13 April 1942 Part 1

13 April 1942 St Malo convoy diary

Weather: S moderate breeze, visibility five nautical miles, calm to slight sea. No convoy request except continued RO 45 escort Jersey–Guernsey. 13:00: V 204’s commander telephones that V 211/04 have finished compensation and will leave Brest at 14:00. Under divisional orders they take a convoy intended to be continued by the 28th Minesweeping Flotilla on my orders. I order them to take it all the way to Cherbourg so that this already slow convoy suffers no further delay from a change of escort.

Situation: V 206/12 continue previous convoy that evening; V 207/13 ready St Malo; V 204/11 compensation Brest, afternoon passage towards Cherbourg with three steam hopper barges; V 1510/704 Cherbourg–Alderney with Henke, Dorsch, Claus and Schwalbe, back with Lena and Gottfried; V 209/08 replenish and V 209 degaussing-range passage; V 210 boiler cleaning St Malo; V 205 dock Cherbourg. Escorted tonnage 5,400 GRT.

Intentions for 14 April: V 206/12 finish convoy; V 207/13 ready St Malo; V 204/11 continue Brest–Cherbourg; V 1510/704 ready Cherbourg, possible night Alderney and return convoys; V 209/08 ready St Malo; V 210 boiler cleaning; V 205 dock Cherbourg. The Jersey–Guernsey night convoy is carried out as planned. V 204/11 leave Brest with the convoy only at 20:00. 20:45: radio message from the 3rd Security Division about one of our own aircraft being missing. Enquiries establish that neither aircraft nor landing nor crash has been observed. Visibility over the islands is poor.

T-1022 Roll 2423, PG 38000, scans 0308.