Norman (G49)
 The Norman
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Norman (G49) was an N-class destroyer . The destroyer, like four of its sister ships, wasloanedby the Royal Navy to the Royal Australian Navy and entered service in September 1941. During World War II he was awarded the Battle Honors Indian Ocean 1942-44 , East Indies 1944 , Burma 1944-45 and Okinawa 1945 .
In October 1945 the destroyer retired from the service of the Royal Australian Navy in Sydney and was taken over as HMS Norman by the Royal Navy and transferred via Fremantle to Plymouth until December 12, 1945, where it was decommissioned and added to the reserve. Another use of the destroyer did not take place and in April 1958 the demolition of the destroyer in Newport began .
history
The Norman was ordered on April 15, 1939 with a further seven units of the N-class. The ships were only slightly modified replicas of the J- and K-Class ordered in 1937. The contractors for two newbuildings each were four shipyards, which had also built two units from the 1937 order, which were delivered from 1939. The Norman was laid down at John I. Thornycroft & Company in Woolston near Southampton on July 27, 1939 and launched on October 30, 1940. It was the second new building for the Royal Navy to be named Norman in honor of the Normans . The first new build with this name was an Admiralty M-class destroyer built by Palmers in 1916 , which was scrapped in 1921.
While equipping the eight units of the N-class, the Royal Navy decided to make all eight units available to Allied navies. Five went to the Royal Australian Navy, two to the Dutch Navy and the first went to the Polish Navy ( ORP Piorun ). On September 15, 1941, the HMAS Norman was the fifth ship of the class and fourth for Australia. Your first in command was the later Vice Admiral Henry Mackay Burrell (1904-1988), who was in 1955 in command of the Australian fleet and 1959-1962 chief (Chief of Naval Staff) of the Royal Australian Navy.
Calls
Even during the start-up phase at Home Fleet , the Norman took on a special task when, on October 7, 1941, Seyðisfjörður took a British trade union delegation on board who wanted to travel to the Soviet Union . The destroyer Antelope intended for the voyage could not be used due to an engine failure. On the 14th the Norman reached Arkhangelsk , disembarked the delegation and started the return journey. On the 17th the destroyer at the level which was Bear Island ordered the delegation to increase again on board after the end of their visit. From the 21st the returned destroyer went on submarine patrols in the White Sea , and then on the 27th to take the delegation in Arkhangelsk back on board and finally to start the return journey. Back in Scapa Flow in November, the destroyer continued its training and testing program. At the beginning of December 1941, the destroyer went back to the shipyard in Woolston for remaining work and the installation of a radar system .
After completing the work, the Norman was assigned to the troop escort WS 15 to Freetown , which included the old battleship Resolution and the destroyer Garland , which has now been handed over to the Polish Navy . The destroyer then ran independently to Simonstown until February 2, 1942 . In the middle of the month he rejoined convoy WS 15 from Cape Town to Durban and then accompanied a part of the convoy destined for Batavia , which was diverted at sea to Ceylon , where the four transporters with the Norman and the one belonging to the convoy since Durban Battleship Ramillies arrived on March 4th.
Assigned to the "7th Destroyer Flotilla", the destroyer secured the units of the Eastern Fleet until the end of May with the cruiser Birmingham and the destroyers Fortune , Nizam and Pakenham of the Mediterranean Fleet as reinforcement. In the eastern Mediterranean she was then mostly used with the sister ships Napier , Nestor and Nizam . From June 9, 1942, she took part in Operation Vigorous to supply Malta, where she first accompanied the transporters coming from Haifa to the main escort and then with the three sister ships belonged to the security of the main formation of the fleet. The operation was finally canceled. ( see also => The end of Nestor )
The Norman then moved back to the Eastern Fleet and resumed her fuse operations in the Indian Ocean from Kilindini Harbor on July 8th . On September 10, 1942, she was one of the units that supported the completion of the occupation of Madagascar . In addition to her, her Australian sister ships Napier , Nizam and Nepal as well as the Dutch Van Galen and Tjerk Hiddes were also used.
On October 21, 1942, the Norman was able to save 14 survivors of the British merchant ship Empire Nomad (7167 BRT, 1942), which had been sunk eight days earlier by U 159 about 230 nautical miles off the coast of the Cape Province. They had almost reached the South African coast with their lifeboat. Two more lifeboats with another 32 survivors of the Empire Nomad were discovered by merchant ships five days earlier and two days later.
The destroyer performed defensive tasks in the Indian Ocean in the last months of 1942, 1943 and up to autumn 1944 and secured units of the Eastern Fleet or increased the security of troop transports running through the operational area. He was involved with other ships, including sister ships Napier , Nizam and Nepal , in a single offensive operation in March 1944 when the aircraft carriers Illustrious and the American Saratoga bombed Japanese facilities on Sabang Island with their aircraft (Operation Cockpit) . In these two years of operation, two extensive overhauls were carried out: first from the beginning of March to mid-May 1943 in Simonstown, South Africa, and then from mid-April to July 1944 in Sydney , with the ship making it to Australia for the first time.
In October 1944, further missions took place in Southeast Asia, when she shelled the Japanese base on Car Nicobar together with the heavy cruiser London and her Dutch sister ship Van Galen on the night of the 18th .
Similar missions followed in January 1945 in support of the partly amphibious advance of British and Indian troops into Burma . When troops landed in the north of the island of Ramree off Arakan on the 16th (Operation Matador), the Norman secured the escort carrier Ameer , who was supposed to ensure air security in the landing section. During another landing on the island of Cheduba south of Ramree (Operation Sankey) on January 26, Norman and the destroyers Raider , Paladin and Rapid shelled the landing area before landing. On January 30, the Norman transported troops with the Raider and four landing craft to Sagu Island south of Ramree (Operation Crocodile).
In February, the destroyer moved to Australia and was assigned to the British Pacific Fleet (BPF), which formed a task force for the American fleet and formed from mid-April 1945 when Okinawa was conquered ( Operation Iceberg ). The four Australian N destroyers belonged to the security of the British carrier association. As of May 6, the Norman and her sister ships Napier , Nepal and Nizam belonged to the British supply group with tankers, ammunition ships and four transport escorts. On May 22nd, the Norman left the formation to escort the destroyer Quilliam, damaged in a collision with the carrier Formidable , to Leyte . From the beginning of July 1945, the Norman was deployed from the Manus base to supply the BEF ships off Japan with mail, urgently needed goods or replacement personnel. In September 1945 the ship ran again to Japan, but reached Tokyo too late to be able to participate in the formal surrender. The destroyer returned to Australia in October.
The whereabouts of the Norman
In October 1945 the destroyer retired from the service of the Royal Australian Navy in Sydney and was taken over by the Royal Navy as HMS Norman and transferred to Great Britain via Fremantle . The Norman arrived on December 12, 1945 in Plymouth, where she was decommissioned and placed in the reserve. During the reserve period, the ship was towed to other locations several times. The intention to use the Norman as a drill ship for the training of reservist units was discarded and the ship was sold for demolition, which began in Newport in April 1958 .
literature
- MJ Whitley: Destroyer in World War II. Motorbuch Verlag, 1995, ISBN 3-613-01426-2 (Original: Destroyers of World War Two. Arms & Armours Press, London), pp. 114-118 (N-Class), 219, 215.
Web links
- HMAS Norman (I) on Royal Australian Navy (engl.)
- HMAS Norman (G49) - N-class Destroyer on naval-history.net (engl.)
- HMAS Norman (G49) on uboat.net (engl.)
- Chronicle of the Naval War 1939–1945. Ship name index
Individual evidence
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. June 12-16, 1942, Mediterranean Sea, double convoy operation to supply Malta.
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. September 10 – November 5, 1942, Indian Ocean, British company to occupy Madagascar.
- ↑ HMAS Norman (G 49)
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. March 21 – April 2, 1944, Indian Ocean, Operation Diplomat.
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. October 15-19, 1944, Indian Ocean, Operation Millet.
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. 16.1. – 4.2.1945, Indian Ocean, Operation Matador.
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. May 3–29, 1945, Central Pacific, operations continued around Okinawa.
J-class Jackal | Jaguar | Janus | Javelin | Jersey | Jervis | Juno | Jupiter
K-class Kandahar | Kashmir | Kelly | Kelvin | Khartoum | Kimberley | Kingston | Kipling
N class Napier | Nepal | Nerissa | Nestor | Nizam | Noble (G84) | Noble (G65) | Nonpareil | Norman
Australia :
Napier |
Nepal |
Nestor |
Nizam |
Norman
