13 August 1944

13 August 1944 US Navy PT boats intercept a convoy near Jersey

Editorial note: Timed contacts at 2300 and 2350 belong to 13 August. The exact times of the intervening PT approaches, attack and withdrawal are unrecorded; their order relative to the destroyer engagement cannot be fixed precisely.

Lieutenant William C. Godfrey, USN, Officer in Tactical Command aboard PT 505, reported this action on 15 August 1944. [B pages 2–3]

Mission: patrol against enemy Channel Island ship movements from a station 8 miles west of the Isle of Jersey.

Allied force: HMS Saumarez, HMS Onslaught, USS Borum (destroyer escort), and PT boats 505, 498, 510 and 512. The detailed PT attack narrative concerns PT 505 and PT 498; no separate movements are described for PT 510 and PT 512.

Enemy force: about seven ships in convoy, of which five were clearly sighted. The report assessed them as probably “M” class minesweepers, coasters and trawlers.

Conditions: slight sea, no wind and night visibility of 1½ miles. Times are reproduced in the report’s 24 hour format; its time standard is not specified.

2300 Radar contact and interception

USS Borum was approaching its station west of Jersey when she made radar contact with unidentified targets at 10 or 11 miles, about 3 miles south of Point La Corbière, Jersey. PT 505 and PT 498 were vectored onto an intersecting course and made radar contact with five distinct targets at 5 miles. Borum supplied a convoy course of 350° and a speed of 12 knots. [B page 2]

After 2300 First and second approaches

The PT boats closed at 30 knots, slowing to 20 and then to 9 knots. Their first approach was abaft the convoy’s beam and was abandoned at 2½ miles. During the second approach the targets were sighted at 2 miles, but the boats were again too far astern and abandoned the approach. PT 505 and PT 498 then took a course parallel to the enemy. The convoy fired one starshell, and shore batteries opened fire; the boats suffered no damage. Exact times for these movements are not recorded. [B page 2]

Third approach and torpedo attack Exact time unrecorded

The third approach was made at a target angle of 280°. The enemy began using starshells when the PT boats were 1½ miles away. At 1 mile both the boats and the enemy were clearly illuminated. Between 1 mile and ¾ mile the enemy opened fire with tracers. At ¾ mile PT 505 and PT 498 each fired both torpedoes at the nearest target, assessed as an “M” class minesweeper. [B pages 2–3]

Withdrawal Exact time unrecorded

The PT boats turned and retired at high speed, holding their fire. Enemy fire was concentrated but high. As it neared the boats, PT 505 laid a puff of smoke, onto which enemy fire concentrated. Speed was reduced once tracer fire ceased, and PT 505 and PT 498 returned to USS Borum. Shore batteries continued firing at the PT boats and the destroyer escort, but scored no hits on the PT boats. The torpedo runs appeared normal, but no results were observed. [B page 3]

2350 British destroyers intercept

The British destroyers intercepted the enemy midway between Jersey and Guernsey and engaged intermittently. The report gives 2350 for this interception but does not give an exact time for the preceding PT attack or withdrawal, so their timing relative to the destroyer engagement cannot be fixed precisely. [B page 3]

US Navy. Lt William C. Godfrey, action report dated 15 August 1944, source set B, pages 2–3. Supplied compilation: Jersey Convoy Action 13 to 14 August 1944.docx. Set letters and page or screenshot numbers refer to that compilation.