Norman Gandy 5

Seventy six years ago, today, 28 March 1943 at 0733, the Northbound Convoy, SR3, escorted by HMS Bridgewater and HMS Burdock sighted the Southbound convoy at about 95 nm South of Gran Canaria and the escorts were exchanged.  This left RS3 steering 222° at a speed of 8½ knots.  Burdock was on the port and Bridgewater on the starboard at 3000 yards and 10° before beam.

One of the crew members of the Lady Denison Pender, Ken Smith, a cable jointer, recalled that “early on the Sunday morning the sea was calm with blue skies and a warm sun. The Lady Denison Pender was a cold ship, built specifically for service in tropical climes, so there was no heating in the accommodation and most of the officers and crew had no warm clothing to protect them against the cold. It was a blessing to us all to be steaming south and into warmer weather. Around eight o’clock in the morning a northbound convoy appeared. As the two convoys passed the escorting vessels changed over–our escorts took over the northbound ships, and their escorts came to us.  Normally on a Sunday morning those members of the crew that had no duties to perform would be lounging about the deck, enjoying the fine weather. It was also a good day to do the weekly dhobiing. At around ten o’clock I was below decks on my way to the mess for morning coffee when there was an explosion; being close to a port I looked out. On our port side a cargo ship was folding in what can only be described as a giant letter “V”. She had been struck amidships by a torpedo. The two escorts circled around, dropping depth charges. The convoy took on a zigzag course and one of the tugboats held back to pick up survivors or to render assistance.”

The explosion, at about 1150Z, was the SS Lagosian which had been torpedoed by U-167.  A survivor from the Lagosian, Jim Kelly, recalled: "we passed the Canary Islands at about nine am and continued our journey, passing what appeared to be the Portuguese fishing fleet then, at eight minutes to twelve, we were attacked by a wolf pack of submarines and we were hit by a torpedo and started to sink very rapidly. I happened to be out on deck reading a book, before going on watch at midday. It was about horse racing and the name of it was "The Finish". Just as I had finished the story and closed the book, the torpedo struck and all the lads on deck made a dash in the direction of the nearest lifeboat, which was unfortunately full of holes, caused by the explosion. I then turned to lower a raft. The axe, which hung on the rigging and was intended to release the raft, had been blown away by the explosion. However, I managed to find an old shovel lying on deck and this I used to release the raft and get it into the sea, which was fairly rough at the time.

Bridgewater sent Empire Dennis to look for survivors.  Meantime, Bridgewater and Burdock engaged various contacts unsuccessfully during which a Hedge Hog attack attempted but aborted when contact was lost.  The hunt was broken off at 1250 with ASDIC (the name given to underwater active sound detection) conditions reported as "extremely poor with a great deal of quenching (aeration of the water causing disruption to sonar signal reception).

Ken Smith continues his story.  “For the next few hours everything seemed to have slowed down, all was calm and serene, and at twelve-thirty the midday meal was served. During the meal there was a terrific explosion, which had so much force that the Lady Denison Pender listed to starboard with all the crockery sliding off the table and smashing on to the deck. My first impression was that the ship was being fired upon by small arms with the bullets striking the deck and superstructure. Grabbing my life jacket and rushing on to the upper deck, I was just in time to see the stern quarter of a ship disappearing below the waves. The ship had been blown out of the water.  What I had taken to be machine gun fire was the debris from the stricken ship raining down on to our decks.”

The tremendous explosion at about 1444Z had been caused by U-159 which had fired a spread of 4 torpedoes and heard "several detonations."  Bridgewater also reported a "tremendous explosion bearing 222° full ahead” and that Silverbeech appeared to be missing.

HMS Bridgewater noted that as no torpedo tracks had been observed and second explosion took place 16 miles ahead in 120 fathoms of water there was a possibility that mines had been laid in this well used channel.  She ordered the convoy to steer West for deeper water. Meantime, U-172 had been chasing the same convoy and had been badly shaken when a ship (presumably Silverbeech) blew up only about 2000 metres away. Bridgewater further reported a heavy underwater explosion, thought to be the remaining cargo of ammunition at 1410Z hours.

U-159 later surfaced and passed a large field of debris including several pieces of twisted metal on their deck.  The Captain of the Empire Ace said he "heard a dull explosion as the torpedo struck the Silverbeech, followed a second later by a terrific explosion as the forward part of the ship blew up. Wreckage was thrown into the air to a height of 1000 ft, some of the ships plates were blown as far as the Empire Ace.  The torpedo appears to have struck the No 2 hold in which was stowed about 93 tons of TNT. The poop, apparently, remained afloat for about 7 seconds before it slipped under, leaving nothing but a mass of wreckage where a few seconds before Silverbeech had been. Silverbeech had blown up and sank at position 25.30N 15.55W.

The Master, 50 crew and 5 Gunners and passengers were lost.  Amazingly, 2 of the crew and 6 Gunners were rescued by the British Tug Empire Ace and landed at Bathurst (now Banjul) Gambia.  The Gunners probably survived because their accommodation was in the poop which had remained afloat after the explosion.

 

Helmut Witte

 

The Captain of U-159 was Helmut Witte (6 April 1915 – 3 October 2005). As commander of the Type IXC boat, U-159, he sank twenty-three ships on four patrols, for a total of 119,554 tons of Allied shipping, to become the 20th highest scoring U-Boat ace of World War II. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross given recognising extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.

The Master and crew of the MV Silverbeech are commemorated at the Tower Hill Memorial.  The memorial is adjacent to Trinity House and lies just to the North of the Tower of London.  Twenty four thousand names are inscribed in panels around the memorial and it is very moving to behold.  Second Engineer Officer Arthur Norman Gandy can be found on Panel 97 together with the Master and 17 other shipmates.

“THE TWENTY FOUR THOUSAND OF THE MERCHANT NAVY AND FISHING FLEETS WHOSE NAMES ARE HONOURED ON THE WALLS OF THIS GARDEN GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THEIR COUNTRY AND HAVE NO GRAVE BUT THE SEA”

Norman Gandy 4

Seventy-six years ago, yesterday, presumably patched-up after her collision with the Djambi, Silverbeech was ready to resume her journey south and became part of Convoy RS3 to Freetown and Lagos.  RS was the designation in 1943-4 for convoys from Gibraltar to Freetown whilst SR was the designation in 1943 for the return.  There were 2 other merchant ships (Lagosian and Moanda) with Silverbeach which also included the cable ship, Lady Denison Pender and five tugs being escorted by two Corvettes, HMS Cadmus and HMS Convovlus and two armed trawlers, HMS Kingston Chrysolite and HMS Arctic Ranger. Interestingly, Lady Denison Pender was returning to Freetown having completed a highly secret job in the Mediterranean - she had connected an undersea communications cable between Gibraltar and Casablanca specifically for the Casablanca Conference (SYMBOL) in January 1943. Silverbeech had 5 passengers (6 had commenced the voyage at Liverpool but one had left the ship at Gibraltar) and 5053 tons of general cargo including ammunition and high explosives, about 100 tons of TNT.  There was also a large consignment of mint bank notes for issue by the West African Currency Board and, amongst personal items, a tea set which Norman had bought en-route as a wedding present for my Mother.  The Master was Captain Thomas George Hyem.  Much fewer in number than OS44 but, probably, equally conspicuous, the ships steamed in 3 columns with Silverbeech in the centre.  The convoy left Gibraltar at 1600Z on 22 March 1943.

Meantime, on receiving information from the xB-Dienst (signal intelligence service) the “Seeraeuber” (Pirate) Patrol Group, "Wolfpack," comprising 8 U-Boats (U-105, 67,123,159,167,172,513, and 515) part of X Flotille FdU West operating from Lorient in France, formed a patrol line across the likely track of RS3 intending to intercept the convoy off West Africa.

"Same Old Parties - Always Cheating"

Writing to the Times today, Edmund Gray of Iffley contends that “the case for a further referendum is surely now overwhelming.”  According to Mr Gray, “Brexiteers” will not be cheated because they will still be able to vote leave (again).  But he misses the point – in a further referendum, what possible confidence, given their recent record, could there be that Honourable Members would respect the result and legislate accordingly?  Indeed, why stop at a referendum; why not hold another General Election?  The electorate could be asked to vote on which of the respective party manifestos they preferred – purely indicatively, of course.

A plague on both your Houses!