submarine attacked the Marne with two more torpedoes, one of which hit the stern. Thirteen men were killed in the torpedo hit. The Venomous tried to tow the immobilized destroyer, but then attacked the approaching submarine again. The Marne was brought into Gibraltar by the tug Salvonia accompanied by the corvette Jonquil . The ship had lost the entire stern and the makeshift repairs in Gibraltar took almost three months to complete. Then the Marne was towed to Great Britain . After repairs at Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson in Sunderland , it did not return to active service until January 1944.
Again in the North Sea
Used again in the Home Fleet and in the North Sea, the destroyer was declared fully operational again on March 23, 1944. From March 30, the destroyer with the Force 1 of the Home Fleet in the lake, which the Nordmeergeleitzug was JW 58 was to secure and then from the Victorious one of the two waves of attack operation Tungsten against the Kåfjord lying Tirpitz should start. Already the first wave of the 21 Barracuda dive bombers launched by Victorious and Furious scored ten bomb hits on the battleship preparing for a test drive and the accompanying fighter planes attacked the upper decks and caused great personnel losses. The second attack hit the Germans prepared, but proceeded similarly, since no aircraft were available for defense and the anti-aircraft guns in particular suffered heavy personnel losses. 122 Tirpitz seamen died in the attacks and another 316 were wounded. However, the total of 15 bomb hits had not caused any serious damage. From April 21, 1944, the Marne belonged to a task force under Rear Admiral McGrigor (1893-1959) on the diadem , which had two escort carriers, the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla with eight destroyers (including five of the M-class) and two support groups Picked up convoy RA 59 from Kola Fjord, with which many members of the Western Allied navies returned, who had transferred ships to the Soviet Union. The planned take along of Soviet navy members to take over further ships in Great Britain failed because the planned passenger steamer Nea Hellas (ex Tuscania ) had technical problems. During this mission, the Marne and her sister ships formed the security of the escort carrier Activity .
In mid-July 1944, the Marne one of the twelve destroyers of the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla that the Association of operation Mascot again, the weather conditions after several failed attempts with carrier aircraft Tirpitz attacked. However, the attack by the Formidable , Indefatigable and Furious machines was unsuccessful this time. Then the destroyer still belonged to secure group of convoys JW 59 and RA 59A from early August to early September and JW 60 and RA 60 from mid-September to early October 1944. At the end of RA 59A was the destroyer still on September 12 at the operation Begonia involved in the machines of the carriers Furious and Trumpeter attacked shipping south of the island of Voksa in western Norway and laid mines in the shipping lane. This advance was secured by the cruiser Berwick and five other destroyers with Myngs , Musketeer , Vigilant , Verulam and the Canadian Algonquin .
In October 1944 the ship was overhauled and prepared for use in the eastern Mediterranean. On November 11th, the Marne arrived in Alexandria , the new base of the flotilla. The destroyers were supposed to support the recapture of islands in the Aegean Sea and prevent the Germans from supplying and relocating. On December 4, the cruiser Aurora and the destroyers Marne , Meteor and Musketeer bombed targets on Rhodes . in January 1945 the destroyer moved to the western Mediterranean and searched for German activities on patrols between Toulon and Livorno on the Italian coast. After the end of the war in Europe, the M destroyers were to be moved to the Eastern or Pacific Fleet . In August the Marne visited Constantinople with the light cruiser Ajax and the Meteor . The surrender of Japan changed plans. The Marne remained with the “3rd Destroyer Flotilla” in the Mediterranean until March 1946, when V-Class destroyers replaced the M-Class destroyers since autumn 1945 . The Marne remained in reserve until it was sold. A planned conversion to a "Type 62 Frigate" for air surveillance (with four sister ships) did not take place because the project was abandoned.
In the Turkish Navy
On August 16, 1957, Turkey acquired the Marne and her sister ships Meteor , Matchless and Milne . Before the handover to the new owner, the four destroyers were overhauled and modernized at British shipyards. As main armament they kept their three twin turrets with 120 mm L / 50 guns. The light anti- aircraft armament consisted of 40 mm Bofors guns , of which a Mk.V double armament and four individual guns were installed. The front quadruple torpedo tube set remained on board. A triple Squid launcher was installed at the position of the rear torpedo tube set. The ships' radar system was modernized.
In 1959 the Turkish Navy took over the four destroyers in Great Britain. The Marne was named Mareşal Fevzi Çakmak . It was named after Field Marshal Fevzi Çakmak (1876–1950), the Turkish chief of staff from 1921 to 1944. The destroyer served in the Turkish Navy with the NATO ID D349 until 1970 and was then, like the sister ships, separated and scrapped.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Construction list for the Armstrong-Whitworth High Walker Yard
- ↑ Service History HMS Marne (G35)
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. April 8-17, 1942, North Sea
- ^ A b Rohwer: Sea War. May 13-18, 1942, North Sea
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. June 12-16, 1942, Mediterranean
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. June 26-30, 1942, North Sea
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. July 20–24, 1942, North Sea
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. August 13-23, 1942, North Sea
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. August 25-30, 1942, North Sea
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. September 12-18, 194, North Sea
- ↑ Internet presence of the Russian Embassy in South Africa , viewed on July 1, 2012 ( Memento of the original from May 14, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Roskill: Royal Navy. P. 210.
literature
- 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. Chatham, London 2006, ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8 , OCLC 67375475 (EA London 1969).
- Mark Llewellyn Evans: Great World War II Battles in the Arctic. Greenwood Pub Group, 1999, ISBN 0-313-30892-6 .
- Peter C. Smith: Convoy to Russia. The history of the convoy PQ 18. Motorbuch Verlag, 1995, ISBN 3-87943-705-X .
Web links
- Service history HMS Marne (G35)
- The Marne at uboat.net (English)
- Allied Warships: The M-Class Destroyers (Retrieved January 9, 2006)
- L + M class
Laforey † | (Larne) / Gurkha † | Lance † | Legion † | Lightning † | Lively † | Lookout | Loyal †
(Marksman) / Mahratta † | Marne | Martin † | Matchless | Meteor | Milne | Musketeer
Poland :
(Myrmidon) / ORP Hurricane †
Turkey :
Alp Arslan |
Kilicali Pasha |
Maresal Fevzi Cakmak |
Piyale Pasha