ARCTIC CONVOYS
With the Home Fleet in Iceland and
Escorting QP.14 from Arctic Russia in September 1942
H.L.T. Davis, Sick Berth Attendant
(SBA)
Conditions on V & W Class
destroyers were so bad in rough weather that the men who served on them
were paid hard-lying money. This story wasa published in Hard Lying,
the magazine of the V & W Destroyer Association and republished in
2005 by the Chairman of the Association,
Clifford ("Stormy") Fairweather, in the book of the same name which is
now out of print. It is reproduced here by kind permission of
Clifford Fairweather but copyright remains with H.T. Davis who we would
like to acknowledge more fully if his family gets in touch with Bill
Forster or Vic Green.
"HMS Worcester
was in East India Dock, Poplar, London where she had been repaired
after the 'Channel Dash'. On leaving Poplar Docks she headed for Scapa
Flow for trials, etc. In August Worcester
received orders to rendezvous with HM Ships Ashanti, Victorious and Rodney
and escort them back to Scapa. During this voyage to rendezvous with
them we sailed through the Minches in a howling gale, pitching,
rolling, corkscrewing and hitting a milestone every inch of the way.
Off the North West coast of Ireland, the sea was so rough that a member
of the crew was washed overboard. Lifeboats were manned, but we were
unable to rescue our shipmate.
Worcester soon rendezvoused
with her charges, it was then that the Victorious
decided to do flying exercises. 'Curses!' - Worcester was detailed
as 'Crash Boat'. Back to Scapa from where we carried out U-boat sweeps
and
patrols and then headed for Iceland with a passenger on board, a
regulating P.O. (Crusher) bound for HMS Norfolk.
Our crew were at day defence stations and this 'crusher' went round the
ship shouting "Put that cigarette out". It was not long before he was
missing. On the mess deck with his head over a bucket.
On arrival at Hafnarfjordhur while lying alongside the Duke of York, No. 2 Boiler flashed
up and a pall of black smoke blew across her uperstructure. Worcester received a signal from
the Admiral stating that if there was a repeat performance, the Worcester crew would have to scrub
down the superstructure. A large number of the Home Fleet were also in
the fjord, King George the Fifth,
Norfolk, Cumberland, plus a number of destroyers.
The Norfolk challenged the Worcester to a game of darts. Three
legs of 1001. A team was hurriedly recruited and went aboard the Norfolk.
Our team beat them! Liberty men had a few hours in Reykjavik, made a
few purchases and drunk a few bottles of beer. One per cent alcohol.
Iceland was a prohibition country. Worcester
left
the fjord and dropped anchor in Seydhisfjordhur on the East Coast, to
take on fresh food. All that came aboard were crates of tinned potatoes
- two crates per mess. The contents of quite a number were rancid and
there must have been a trail of tins from Seydhisfjordhur to
Spitzbergen.
Worcester rendevoused with two
oil tankers and joined the 'Home Fleet' escorting the Russian Convoy
QP14. This convoy was bringing home survivors of that disastrous convoy
PQ17 and had sailed from Murmansk on 13 September. On the 20th the
minesweeper Leda was
torpedoed and sunk, later that day HMS Somali was also torpedoed, however,
she did not sink immediately, and was taken in tow by HMS Ashanti but she broke
in two during rough weather and sunk four days later. The Worcester was
ordered to sink a merchantman whose bows and stern had been blown off,
this vessel was carrying a cargo of timber which was preventing her
from sinking, thus the Worcester
had to sink her by gunfire. This ship
was the Grey Ranger which had
been torpedoed by U-435 which had penetrated the screen and sank two
other ships on the 22nd September. On the 23rd a Liberator of Coastal
Command found and sank the U-253. The convoy arrived at Loch Ewe on the
26th.
Next a signal was received saying that the enemy, in the shape of the Von Hipper
was out from her Norwegian fjord. I thought 'Here we go again, if it is
not the Scharnhorst and Co;
It's the Von Hipper. December
1942 Worcester, was in action
again in the English Channel against two
German supply ships, plus escorts. This was to be my last spell of
action in the Worcester.
I left her in Pompey harbour. I was on a stretcher. A
fine
S.B.A. I turned out to be, knocked out in the first round. There was a
rating who lived in the city of Worcester, he was severely
wounded in, I believe, the right arm. "
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