North Atlantic and Arctic

Fire Orders Chapter 4

The next day the destroyers again swept around in searching circles as the U-Boats were thought to be still...

Life on a Submarine

Sixty-five out of sixty-nine people on our submarine got food poisoning. A submarine "day" is at...

'Dad's Bit in the War - 1939-1945

At 9.40a.m. On 17.7.1940 the Fellside hit a torpedo and sank with the loss of 12 men out of a crew of...

War Diary of John Dolphin April 1945 - April 1946 on HMS QUEENBOROUGH

The ‘HEAVIES were right in there Bombarding Jap Airfields on “FORMOSA” while 8 Destroyers...

H.M.S.Kelantan and Convoy S.L.125

We were ordered to go to England and the Chinese and Malayan crewmen were replaced with an English crew. At...

My Life in the Royal Navy

We assembled in the drill shed and were told by the drafting officer we were going to Dundee in Scotland to...

The War Diaries of 1232581 - L.A.C. Jack Lucas R.A.F.V.R.- (PART-ONE)

My constant applications for a posting resulted in a move to bomber command at Throgmorton, Nr Pershore,...

A W Howorths Revised D-Day

The gunnery officer told me that I would man an Oerlicon on one of the Landing Craft Assault Boat that we...

How I ran away to sea !

I spent the night on the S.S. Hopecrown and on Monday morning began asking round for jobs and had 3 offers...

Laurence Scott’s Recollections of War Serving in the Merchant Navy

The Javanese Prince was torpedoed and sunk on her next trip across the Atlantic. My two years on the...

The Sinking of HMS Edinburgh

I learnt after that he had taken passages on HMS Niger which ran into our own minefield off Iceland and...

Russian and Malta Convoy Part 2

In May 1941, HMS Nigeria escorted the 'pride of the Navy' - HMS HOOD - out of Scapa Flow into the...

The Englishman

The destroyer I joined was made up of Anglo, Scots and French Canadians, also a couple of Americans, who...

WW2 Merchant Navy Service: Onboard SS Essex Trader

Corvette commander on North Atlantic anti submarine duty - part 1

My first appointment was to the Anti submarine training base H.M.S. Nimrod in Campbeltown, Mull of Kintyre...

Sinking of the Bismark by W.R.Downing

Throughout the day the Cruisers "Suffolk" and "Norfolk" and the "Prince of Wales"...

Tales of a Merchant Seaman

Jack Prior Service Number : R240374 Merchant Navy : Deck Hand — Quarter Master Decorations: Atlantic...

An Adventure

Cynics might say that the 18th division was delivered to Singapore just in time to suffer the humiliation...

The Sinking of the HMT Britannia

The passengers were a mixed bunch male and female, naval officers and ratings, army officers and nurses,...

TWO SISTERS

They were sister ships; were, because the Somali was escorting with Ashanti, a convoy from Archangel Russia...

How I Spent Christmas, 1943

Meanwhile, a British force of “Duke of York”, “Jamaica” and the destroyers...

Mixing with the Enemy: Memories of the Merchant Navy

After we had discharged our coal, we were bound for Melillia on the north coast of Africa, Spanish Morocco...

Donemana Naval Volunteer in WW2

Our role was to protect merchant shipping by providing escort and my ship, the Wellington, was engaged in...

HMS Bramble 1942

Dep: 28.5.42 21/5 QP12 departed Kola with BRAMBLE, GOSSAMER, LEDA, and SEAGULL as eastern local escort...

All at sea with the Royal Artillary

You were salvation to the army lost, Trapped, but for you, upon the Dunkirk beach, Death barred the way to...