2 April 1942 Part 1

2 April 1942 St Malo convoy diary

02:00: V 209’s commander telephones that V 207 is damaged; details are not yet known. V 212/11 are held at Jersey for the General’s transport. 02:30: at the General’s order, V 212/11 and RO 8 proceed to Guernsey. Alderney can no longer be reached in darkness, so RO 8 is ordered only to Guernsey. 03:00: the General is required back at St Malo at 16:00. V 206 is to expedite replenishment of fifty tons of coal at 07:00 and sail with V 204 for Guernsey at 09:30. 09:00: V 207’s commander reports a cracked low-pressure valve-chest cover; Jersey cannot repair it and the period out of service is unknown. 09:30: V 212/11 are assigned the night Guernsey–St Malo troop convoy. Olwe now works off Jersey under heavy land-based anti-aircraft protection, as agreed with the harbour commandant; another pair will later relieve.

Guernsey reports that General Eberth will return Guernsey–St Malo tomorrow, 3 April, instead of today. V 206/04 can no longer be recalled; they are ordered to escort troops to Alderney tonight and return to Guernsey on the morning of 3 April. I request armed tug Stier from Harbour Commandant St Malo to escort Granville–Jersey with V 211 on 3 April. Urgent boiler cleaning of V 212 and necessary coaling of V 210/08 leave insufficient boats.

Remark: fixed weekdays for troop convoys must be settled. For days, troop convoys have been requested every night, often in both directions. The numbers now to be transported seem unexpectedly high compared with discussions on the islands with A 2 BSW. The small number of crews, especially commanders, cannot indefinitely bear this workload. No rest days can now be granted; convoys still have to be escorted, and night passages with valuable convoys are almost always performed by boats already under way by day. March saw 217 vessels escorted [handwritten figure; aggregate tonnage unclear here], averaging seven to eight vessels and a printed 5,418 tons daily, in addition to special duties such as cable-layer protection and inspection voyages and unavoidable empty journeys. Only two pairs, sometimes one, were available for ordinary convoy service. Reliable maximum troop figures must be supplied. I am seeking actual passenger totals for the first three months from harbour commandants.

Correction to 1 April: item 6, V 207 put into Jersey because of machinery damage; item 9, not carried out because of weather, readiness Cherbourg [item numbers as typed]. Corrected tonnage 7,056 GRT. Situation: V 213 Brest gun installation, overnight Brest–Cherbourg; V 212/11 during 1/2 April Jersey–Guernsey with the General aboard V 212 and RO 8, then after landing him RO 8 without convoy back to Jersey, the pair back to Guernsey, overnight Maas and Holland with troops to St Malo; V 210/08 enter St Malo with the troop convoy specified on 1 April; V 209 ready Jersey; V 207 unready Jersey; V 206/04 St Malo–Guernsey without convoy, overnight RO 8 to Alderney; V 205 dock Cherbourg; V 704/1510 ready Cherbourg, possibly unescorted to Alderney, back with Gerfried and Schwalbe, weather permitting. Escorted tonnage 9,197 GRT.

Intentions for 3 April: V 213 Brest–Cherbourg; V 212/11 complete double convoy to St Malo; V 211 and armed tug Stier without convoy to Granville, then at 09:30 Rheinland, St Antonius, Saigon, Pondicherry, Tourane, Guynemer and tows to Jersey; V 209/Stier Jersey–St Malo without convoy; V 204/06 Alderney–Guernsey without convoy, then at 16:00 with the General aboard V 204 to St Malo; V 206/09 night troop convoy St Malo–Jersey–Guernsey; V 207 unready Jersey; V 212 boiler cleaning St Malo; V 210/08 coal and replenish St Malo; V 1510/704 convoys as item 9 of the 1 April situation [reference as typed].

T-1022 Roll 2423, PG 38000, scans 0302–0303.