Battle in the Bay of Biscay Dec 1943

[herakles]

Eleven German destroyers and torpedo boats sailed into the Bay of Biscay to bring in the blockade-runner "Alsterufer".

However she was sunk by a Liberator bomber of RAF Coastal Command on the 27th, and on the following day as the German warships returned to base they were intercepted in bad weather by the 6in light cruisers HMS Glasgow and HMS Enterprise. Although outnumbered and out-gunned the RN cruisers sank the 5.9in-gunned destroyer Z-27 and the torpedo boats T-25 and T-26, also another four of the German warships were damaged.

In the early hours of the 29 December 1943 when the Irish Vessel Kerlogue was en route from Lisbon a Focke Wulf 200 circled and signalled " SOS follow". The ship picked up 168 survivors from the encounter with HMS Glasgow and HMS Enterprise. The little ship with a crew of 12 under Capt Donohue set course for Ireland direct. The senior German officer Kplt. Quedenfeldt requested that they be taken to Brest but he refused. They Irish crew could have been easily overpowered but the refusal was accepted.

Despite repeated requests by Lands End radio, to proceed to Fishguard they continued to Ireland and landed the survivors there. They were interned. The Irish captain was at the receiving end of a very abusive Naval officer when he next called to Fishguard,who threatened to have him interned for his humanitarian act'.

[John Brown]

Another interesting post Richard. Thank you.

Worth mentioning here that the action involving HMS Enterprise and Glasgow on 28th Dec 1943 was the last major surface action of the European/Atlantic theatre in WW2. The Scharnhorst had been sunk on the 26th Dec 1943.



regards...John

[John Odom]

Capt Donohue was a true good samaritan in that act. The world is short of such men.

[tim lewin]

In terms of actions and which was the last major one I think we should not forget the nightly running battles of Operation Tunnel which involved the 10th DF plus a cruiser, mostly Black Prince or Bellona, which were frequently damaging to both sides and fought entirely in the dark at 30 kts. These involved Poles, Canadians and British destroyers, mostly Tribals on account of their heavier gunnery fit. Athabaskan was lost, Haida damaged and Ashanti and Huron managed a 30 kt "kiss and tell" experience. There is lots on the net about Tunnel but if you want a more detailed posting i can do it in a different, new, thread!
tim

[John Odom]

Do It Tim!

[tim lewin]

i shall do it this week; today I will be in Greenwich and will take a selection of pictures for you all.

[DJBlackburn]

Capt Donohue was a true good samaritan in that act.

Not to seem deliberately contentious, but I am wondering how much "samaritanism" was actually involved.

I believe a ship's pilot or captain has a legal responsibility to provide aid to survivors in need of rescue. I also believe this holds true even in times of war, provided of course said pilot or captain and his ship are non-belligerent and the act of rescue does not unduly endanger his vessel or crew (such as entering a declared minefield).

That aside, Donohue's refusal to return the rescuees to their own "friendly" port may also have legal footing, as no neutral vessel is required (or perhaps, even permitted) to enter the waters of a belligerent power. Taking these men to their requested port might have been deemed humanitarian in their eyes, but may also have been in violation of maritime law--war or no war.

If all this is correct, then the same should apply to a British port, as Ireland proper was not allied with Britain, and would legally be no different to an Irish vessel than a German-occupied French port.

Taking belligerent survivors to a neutral nation for internment is, for said survivors, effectively a prison sentence--so again, it seems difficult to classify Donohue's actions as particularly "humanitarian".

I tend to believe the skipper, regardless of any goodwill he may or may not have exhibited, was acting not as a humanitarian but in careful, measured compliance with international maritime law. This is not to question the man's integrity, honor, or benevolence; I just think Donohue was in a tough position and certainly seems to have acted carefully and wisely, in accordance with the rules.

I am using for reference, the example of Uruguayan authorities on the event of the Graf Spee debacle in 1939. I think the survivors of the German ships at Biscay, were--no pun intended--in the same boat.

Am I wrong with all this? :confused:

[herakles]

No, you're not wrong. What you say makes complete sense.

The Captain was doing the right thing by international law I'm sure.

[stewart mcloughlin]

There is another side to the story of rescues in that where French fishing vessels, in this instance rescuing downed allied airmen in the Channel, took them to a French port, where they were immediately detained by the German authorities and taken to prison camp for the duration.
One of the aircrew later being one of the 50 shot by the S.S. in the Great Escape.
What status under law would the French master have in relation to his disposal of the aircrew?
Would it have been possible for him to drop them off at an English channel port/beach and gone back home?
Could his actions have been seen as aiding the enemy by handing over the aircrew, who were doing their bit to free his country from occupation?
Who would like to be in his position and making the decision?

Have done a little research into the otherwise well documented Operation Tunnel on behalf of one of our village's casualties on board HMS Charybdis, 23rd October, 1943, joiner 3rd class Henry Wright, who now lies with some of his comrades in Brittany. I believe the island of Guernsey commemorates this day each year as a considerable number of the casualties were washed up on their shores.
Stewart

[herakles]

An interesting problem Stewart. An English or a French port?

This was a problem for all the French though, wasn't it. To support the Vichy Govt. or the Allies.

There's always a certain reality in war. Defy your rulers and suffer the consequences. How many of the French Resistance were shot? I seem to recall many plaques around Paris commemorating the execution of them.

[nigelweysom]

Stewart you are indeed right concerning Guernseys commemoration of the charybdis and limbourne sinking's , see my post under members articles about this , we have also just celebrated the 65Th anniversary this last weekend with nine survivors returning ,
nigel

[stewart mcloughlin]

Nigel,
I take it you are a Guernsey boy.
I wish I had known the service was last weekend, I could have flown over on one of those cheap easyjet/ryanair visits for the day and included something into my file of our casualty. I thought it was more likely to have taken place later in the month. Have previously searched for information of the memorial day without success. Our casualty is buried with many of his comrades at St. Brieuc cemetery near St. Malo. I'd like to get over to his grave at some stage and the Guernsey memorial day would be very opportune.
I don't suppose you have any photos of the memorial day this year or previous that you could copy to me, press cuttings etc. do you, or is there a local newspaper site that carried the day?

Do you have any information of an 'old comrades/survivors' group?

You can see what I have so far on our casualty, Henry WRIGHT, at :-
longtononline.co.uk (our village web-site)
click on HISTORY, (top left)
click on WW2 casualties (centre)
scroll down to Henry WRIGHT and click on his name.

Seen the naval history site. Excellent source of material for my research on this and other naval casualties.

Apologies Herk for Shangiing your thread.

Stewart

[herakles]

I don't even mind if you shanghai my thread Stewart! ;) It's all grist for the mill.

[nigelweysom]

stewart if you let me have your address via a pm i will send you the relevant news papers
nigel

[nigelweysom]

to return to the idea of French fishermen rescuing downed airmen,and then taking them to France , i don't know what happened in France but in Guernsey after an escape by a local fisherman , the Germans sent a soldier out with each fishing boat in future, also they caught and shot some men trying to escape by boat ,which made people think twice
Nigel