HMS Snowflake: Russian Convoys

[sharky ward]

Hi Shipmates.
Any one out there would like to contact me

[Olwyn Hart]

Hi
I am researching my dad's naval history (ww2). He was in the Russian CONVOYS also, PQ9 serving on The MINESWEEPER THE SHIKA. Dont suppose you came accross James Fox Grainger, nickname Scal or Lofty to his mates in the navy as he was a tall lad! How I wish I had listened more to the stories he told us; not that he said a lot, which I suppose makes ir more precious. I had no idea of how hard you all had it and how brave you all were, you are magnificent.
Any info would be greatly appreciated also any pics of any crew members. Take care.
Kind regards
Olwyn Hart
Scal's Lass

[stontamar]

Hi Olwyn - HMS SHIKA, pennant number FY1664, built in 1929 by Smith's Dock, Middlesbrough, was a an ex Norwegian whaler hired as a minesweeper in March 1940 and as you mention she was one of the escorts allocated to outward bound convoy PQ9/10, a combination of two sailings, departing from Reykjavik on 1st February 1942 and arriving at Murmansk on 10th February. The convoy made the passage undetected.
HMS SHIKA appears to have transferred to the Soviet Navy on, or shortly after, arrival in Russia. Navies of the Second World War The Soviet Navy Vol 2 page 53 reports that under Soviet control she was given the pennant number T102 and that she may have been torpedoed by a U-Boat of Kola on 5 December 1944. I have been unable to substantiate this claim elsewhere.

Presumably your father returned to the UK in one of the return QP convoys (QP7 or 8?) either as a passenger or on draft to one of the other escorts returning home?


Regards

Dave - stontamar

[Olwyn Hart]

:)Hi DAVE
This is really interesting, up to now I had not realised PQ9 and PQ10 were combined.

Thank you for the info.
Kind Regards
Olwyn

[westcoast]

Hiya All,

Newbie to this forum (and indeed the Naval Ship fraternity) and hoping someone out there can help. It was the reference to the HMS Snowflake that brought me here. I believe that post WWII she was passed to the Air Ministry and was renamed the Weather Watcher on which I believe my father served. I've looked on the Web for images of her from her launch in 1941 through to her scrapping in Dublin in 1965 and have found NOTHING! Any pointers would be most welcome.

ta :)

[Batstiger]

Hello Westcoast welcome to the forum.

Here as requested four pictures of HMS Snowflake and one of her as Weather Watcher.

Regards, Bob.

[kc]

Wow Bob, even I'm impressed enough by that one to post a reply to say so. :)

[The Sailor]

Well Bob has this special machine rigged up. He feeds in a ship's name, he pulls a lever and out come the pics.

Westcoast, happy you joined us. Have fun here.
Are you from westcoast Australia where God lives, or westcoast America?

[herakles]

Welcome sharky ward and westcoast!

I hope you find us worth staying.

"Are you from westcoast Australia where God lives" ... ...

So Sailor, is that your problem? LOL

[The Sailor]

The Sailor just smiled and gave him a Vegemite sandwitch.

[westcoast]

Thanks for these images Batstiger, they are great! :) These are hopefully the first of many in order for me to have a complete photographic record of her life. Cheers for the welcome to everyone - I hope to stay and find out as much as possible about her (Snowflake). West Coast yes, Australia no. My own dear West coast is that of Scotland - Where God was born....:D

[herakles]

Well, that's all right then westcoast . But did you know that where you live was once part of Australia? Admittedly a long time ago!

[Barrie]

Hello Westcoast welcome to the forum.

Here as requested four pictures of HMS Snowflake and one of her as Weather Watcher.

Regards, Bob.

Hi My name is Barrie, my Dads name is Arthur King and he served on Snowflake Russian convoys, anyone remember him, from Southampton UK

[GreggAtShack]

Hi Batstiger, my wife and I are researching for her father who was a merchant navy 3rd mate picked up by the Snowflake after his vessel (British Ardour) was torpedoed. We are trying to put a small book together for him and wonder if you have any of the pictures of Snowflake you supplied in higher resolution and if you do whether they are allowed to be used for this purpose.

[GreggAtShack]

Whoops.... silly me... I just found out I could get higher res pics by clicking the lo-res ones. Apologies... As you were.

[Coral MacRury]

Hi, I am the same, looking on behalf of my dad who also served on the weather Watcher! Did you find out any more? My dad says that they had a fellow crew member who took lots of photos, i wonder where they all are?
Ccoral.

[Coral MacRury]

hi, so pleased to get a picture of the Weather Watcher, thankyou!

[sigricathy]

Thanks for these images Batstiger, they are great! :) These are hopefully the first of many in order for me to have a complete photographic record of her life. Cheers for the welcome to everyone - I hope to stay and find out as much as possible about her (Snowflake). West Coast yes, Australia no. My own dear West coast is that of Scotland - Where God was born....:D

Hi
My father was on board the Weather Watcher from 1951- 1955 working for the Met Office sending up weather balloons etc. He has loads of photos and is anxious to make contact with anyone who was on board particularly his buddy Bill Ross, any help appreciated.
I can scan pictures and upload if peiople are interested.
Father is now nearly 83 years and been reminiscing recently.

[astraltrader]

Yes please I am sure there would be many in the forum who would love to see your fathers photographs. If you could kindly scan them at a large size - preferably 300dpi or even larger it would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome to the forum as well! :)