HMS Hecla 1940-1942 - World Naval Ships Forums Archive (Page 2)

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HMS Hecla 1940-1942 - World Naval Ships Forums Archive (Page 2)

HMS Hecla 1940-1942 (Page 2)

Posts 51 to 67

Thanks for your post Bill I just hope that you keep your website going forever. If you decide to close your website or the server closes down, we will lose the links and everything that goes with it. This leaves future members wondering what was on the links and possibly more bemused than before. Dave

My uncle, George Tague, was sadly killed along with other men when it impacted the mine in May 1942. I only found out the whole story a few years back. My late mother always thought he'd gone down with the ship when it was torpedoed later that year.

Yes, that is a worry. One can only renew domain name registration for three years at a time & all one man bands like mine are in danger of "sinking "without trace when the "crew dies". i'm 71 but hope to have another ten years ahead of me. I have thought of "archiving the web site on a DVD along with the 500 or so photographs I have accumulated, depositing a copy at the IWM and selling others at a small cost. Only a partial solution since who know how long DVD will last before they are superseded. Books, the printed kind, are kept in perpetuity by the British Library (and other national libraries) so the book I published should survive. But archiving of e-books and web sites is a major issue - and not just for me. But perhaps this post belongs elsewhere ...? Bill [QUOTE=qprdave;10004135]Thanks for your post Bill I just hope that you keep your website going forever. If you decide to close your website or the server closes down, we will lose the links and everything that goes with it. This leaves future members wondering what was on the links and possibly more bemused than before. Dave[/QUOTE]

Bob, This may be of interest to you: War at Sea: letters home, 1940 - 1943 In 1940 a 33 year old South African architect enlisted in the Royal Navy as an Ordinary Seaman and was posted to the cruiser, HMS Shropshire, at Simonstown. Herbert H. McWilliams had studied in London and travelled and sketched in Europe, the Middle East and Stalin's Russia before joining his father's practice in Port Elizabeth. His background was different from that of other ratings and this makes these letters to his mother (illustrated with his drawings, ink washes and watercolours) particularly revealing about life on the lower deck. After officer training in England and service on a Fairmile ML at Lowestoft, he was posted to the destroyer depot ship HMS Hecla two months before it was torpedoed off the coast of North Africa. A letter describing the tragedy and ink washes done within hours of his rescue by HMS Venomous must be one of the most compelling accounts of a naval disaster published. He trained with Combined Operations in Scotland and Egypt for the landings in Sicily and was under constant attack by aircraft while offloading equipment on the invasion beaches. A final chapter describes his time as artist, photographer and war correspondent on the services magazine, Parade. An introduction by Clayton Holiday, retired Director of the art gallery in Port Elizabeth which McWilliams designed and where many of his paintings hang, describes McWilliams’ work as architect, artist, sailor and yacht designer and his life with Albert Milde at their home on the Schwatzkopf River. Forthcoming: to be published in Spring 2013 War at Sea: letters home, 1940-1943; by Lt Herbert H. McWilliams SANF. Holywell House Publishing, May 2013. ISBN 978-0-9559382-2-1. Hardback, price: tba See: [url]http://www.holywellhousepublishing.co.uk/[/url] Bill [QUOTE=Bob_Johnston;87662]Thanks for that, I have viewed that thread but it does not contain the sort of info I am looking for. I have also been to U-Boats.com site and have found some info, but I really want to have details of the day by day activities. I beleive there are details in the National Archives, but living in SA it is not possible to visit. Bob[/QUOTE]

HMS HECLA was torpedoed 70 years ago ... ... and the 50th anniversary on the 11 November 1992 was marked by a reunion at Stratford on Avon attended by 200 - including 70 veterans of HMS HECLSA, HMS MARNE and HMS VENOMOUS. See photographs at: [url]http://www.holywellhousepublishing.co.uk/association.html[/url] Some are alive today but there are no plans for a similar reunion this year. But do give them a thought as that day approaches ... BIll Forster

The December issue of WARSHIPS contains Part 1 of a three part article on the sinking of HMS HECLA by U-515 on the 11 - 12 November 1942 written by Capt John Rodgaard USN (Ret). I found it on sale at my local branch of WH Smiths. Bill

If you have a family member who died when HMS HECLA sank you might like to look up their name on the Admiralty's official list of those who died. The list is available as a 2.6 Mgb PDF download from the foot of this page: [url]http://www.holywellhousepublishing.co.uk/HMS_Hecla.html[/url] In view of the large file size I may not keep the list on my web site permanently so please download now. And if you know of others who lost a family member or friend when HECLA sank please send details to them. The list contains full name, rank, rate and service number. And with this you can obtain their official service record from TNT Data Services at Swadlincote in Derbyshire. To find out how see this page: [url]http://www.holywellhousepublishing.co.uk/ratingsrecords.html[/url] Bill Forster

I have only just started to really examine the Photos that my Stepfather Tom Davis took in WW2. He took these from HMS Active on which he served as Ship's writer and gun crew from 1939 - 45. On the back of Photo 1 he wrote " Hecla, a few hours before her loss off N. Africa " The other two just have " Hecla" written on the back. All three photos have the same Admiralty clearance stamp on them and I assume that they were taken on the same day. The quality is not that good but they may be of interest. Steve
Attachments :

[QUOTE=SteveDavis573;10065347]...The other two just have " Hecla" written on the back. All three photos have the same Admiralty clearance stamp on them and I assume that they were taken on the same day. The quality is not that good but they may be of interest. Steve[/QUOTE] Thanks, Steve; they are great photos. You can see the gun-line passed between the ships, in photos 1 and 3, so obviously some sort of transfer about to begin?

Great photos Steve, many thanks for posting them here. Jim

Hi Steve, Great photos. I always like shots with activity so thanks for posting these. Cheers, Sandy McAuslan

Great photos Steve - please feel free to post anymore where they came from! ;);)

Until now a list of officers and men who survived the sinking of HMS HECLA did not exist. But a complete list of those aboard HECLA on the 12 November 1942 has been compiled from the Pay and Victualing Records based on returns made by the ship's writer. And can be compared with the official list of those who died issued by the Admiralty at the time. I have published both lists on my web site about HMS HECLA and they can be viewed and downloaded as PDFs from the links in the first para of the home page: [url]http://www.holywellhousepublishing.co.uk/HMS_Hecla.html[/url] They include officers and ratings and give names, rank or rate and serial number for ratings. Check them for friends and ship mates of family members who served on HECLA. The complete crew list will, I hope, lead to further contacts with veterans alive today and help identify the names of shipmates of family members who served on HECLA. And uncover family stories. Simon Skelhorne, for example, now knows that Harry Nelson who showed an eight year old girl round HECLA survived its sinking:- Rita (on right aged 8) remembered having dinner aboard Hecla on the Clyde, singing "Chattanooga Choo Choo" for the ratings in the mess and being shown around the ship by a young sailor called Harry Nelson. She often wondered what happened to him. Rita Skelhorne was Simon's Mother and her father's story is told here: [url]http://www.holywellhousepublishing.co.uk/Jabez.html[/url] The names of officers with links to further information where known are also given near the bottom of this page: [url]http://www.holywellhousepublishing.co.uk/LtCdr_HCR_Alexander_RN.html[/url] Bill Forster Holywell House Publishing [url]http://www.holywellhousepublishing.co.uk/index.html[/url]

Fred Lemberg who survived the sinking of HMS HECLA on the 11 November 1942 died on the 4 February. He was 95 and spent the last ten years of his life with his daughter and her family in Nelson on South Island, New Zealand. I contacted Fred in 2009 and was able to include a brief reference to him in the chapter about HMS HECLA in A HARD FOUGHT SHIP: THE STORY OF HMS VENOMOUS. But he describes his memories of the day HECLA was torpedoed in far more detail on my web site here: [url]http://www.holywellhousepublishing.co.uk/lemberg.html[/url] Fred was one of eleven Kiwis who joined HECLA on the Clyde in during a short refit before it left for the Indian Ocean via the Cape. They all survived the mining and spent six months in South Africa before leaving for the fateful encounter with U-515 off the north African coast on the night of the 11 November 1942. Fred was on the bridge when the first torpedo struck - "I was on watch as lookout on the port side of the bridge when a torpedo struck the starboard side. I scanned the darkness with binoculars and saw a white line approaching and immediately informed the bridge with as much volume as my vocal chords would allow. The torpedo struck directly below me and I was blown backwards into the W.T. caboose, fortunately since when I came to the wing of the bridge was littered with debris from a whaler swinging from davits below." Only one of the Kiwis was killed - "Roland Fitzgerald was supposed to have been on duty with me but was off sick. When the first torpedo struck he was in his hammock, slung outside the engine room vent in the starboard waist, and was covered in oil when he joined me on the bridge. He had left his lifebelt behind so went to get it and that is the last time I saw him. He was the only one of the eleven Kiwis aboard Hecla to be killed." Fred went on to serve in the Mediterranean on the Insect Class River Gunboat HMS SCARAB before returning to his home on North Island after the war. As recently as August 2013 Fred Lemberg met up with his old shipmate "Slinger" Woods in Australia to reminisce about their time together on HECLA. The family will celebrate his life on Saturday 7th February at 10.30am at the Cathedral in Nelson. Bill Forster Holywell House Publishing [url]http://www.holywellhousepublishing.co.uk/index.html[/url]

Hi I am the great nephew of W.E.Hayward the commissioned gunner on H.M.S Hecla when she was sunk and recently found out that he was posted missing presumed killed just wondering if any one has information on what happened to him when the ship was sunk his location. I was once told ny my dad his nephew he was the last officer on board so went to look for any survisors before he abandoned ship.

This November will the 75th anniversary of the loss of HMS HECLA and a new hardback edition of a HARD FOUGHT SHIP will be published on the 9th May containing the mot detailed account of what happened on the 11th November 1942 when HMS HECLA was torpedoed and 500 men were rescued by HMS VENOMOUS. If you lost a family member in this naval disaster or if your father or grandfather was one of those rescued and you want to find out more about what happened during that long night then this is the book for you. See: [url]http://www.holywellhousepublishing.co.uk/purchase.html[/url] "Venomous" Bill

There are lots of postings on this thread from the sons of men who served in HECLA and I would like to record their stories on this web page: [url]http://www.holywellhousepublishing.co.uk/survivors.html[/url] Please get in touch before the 75th anniversary of her sinking on Armistice Day this year. The first torpedo struck at 10 minutes to midnight on the 11th November. She was hit by five torpedoes and sunk at 0116 on the 12th November. HMS VENOMOUS rescued 558 survivors and three of them are alive today. Bill Forster

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