HMS Greyhound H05 Destroyer 1935-1941

[AlB]

Hi
New here so greetings to all..any original iinformation on the above would be gratefully received--sunk May 1941 Battle of Crete--my uncle Fred Holdsworth was killed. Ship seems to have had an eventful career but little documented.
Thanks in anticipation
AlB

[stewart mcloughlin]

Service history at:-

http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-10DD-25G-Greyhound.htm

Casualty list at:-

http://www.naval-history.net/xDKCas1941-05MAY2.htm

Other events of the day (22 May, 1941) at:-

http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-4105-32MAY02.htm
(Some eight hours after Greyhound sunk, Norfolk and Suffolk sighted Bismark!!!)

Stewart

[stewart mcloughlin]

Picture at:-

http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/images/greyhound.jpg

Stewart

[herakles]

Welcome AIB! Good to see you here. I hope you can find the information that you need.

[stewart mcloughlin]

Fred's Commonwealth War Graves Certificate at:-
http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=2494397

Name: HOLDSWORTH, FRED
Initials: F
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Able Seaman
Regiment/Service: Royal Navy
Unit Text: H.M.S. Greyhound
Age: 19
Date of Death: 22/05/1941
Service No: P/SSX 32254
Additional information: Son of John Norman Holdsworth and Rosalind Violet Alberta Holdsworth.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 48, Column 2.
Memorial: PORTSMOUTH NAVAL MEMORIAL

Bit of information on Wikipedia at:-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Greyhound_%28H05%29

If you Google ( greyhound"hms" ) there are loads of sites about her

Stewart McLoughlin

[AlB]

Apologies for not thanking you all before - I appreciate the links...I'm not an historian but it has always struck me that the enormous focus (then and post war) on the exactly contempory Bismark hunt was to distract the public from the huge losses in the battle for Crete where ,as so often, our service men were sacrificed for dubious political ends--guess some things dont change.
Thanks Again
AlB

[tim lewin]

I think the ends were only dubious after the event, had the Germans been obliged to abort their landings or even not tried the war in the Med might have been different; had Greece been able to halt the Germans in the mountain campaign tyhe same can be said. There are alway good reasons for trying that after failing look completely misguided and daft. Sadly the human condition is such that we rarely enjoy the facility to distinguish one from the other before-hand!

Tim spent planning is never wasted, al my father used to tell me, before following it up with ....no plan has a more than 60% possibility of be executed excactly as planned!

No wonder I grew up confused
tim

[davie8]

My father was in REME. He served in France in 1939-40, and was at Dunkirk.
He was taken off by HMS Greyhound - a G-Class destroyer - No. 05.
The ship was attacked when homeward bound.
Greyhound went to The Beaches on three subsequent days. I believe the date of her being attacked, and therefore her last run, was 30 May 1940.
I assume that my father was wounded on that day.
This happened during a strafing run by enemy aircraft.
The man next to him (a 19 year old) was killed.
I would like to hear more about Greyhound's involvement in the Dunkirk operation, and invite responses from people with memories of Greyhound at any stage of her service.
After the attack, Greyhound was towed back to England, repaired, and in 1941 was lost off Crete.
My father owed his life to the ship, and was so impressed that he subsequently made a model of it in the Army workshops in Egypt where he spent most of the war.
I remember playing with the model as a child, and the memory lingers on.
As I was born in 1941, I guess I also owe my life to Greyhound.
I have recently bought a model kitset of an E-Class destroyer (closest I can get in layout), and want to know if there were any significant differences to the G-Class so I can alter during building.
David.

[astraltrader]

Welcome to the forum David.

Any questions you might care to ask our members regarding Models should be posted in our designated section.

http://www.worldnavalships.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=67

.

[Dick]

Davie,

There were some minor differences (eg the G class hull was 6ft bit shorter than the E class hull), but I think that in practice the only significant visual difference at that time that would matter at the scale you are modelling is that the mainmast (aft) was a tripod affair.

Here is a picture of her I think taken at the end of her involvement in the Norewegian Campaign ie mid April 1940 and just before Dunkirk. Hope it helps.

[tjstoneman]

The G Class were very similar to the E class. External differences were limited to the fitting of a tripod mainmast instead of the pole in the E class (although the foremast remained a pole in the G class) and a six-foot reduction in overall length in the G class as a result of improvements in the engine room. The hull shortening meant that the funnels were slightly closer together - not too noticeable in 1/700 scale.

Tim

[alanbenn]

Davie, welcome to the forum.

Hms Greyhound had a full and varied career albiet very short indeed.
She was involved in the battle with Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, she was accredited with other ships in the sinking of several Italian ships.

On the 3 days she sailed to Dunkirk she managed to bring home each day the following.

28th........123 troops
29th........720 troops
30th........506 troops (including your father I assume)

Several ships company and troops were lost during the attack on her.

She was as you say lost off crete in 1941 with the loss of her Captain and 79 crew.

Quite an action packed life when you consider she also underwent refits during that time, I also have a photograph of her prior to her tripod mast being fitted.

Regards
Alan

[caldbeck]

Hi Dave

The Captain of the Greyhound ( from 5 July 1939 ) at Dunkirk and up to the sinking 22nd May 1941 was Commander Walter Roger Marshall A`Deane, DSO, DSC, AM., he recieved a M.I.D for Dunkirk.

On 22 May 1941 HMS Greyhound (Cdr. Walter Roger Marshall-A'Deane, DSO, DSC, RN) was sunk by 3 bombs from a attack by 8 German Stuka (Ju-87) dive bombers in the Kithera Channel about 8 nautical miles north-west of Antikithera island, Greece in position 36º00'N, 23º10'E during the battle for Crete. The three inch gun continued to fire until wiped out by the third bomb, the 0.5 inch machine-guns went on firing to the last, she sank in four minutes, the destroyers Kandahar and Kingston went to the rescue of the Greyhounds crew and under savage bombing and machine gun attack picked up a number of officers and ratings including the captain Commander Marshall-A`Deane.

Later in the day while HMS Kandahar was picking up survivors from the sinking of HMS Fiji, Commander Marshall A`Deane having spotted a man in difficulties in the water dived overboard and swam into the darkness to help him and was not seen again, for this gallent attempt he was posthumously awarded the Albert Medal.

HMS Greyhound - built at Barrow in Furness.

Steve

[astraltrader]

I found an old thread we already had in existence about Greyhound so I have merged the two together.

[Dreadnought]

Hi caldbeck, a very warm welcome to World Naval Ships Forums.

I have chagned your images to thumbnails as this is our preferred method for uploading images. The reasoning behind this, and instructiions for doing so are detailed in the thread linked here:

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Cheers

[davie8]

My thanks to Stewart, Dick, Tim, Alan, Steve, & Terry for your responses to my thread. I will proceed with the building and will post photos in the modelling section when complete.
Regards.
David.

[Marek T]

When damaged off Dunkirk the limping GREYHOUND (with ca. 500 people on board) was taken on tow by BLYSKAWICA and brought to Dover at 6 kts.
Here is a photo of GREYHOUND as seen from BLYSKAWICA on that day.

[Destroyerman]

Well done Marek, a good contemporary image of HMS GREYHOUND.:)

[davie8]

Hello Marek.
Thanks for the photo of HMS Greyhound under tow from Dunkirk.
It was particularly poignant as I read your comments for the first time today, which is the 11th day of the 11th month - Armistice Day.
I noticed the damage to the bow and for'd deck area. I have read that this was the result of shelling from the beach.
I assume my Dad is in the photo somewhere. Presumably he was lying on the deck under the torpedo tubes. He said he took cover there when the Greyhound was straffed. He was wounded in the shoulder and survived to serve in the Middle East for the rest of the war.
I was aware that a Polish ship took the Greyhound under tow to Dover, so I am interested to know the name of the ship.
Can I ask what your connection is with the Blyskawica?
All the photos posted were a big help in making my model of the Greyhound, but your picture will have place of honour in my home.
Many thanks.
David.

[1945brian]

My father in law, E T Hitchcock served on HMS Greyhound from 22 April 1941 up to her sinking on 22 May 1941. He survived the sinking and was rescued from the water by HMS Gloucester. This ship was then sunk by dive bombers but E T Hitchcock survived and was again rescued from the water by either HMS Kandahar or HMS Kingston and taken to Alexandria.
He was then assigned to HMS Hasty until 16 April 1942. Hasty was sunk 6 June 1942.

[Marek T]

... Can I ask what your connection is with the Blyskawica?
All the photos posted were a big help in making my model of the Greyhound, but your picture will have place of honour in my home.
Many thanks.
David.
Hello David,

I am sorry I did not read your comment in due time.

Well, I did not serve on BLYSKAWICA. But I am very much interested in history of Polish ships and I have written a book about her.
Also my working place is abt 50 meters from BLYSKAWICA.

I am glad you liked the picture.
Marek