HMS Milne (G14)
Milne in 1942 after completion
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HMS Milne (G14) was the flotilla ordered on July 7, 1939 destroyer of the M-Class of the Royal Navy . The new building, which began in January 1940 at Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company , was launched on December 30, 1941. After heavy German air raids on Greenock in May 1941, the shipyard, which was partially severely damaged, was unable to carry out the final expansion. So the launched Milne was towed to Clydebank , where it was completed by John Brown & Company by August 6, 1942 .
The Milne was awarded the Battle Honors Arctic 1942-44 and North Africa 1942-43 during World War II .
The Milne survived the World War and after years in the reserve was sold in 1957 with three other ships of the class to Turkey, where she was in service as Alp Arslan from 1959 to 1971.
History of the ship
On July 7, 1939, the Royal Navy issued construction contracts for eight destroyers of a new M-class. The class was a replica of the L-Class ordered in 1938 , of which no ship had yet been launched. The new orders went in pairs to the selected shipyards, of which only Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering in Greenock also built ships for the first order. The shipyard was supposed to build the type ship of the new M group and the associated flotilla leader . The keel laying of the newbuildings with hull numbers 583 and 584 took place at the end of January 1940 three months after the keel laying of the two ships to be delivered by Vickers-Armstrong -Tyne and almost two months after the two Fairfields newbuildings. New building 583 was named Milne and was completed as a flotilla commander of the M-class, with the pilot boats from the Tribal class only differing slightly from the other destroyers. Usually only the aft deckhouse was larger to make room for additional staff. She was the second ship of the Navy with this name, which had previously carried an Admiralty M-class destroyer built at John Brown & Company in Clydebank from 1914 to 1921 . It was named after the British admiral Sir David Milne of Milne Graden (1763-1845).
The new building 584 was to be given the name Marksman and completed by the shipyard as a type ship of the new M group. The new building, renamed Mahratta , came into service in April 1943 as the last ship of the class after severe damage from German air raids and a new keel.
The damage and personal loss in Greenock from the air force attacks delayed the contracts awarded to Scotts considerably. The shipyard was also only able to process orders in other destroyer classes with a considerable delay.
Calls
After all tests had been carried out and all equipment and supplies had been taken over, the new destroyer moved to the Home Fleet for the “work-up” . The new ship became the flotilla leader of the "3rd Destroyer Flotilla".
The Milne's first combat mission was in September 1942, defending Nordmeergeleits PQ 18 , of whose 40 transporters twelve were lost in attacks by German submarines and aircraft.
With the Convoy QP 14 returned Milne back and then moved to other units of the Home Fleet to the Mediterranean to support the Allied landings in North Africa ( Operation Torch ). After initially securing the heavy units deployed there, the Milne then secured convoys from Gibraltar.
At the end of December she was sent with the Meteor to reinforce the convoy ON 154 , which was attacked by two packs of submarines northwest of the Azores . The convoy defended by the Canadian "Escort Group C-1" (destroyer St. Laurent , five corvettes of the Flower class ) and a submarine trap lost thirteen of its 50 freighters. On December 29, 1942, the Milne was able to accommodate almost all of the crews of the three merchant ships sunk the day before, Baron Cochrane , Lynton Grange and Zarian . She took the 143 shipwrecked people to Ponta Delgada and then returned to Great Britain for an overhaul.
From mid-February to mid-March 1943, further deployments took place with the Northern Sea Convoys JW 53 and the return route RA 53 . This was followed by security tasks under the "Plymouth Command" and in the summer of 1943 the destroyer was mostly used as security when moving the heavy units of the Home Fleet, some of which served as a diversionary maneuver for the Allied offensive in the Mediterranean and were intended to bind German forces in the Northern Sea. In addition, there were a number of special tasks, such as supply trips for the Allied bases on Spitzbergen or transports of personnel and material of the Royal Air Force to Northern Russia in order to improve the surveillance of the units of the German Navy in Northern Norway from there .
On October 20, the mission began as part of the beginning season of the northern sea convoys . To return urgently needed merchant ships from Murmansk, an escort group with destroyers Milne (F), Mahratta , Matchless and Musketeer of the “3rd Destroyer Flotilla”, Saumarez , Savage , Scorpion and Scourge of the “23th Destroyer Flotilla” met in the Kolafjord on the 28th the Westcott converted into a long range escort , the Norwegian corvette Eglantine and the minesweepers Harrier and Seagull of the Halcyon class . Under the protection of this unit, Soviet crews transferred five small mine sweepers and six submarine hunters to the Soviet Northern Fleet as part of a "lend lease" agreement . The transfer was not recognized by the Germans. On November 1, which ran back convoy RA 54A thirteen merchant ships from Arkhangelsk from the beginning by three Soviet destroyers and four minesweepers of the Halcyon class was secured, of which Jason and Britomart the convoy remained, after a deployment time to the White Sea again To return home fleet. From the 5th, the aforementioned seven destroyers, the escort boat Westcott and the Eglantine took over the security of the convoy, while Harrier and Seagull stayed behind to replace Jason and Britomart . The convoy arrived in Loch Ewe on the 14th without being detected by the German reconnaissance. This was followed by operations of the Milne in late November / early December 1943 with the convoy trains JW 54A and RA 54B , which were not attacked by the Germans, and in January / February 1944 with the convoy trains JW 56B and RA 56 . From January 29, JW 56B attacked ten German submarines, of which only U 278 hit the flotilla leader Hardy , who had to be sunk by Venus with a catch shot. No boat came close to the 16 merchant ships. The destroyers Whitehall and Meteor succeeded in sinking U 314 . The return sailed from Murmansk on February 3rd, secured by 23 destroyers and corvettes, including Milne , and reached Iceland on the 6th with 37 merchant ships without losses. The erection of eight German submarines had been bypassed, which caused the German aerial reconnaissance to search for the submarines in the wrong direction by reporting a wrong course.
On February 22, 1944, the Milne joined a group of destroyers led by her, the Mahratta , Matchless , Meteor , Offa , Obedient , Onslaught , Oribi , Savage , Serapis , Swift , Verulam and Vigilant to the "Ocean Escort Group" of the JW 57 convoy . The largest convoy to date on the North Sea route reached Soviet ports with all 42 merchant ships. The destroyer Mahratta was lost on February 25, 1944, from which only 16 men could be rescued.
With largely the same units, the Milne then secured the convoy RA 57 returning via Iceland to the United Kingdom . The convoy, captured early by the German aerial reconnaissance, was attacked by seven German submarines, which could only sink one transporter. Attacks on the security units failed, and Milne was narrowly missed by a Wren torpedo from the U 703 . The chasers' aircraft managed to damage or sink four of the attacking submarines. This mission was followed by another in the long-range coverage group for the following Russian escort JW 58 together with Meteor , with which the ship participated as part of the so-called Force 1 in Operation Tungsten . This group around the battleships Duke of York and Anson and the carriers Victorious and Furious also included four escort carriers, four cruisers and nine other destroyers who did not need to intervene in the defense of the convoy.
At the end of the month the Milne marched with the "3rd Destroyer Flotilla" ( Meteor , Marne , Matchless , Musketeer , Ulysses , Verulam , Virago ) in a task force led by the cruiser Diadem to the Kola Fjord, which also included the escort carriers Activity and Fencer , the "6th Support Group" with four Canadian frigates and the 8th Support Group with eight older destroyers and the corvette Lotus belonged to. The association was supposed to pick up the return RA 59 and 1336 crew of the US cruiser Milwaukee, which had been handed over to the Soviet Union . The planned transport of a large troop transport for 1430 Soviet navy members who were supposed to take over ships in Great Britain failed due to the technical problems of the planned Greek Nea Hellas .
Convoy RA 59 left on April 28 with 43 ships, 17 of which had been brought in from the White Sea by the icebreakers Iosif Stalin and Lenin the day before . The crew of the Milwaukee and now 2940 Soviet seamen were distributed on the ships, who were supposed to take over and man the Soviet share of the Italian spoils of war (1 battleship, 9 destroyers, 4 submarines) in England. The German aerial reconnaissance captured the convoy on the day of departure and twelve German submarines, which were expected to be escorted to Russia in two groups, were assigned to RA 59. Although the submarines drove several attacks, they could sink a freighter only, while the Swordfish of the escort carrier sank three submarines.
During the break in the escort to Russia, as in the previous year , the Milne accompanied units of the Home Fleet on advances against the Norwegian coast, which should again employ the Germans and distract from the intention to land in Normandy. During one of these advances, she sank U 289 with depth charges on May 31, southwest of Bear Island . The German submarine had previously reported the call of a British unit.
On August 15, 1944, the northern sea convoys was resumed when the convoy JW 59 with 33 ships, a rescue ship and eleven US sub-fighters of the SC type from the lend-lease agreement for the Soviet Northern Fleet began its march east. The security consisted of the escort carriers Vindex and Striker , the cruiser Jamaica , a local security group with the destroyers Milne , Marne , Meteor , Musketeer and Caprice as well as the "20th" and "22nd Escort Group". North of the convoy marched a Soviet transfer formation with the battleship Arkhangelsk (ex HMS Royal Sovereign ) and eight destroyers of the Town class (ex US four-chimney). In addition, the Home Fleet was at sea with two combat groups to attack the battleship Tirpitz lying in the Kaafjord with carrier aircraft . The convoy was discovered by German aerial reconnaissance eastwards from Jan Mayen on August 20th and attacked by submarines on the 21st. U 344 was able to sink the sloop kite , but the Vindex was later sunk by a Swordfish . Some submarines that arrived later attacked the Soviet transfer unit without success. The boats did not reach the freighters and further attacks on the security units were unsuccessful, but they in turn were able to sink U 354 . The convoy reached its destination on August 25th without losing a transport.
The security units marched back west on August 28 with the nine steamers of the RA 59A counterpart . The Germans did not find this escort. U 394 , however, was damaged by a Swordfish of the Vindex and then sunk by the “20th Escort Group”. On September 6th, this convoy also arrived safely in Loch Ewe .
The next convoy to Russia, JW 60 , left Loch Ewe on September 15, 1944 with 30 transporters and a rescue ship. The convoy's security group consisted of two escort carriers, the cruiser Diadem and the destroyers Milne , Marne , Meteor , Musketeer , Saumarez , Scorpion , Venus , Verulam , Virago , Volage as well as the Canadian Algonquin and Sioux and the "20th" and "8th" Escort Group ". In addition, there was a supply association for Spitsbergen with a cruiser and two destroyers at sea and due to uncertainty about the operational capability of the Tirpitz , the Rodney ran with the commander of the Home Fleet to Murmansk for a meeting with the commander-in-chief of the Soviet Northern Fleet. The convoy was neither captured by German aerial reconnaissance nor by the Grimm submarine group and reached the Kolafjord on September 23. The return route RA 60, which leaked on the night of the 28th, with 31 transporters and a rescue ship and the aforementioned security, bypassed the submarine groups Grimm and Zorn with 12 submarines. Only U 310 was able to sink two freighters. U 921 was lost during this time for unknown reasons. On October 5th RA reached 60 Loch Ewe.
Milne left the convoy with other units on October 3 and ran via Scapa Flow to Hull , to be overtaken there from October 19 for a future deployment in the Mediterranean. As on the sister ships, the 102 mm anti-aircraft gun was replaced by a second torpedo quadruple set according to the original construction contract.
After initial tests, the Milne moved with the Matchless from December 27, 1944 to the flotilla, which had meanwhile been deployed in the Mediterranean, and took over the command again in Malta on January 4, 1945 , to the four remaining sister ships of the M-class, as well as the last operational destroyer Lookout belonged to the structurally identical L-class. The destroyer leader was initially used to secure the convoy and to support the Allied advance in the Aegean Sea. In February 1945 the area of operation of the flotilla shifted to the western Mediterranean, where it was used with French destroyers against German units that were supplying the islands there or trying to evacuate personnel to the mainland. In March and April the Milne supported Allied actions on the west coast of Italy. On March 9, she fired at coastal positions on the Riviera and on March 18 together with the Marne Genoa.
After the surrender of the Germans and the end of the war in Europe, they supported the British garrisons on the Adriatic and until August 1945 was involved in the training of units that moved across the Mediterranean to the Far East and trained their crews in the Mediterranean. The Milne remained with the "3rd Destroyer Flotilla" in the Mediterranean until 1946 and was involved in the first visits by fleet units in the neighboring countries.
On April 4, 1946, she left the area of the Mediterranean Fleet with the other ships of the class ( Marne , Matchless , Meteor , Musketeer ) still in use in the Mediterranean to go to Harwich , where the destroyer leader was decommissioned and assigned to the reserve. From August onwards he served as a barge for the staff of the reserve fleet in Harwich and then in Rosyth . The ship was later towed to Plymouth to be converted into a Type 62 frigate. This plan was abandoned because the existing M-Class ships proved to be unsuitable and were also not in good condition. A conversion of these ships for the Royal Navy was therefore abandoned, Milne was relocated to Penarth near Cardiff and placed on the Navy sales list.
In the Turkish Navy
As part of a larger agreement signed in Ankara on August 16, 1957, the Royal Navy surrendered Milne and three other M-Class ships to the Turkish Navy on September 24, 1957 . Before being passed on, the ships were overhauled and re-armed in the UK. The previous light anti-aircraft weapons were all taken from board and replaced by a 40-mm twin gun and four individual 40-mm Bofors cannons . There was also a lattice mast and a larger aft deckhouse with a squid launcher . On June 29, 1959, the ship was handed over to the Turkish Navy in Portsmouth and renamed Alp Arslan . The namesake Alp Arslan (1030-1072) was Sultan of the Great Seljuks from 1063 to 1072 . The destroyer was used by the Turkish Navy until 1971 and then scrapped in Turkey.
literature
- Roger Chesneau (Ed.): Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946 . Conway Maritime Press, Greenwich 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. Chatham, London 2006, ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8 , OCLC 67375475 (EA London 1969).
- John English: Afridi to Nizam: British Fleet Destroyers 1937-43 . World Ship Society, Gravesend 2001, ISBN 0-905617-64-9 .
- Norman Friedman: British Destroyers & Frigates: The Second World War and After . Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 2006, ISBN 1-86176-137-6
- 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 Milne (G 14) - M-class Flotilla Leader
- Milne uboat.net (English)
- L + M class
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Service history HMS Milne (G 14) - M-class Flotilla Leader
- ↑ a b HMS Milne (G23) uboat.net
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War , 1.11. - 9.12.1943 North Sea, resumption of the Murmansk convoys.
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War , January 12. - 1.2.1944 North Sea.
- ↑ Rohwer: Sea War , February 3–11, 1944 North Sea, convoy operation RA.56.
- ↑ Rohwer: Sea War , February 20-28, 1944 North Sea, convoy operation JW 57 .
- ↑ Rohwer: Sea War , March 2–10, 1944 Northern Sea, convoy operation RA.57.
- ^ David Brown: Tirpitz: The Floating Fortress, p. 40 . London: Arms and Armor Press, 1977, ISBN 0-85368-341-7 .
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War , March 27. - 5.4.1944 Northern Sea, convoy operation JW.58.
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War , April 21-26, 1944 North Sea.
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War , April 28. - 6.5.1944 North Sea, convoy RA.59.
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War , August 15. - 6.9.1944 North Sea, convoy operation JW.59.
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War , September 15. - 5.10.1944 Northern Sea, convoy operation JW.60 / RA.60.
- ↑ Chesneau, p. 41.
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