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HMS UNDAUNTED
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JIM BRYCE |
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HMS UNDAUNTED POTTED HISTORY I BATTLE HONOURS Dogger Bank 1915 - Belgian Coast 1916 - Mediterranean 1941 Normandy 1944 - Okinawa 1945 Ships Motto
Bienvenue The first HMS Undaunted was 5th rate prize ship, 32 - 50 guns, taken from the French during the French Revolution. The Battle of Martinique was fought March 1794, under the command of Admiral Sir John Jervis Earl of St Vincent who, with a squadron of some 26 ships, captured Fort Royal Harbour. In the harbour was the French warship "Bienvenue" and she was taken by Captain Robert Faulkner. Admiral Jervis gave command of the ship to Faulkner, "Named after you sir" he said, on giving her the commission "Undaunted". She served until 1795. The second HMS Undaunted was another prize, taken from the French in 1793. However, she was not named Undaunted until 1795 and she was wrecked in 1796.
The
third
HMS Undaunted was built and commissioned in 1807 and is famed for conveying
Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte to the Island of Elba, to his exile on 28 April
1814. Its then captain, Thomas Ussher, wrote home on May 1st: "It has fallen to
my extraordinary lot to be the gaolor of the instrument of the misery Europe has
so long endured". The fourth HMS Undaunted, one of five Immortalite Class of screw frigates, was built in Chatham between 1859 and1861 and scrapped in 1880. She was the last and largest of the Immortalite Class. Life in the navy at this time was hard, as this account will certify: ...In 1863 embarked from Ascension in the Undaunted Flagship of Rear Admiral T. Warren. The Cholera raged to such an extent on board the Undaunted on the passage from Madras to Calcutta, that she was at one time, without hands sufficient to set or take in sail, There was in consequence ordered to England. In my own individual case on our arrival I was sent more dead than alive to Haslar Hospital where it required four months "treatment" to make me to proceed on sick leave..... The iron bell mast from this vessel still survives at the Chatham Royal Dockyard site. It was refurbished and erected in 1803 and the bell was rung to signal each change of shift for the dockyard employees until its closure in 1984. The Bell Mast is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument has now been restored and stands at the new entrance to the Dockyard off Leviathan Way. HMS Undaunted had some distinguished Captain's. Vice Admiral Harry Woodfall, 1834-1911, was promoted Captain, and commanded Undaunted in 1875.
The fifth HMS Undaunted was an Orlando Class Cruiser and was built in 1886. Others in her Class included HMS Orlando, HMS Australia, HMS Aurora, HMS Narcissus, HMS Immortalite and HMS Galatea. During 1897-1900 the old 25 calibre 9.2 ins guns were replaced by 30 calibre guns and the old 6 ins pieces converted to quick-firers.
The Channel Fleet in 1898 Admiral Sir Colin (Richard) KEPPEL, 1862-1947, served in this Undaunted at Devonport, Gibraltar and Malta in 1890. She was sold in 1907. The sixth HMS Undaunted was an Arethusa Class Light Cruiser and was built by Fairfield in 1914. She measured 450 ft in length and displaced 3,520 tons. Her speed was 30 knots and her armament was two 6 inch guns and six 4 inch gun. Others in the class were HMS Arethusa, HMS Aurora, HMS Galatea, HMS Inconstant, HMS Phaeton, HMS Penelope and HMS Royalist. She saw service in the First World War, during which she received two battle honours.
The Cruiser HMS Undaunted - 1914 Her first battle honour was at Dogger Bank in January 1915. The total British casualties were 15 killed and 80 wounded. Hipper lost 954 killed and hundreds more wounded. Germany learned a lesson from the battle, the need to prevent flash from bursting shells reaching magazines: their capital ships were rendered safe. Not so the British, and it cost the Navy five major capital ships at Jutland 16 months later. The second battle honour was off the Belgian coast in 1916. She was scrapped in 1923. The seventh HMS Undaunted was one of nineteen Ursula Class submarines, she was built by Vickers Armstrong in Barrow. She was named in 1940 and had a displacement of 540/730 tons and was armed with 6 x 21 inch tubes and a 3 inch gun and was capable of 10 knots.
HMS Undaunted was an Ursula Class Submarine In May 1941 she was operating in the Mediterranean, out of Malta, and was lost. Italian forces reported sinking a submarine by depth charge attack on 12th May. A submarine had been sighted by aircraft off Zuara on the Libyan coast and the corvette Pegaso had subsequently carried out the attack. Oil was seen on the surface, but no wreckage was collected as evidence.
The
eighth
HMS Undaunted is the one on which I served between 1967 and 1969.
She was one if eight Ulster Class Destroyers built during the Second
World War, and was constructed, like her sister ship HMS Ulysses, at the
Birkenhead shipyard of Cammell Laird and was launched in 19 July 1943 and
completed 3 March 1944. She weighed 1,777 tons on launching and was capable of
a speed of 36 knots. Her main armament was 4 single barrel 4.7 inch guns.
She received two battle honours during the second world war. She was given the
pennant number R53, and later F53, and became known as the ?Fighting 53?. She
was converted to a Type 15 Anti-submarine Frigate in 1952 at the R. White and
Sons shipyard on the Isle of Wight. HMS Undaunted was adopted by the
London Borough of Barking, during Warship Week during the war and was
affectionately known as the UNWANTED.
One of her most
prominent roles was during her First Commission when she took part in the D-Day
landings at Normandy on 6 June 1944. Operation Overlord had a huge Naval
contingent that included two Battleships, 2 Monitors, 23 Cruisers, 105
Destroyers and over 1070 other warships (including Minesweepers and Anti
Submarine Frigates). In addition, some 2,700 Merchant ships and 2,500 Landing
craft took part. She was part of Task Force G, which comprised:
HMS Ajax , HMS Orion,
HMS Argonaut, HMS Emerald
HMS Undaunted was an Ulster Class Destroyer
After the ?D? Day
landings she was transferred to the British Pacific Fleet.
HMS Undaunted after conversion to Type 15 The British Pacific Fleet was present at operations against Okinawa - operating as TF 57 (Task Force 57) - under Vice Admiral Rawlings comprised the four carriers HMS's Indomitable, Victorious, Illustrious (later relieved by Formidable) and Indefatigable with 218 aircraft, the battleships HMS's King George V and Howe with five cruisers and several destroyers. The fleet reinforced Vice Admiral Mitscher's Task Force 58, the US Navy carrier force which comprised the main element in Admiral Spruance's 5th Fleet. Landings were made on April 1, 1945. Five days later the Japanese began a six-week-long series of kamikaze attacks involving 2,000 planes. Some 26 ships were sunk (none of them larger than a destroyer) and 164 damaged, including three carriers and three battleships. TF 57 began its attacks on the Sakishima Group on March 26. On April 1 the 'Indefatigable' and 'Ulster' were damaged, and five days later 'Formidable' and 'Victorious' were struck. Organized resistance on the islands ceased on June 21. The total U.S. casualties in capturing them amounted to 48,000 killed and wounded. HMS Undaunted remained in the Far East, but on 20 January 1946, she left Sydney for home, via Melbourne and Fremantle in the company of HMS Indefatigable, arriving home in March with the remainder of "The Forgotten Fleet".
HMS Undaunted - anti submarine frigate After conversion from a Destroyer, to an Anti Submarine Frigate, she took part in Asdic trials, and other experimental work. She was fitted with a flight deck in the late 1950's and involved with the development of the naval version of the Wasp helicopter. The Wasp was mainly intended for Anti Submarine Warfare. She later became Captain "D" of the Portland Training Squadron, spending most of her time day-running out of Portland, training TAS ratings in Anti Submarine Warfare. When I joined her, as a Leading Ordnance Electrical Mechanic in March 1968, she was Captain D, under the command of Captain Desmond Cassidi, later C in C Western Fleet, and by then by Captain Hutchings. Whilst most of the time was spent in the Portland areas, it wasn't all work and no play, we did manage to squeeze in visits to Belfast, Londonderry, Newcastle, Hull, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Bordeaux, Oporto, Dartmouth, Rosyth, Leith - to present Eisenhower's flag at Holyrood House, Jersey, Penzance, Barry Docks and Wallasey, to name a few.
HMS Undaunted - Captain D Portland Squadron 1969 On one occasion we received orders to return to Portland at speed and pick up stores and other equipment. The ship was rife with buzz's as to the reason. We picked up lots of victuals and crowd of boffins, from ASWE, who had lots of boxes of electronic equipment. After we were clear of Portland, the skipper told us that we were off to look for the Russian Helicopter Carrier /Cruiser "Moskva" which was in the Atlantic, West of the British Isles and heading for the Mediterranean Sea. We spent a few days as her escort, listening to her engine noises, etc., and taking plenty of official and unofficial photos. We were then relieved at the bottom end of the Bay of Biscay by a ship which came out to meet us from Gibraltar. The Russian thanked us for our company as we departed for home. I left her in September 1970, for HMS Victory (FMG), having spent two and a half great years with a great bunch of mates. She was in commission until 1974, when she was placed in reserve. In 1978 she was used for further trials, she was sunk as a target for an Exocet missile, fired from HMS Norfolk, and she now rests on the bed of the Atlantic Ocean. The name is still carried on by a unit of the Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps "Undaunted" which was established in 1919, and named after the Royal Navy ship HMS Undaunted of that time.
The Great Journey of Stoker Tommy (Tug) Wilson Following the posting of my experiences of my time on HMS UNDAUNTED, I was contacted by Mr. James Wilson of Bolton, who's brother Tom had served on the ship from being built. These are his brother Tom's words:
Recruits Course - Stoker Tom Wilson 2nd from right in 2nd row The name UNDAUNTED was first given to a man-of-war by Sir John Jervis in 1794. The name was carried by a long list of ships. The last to have it before this destroyer was a Submarine, which was lost with all hands at the beginning of the war. The crest of the ship, a hooded falcon, or as we used to say "A falcon with a gas mask on". We left Devonport Barracks before midnight on the 20th February 1944, to travel by troop train to Birkenhead, to join HMS UNDAUNTED at the builders yard, namely Cammell Lairds at Birkenhead on 21st February 1944. The ship had been adopted by the London Borough of Barking For the next 10 days we did Sea Trials in Liverpool Bay and saw quite a bit of the River Mersey. For a few days we tied up at the Pier Head, Liverpool, by the Liver Building. When the makers handed over to the Navy we then sailed for Scapa Flow.
The destroyer HMS Undaunted When in Scapa Flow we had what they call "Work Ship", to make us efficient. Our first operation, in April 1944, was with Aircraft Carriers of the Fleet Air Arm in an attack on the "Tirpitz" in the Norwegian Altenfjord. We were in the North Cape area for quite a few days. We escorted the Aircraft Carriers HMS Furious, Victorious, Emperor, Fencer, Searcher and Pursuer with other escorts, including HMS Anson, Belfast, Jamaica, Sheffield, Royalist, Meteor, Milne, Onslaught, Ursa, Verulam, Vigilant, Virago and Wakeful. We were joined by the Royal Canadian Navy ships Algonquin and Sioux. The aircraft from the Carriers scored 14 hits. On our return to Scapa we had a Concert Party aboard with "Jack Mills, Bernard Miles and Party". When going out on one operation, our Captain, a Scotsman by the name of Angus Mackenzie, played on his bagpipes "Will ye no come back again!". We could have killed him! About 10 days before "D", we sailed South and our anchorage was by The Needles, by the Isle of Wight. Before "D" day we did "E" boat patrols in The Channel. We were in the forefront of the Armada on "D" itself. We were in the ROGER section of SWORD beach during the landings and we bombarded the coast of France for two hours before the landings commenced. The skipper, Commander Mackenzie stood in his Highlander's bonnet , playing his bagpipes from the Bridge as the Landing Craft, crammed with crouching infantry, headed past the ship towards the beach.
Map of the D Day beaches General Eisenhower and Admiral Ramsay were embarked in the Minelaying Cruiser HMS Apollo for the landings. Eisenhower and Admiral Ramsay urged Captain Grindle to move Apollo closer inshore, so they could get a better view, but she hit a sand bar and ran aground. The ships propellors were bent, and possibly the driveshafts, in the grounding. Apollo was refloated and limped back towards HMS Scylla, which had been ordered to provide a destroyer to take General Eisenhower and the Admiral back to Portsmouth.
Admiral Ramsay, General Eisenhower and General Montgomery on HMS Apollo As you probably know, we brought Eisenhower and Admiral Ramsay back to Portsmouth, arriving around 10 o'clock on the evening of the 6th. I have both of their autographs in my Autograph Book and is one of my proud possessions. A couple of days after, we escorted an Aircraft Carrier to Gibraltar. On our return to Plymouth we had leave. We then returned to the Mediterranean and escorted HMS Howe into Algiers, and did a great deal of escort work, out of Malta. We then went on to Bari, Brindisi and Taranto (Italy). We earned the Italy Medal for operations such as bombarding the Coast Road by Ancona, to help the Army and also operations off the coast of Yugoslavia. If my memory serves me right, we came home for leave. However, our next move was to Alexandria and I met up with my brother Stan there, who was serving in the RAF, and we had 2 days leave together.
Stan in middle and Tom or right in Alexandria We then headed for Port Said (which told us we were off to the Far East), then through the Suez Canal to Aden, Bombay and again we did quite a bit of escorting of Troopships, etc.
Tom Wilson under the gun We then went to Trincomalee (Ceylon) - it was there that Terry Thorne joined the ship. From here on you will know by the book "Forgotten Fleet". On August 14th we were off the port of Yokohama, but did not enter for the signing of the Peace Treaty. No, we were on our way back to Sydney, which we entered on, or about, 21st August. We then went to New Zealand for a refit, spending about 8 weeks in Auckland (North Island). By this time I had steamed 150,000 miles in the ship since I had first commissioned her, one year and seven months before, in 1944. When the refit was completed, we returned to Sydney, then on to Yokohama (Tokyo Bay).
Ships Company photograph in Auckland, New Zealand We had leave in Tokyo and travelled up the island for a few days, we also "showed the flag" in some fishing port. Then on 1st January 1946, we were told we were going home via Sydney, Melbourne, Capetown (South Africa), St Helena, Freetown, Gibraltar then Plymouth. We arrived home on 19th March 1946, What a journey!!! In less than two years, between 1944 and 1946, on this journey, Stoker Tom Wilson received the 1939-45 Star, the Italy Star, the Burma Star, the Pacific Bar and the King George VI Medal. Tom also saved a number of newspaper cuttings relating to the time he served on HMS UNDAUNTED. ......Stoker Harry Chapman felt his ship, HMS UNDAUNTED, lift out of the water as she received a near miss. Above decks it seemed to Chapman like a scene from Hades: big ships were firing their guns, rocket barges were sending off their missiles in eruptions of smoke and flame; nearby a ship was on fire while in another, troops were singing as they climbed down scrambling nets to landing craft tossing in the swell...... Another cutting records that one Friday, just after VJ Day, HMS Undaunted sailed into Sydney, Australia flying the flags of Japan, Germany and Italy. She also flew the flags of France, United States, China and Poland, as well as the Personal Flag of Dwight D Eisenhower. One officer explained "We were feeling exuberant and flew the lot." Below are some more photos of Tom Wilson
Tom in centre
Stoker Tom Wilson
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