4 December 1942 Part 3

4 December 1942 St Malo Convoy Control Office

Weather: South-east force 3–4, cloudy, sea 2–3.

0500, Alderney: V 711/22 sailed with Franka and Tinda for Cherbourg. 0610, Malo: M 4611/12 arrived from Guernsey, delayed by fog. 0810, Cherbourg: V 711/22 arrived with convoy from Alderney.

Tasks and requests: (1) escort steamer H 2 Malo–Guernsey–Cherbourg, see 3 December item 6; (2) night troop convoy from Malo with Minotaure for Guernsey and Holland for Jersey, as in 3 December item 2; (3) route sweeping Malo–Brest; (4) route sweeping Malo–Cherbourg; (5) route sweeping Malo–Ida 2–Ida 1–Granville. Orders: (1) M 4611/12 Malo–Guernsey, V 703/04 and M 4611/12 Guernsey–Cherbourg; (2) V 212/07 [as printed in this order; subsequent entries give V 212/09]; (3) A group of 46th Minesweeping Flotilla; (4) 8th Minesweeping Flotilla; (5) C group of 46th Minesweeping Flotilla.

0900, Malo: M 4600/01/02/04/05 sailed for route sweeping with SSG. 1245, Malo: 8th Minesweeping Flotilla sailed with five boats for Le Havre without a departure report. Remark: owing to a teleprinter fault, Convoy Control Office did not know 3rd Security Division’s sailing order, copied to it for information. The flotilla’s destination was therefore unclear here. The departure report was consequently sent as “to Cherbourg”, in accordance with the earlier intention.

The following was sent to 3rd Security Division. Correction to 3 December: items 1 and 7 cancelled owing to dense fog. Situation for 4 December: (1) V 212/09 night troop convoy of 4/5 December from Malo with Minotaure for Guernsey and Holland for Jersey; (2) V 703/04 ready at Guernsey for night convoy H 2 with M 4611/12 to Cherbourg; (3) V 213/07 ready at Guernsey; (4) V 208 minor repairs at Malo; (5) V 711/22 morning Alderney–Cherbourg with Tinda and Franka, then ready; (6) M 4611/12 day convoy H 2 Malo–Guernsey, then night convoy H 2 to Cherbourg, see item 2; (7) M 4600/02/04/05/01 route sweeping Malo–Ida 2, 1, 7 and 8; (8) A group of 46th Minesweeping Flotilla route sweeping with ORG Malo–Brest; (9) 8th Minesweeping Flotilla route sweeping with ORG Malo–Cherbourg. Escorted tonnage: 4,970 GRT.

Intentions for 5 December: (1) V 212/09 complete night troop convoy Malo–Jersey–Guernsey, later night troop convoy of 5/6 December with Karel Guernsey–Alderney; (2) V 703/04 and M 4611/12 complete H 2 convoy Guernsey–Cherbourg; (3) V 213/07 ready at Guernsey, then night troop convoy of 5/6 December Guernsey–Jersey–Malo; (4) V 208 repairs at Malo, then ready; (5) V 711/22 protection of target tug off Cherbourg; (6) C group of 46th Minesweeping Flotilla route sweeping with SSG Îles Chausey–Granville–Malo.

1430, Malo: M 4604 returned owing to machinery damage. 1500, Malo: M 4611/12 sailed with H 2 for Guernsey. 1530, Malo: M 4621/22/23/25 sailed for route sweeping with ORG towards Brest. 1750, Malo: top-secret teleprinter message from 3rd Security Division received, with sailing order for 8th Minesweeping Flotilla and instructions for Convoy Control Office to report possible encounters. I sent by operational teleprinter message to Naval Signals Officer Cherbourg: “No possible encounters in the Channel Islands area.” 1800, Malo: V 212/09 sailed with night troop convoy for Jersey–Guernsey. 1800, Îles Chausey: M 4600/01/02/05 anchored after route sweeping, without success. 1920, Malo: report received of one air-sea-rescue motor boat sailing Cherbourg–Alderney and back to Cherbourg. I notified 8th Minesweeping Flotilla of possible encounters. 2120, Guernsey: M 4611/12 with H 2 anchored in the roads, later entered harbour because weather prevented the onward convoy to Cherbourg. 2150, Jersey: V 212/09 released Holland and continued with Minotaure to Guernsey. 2400, Guernsey: V 209/12 [order reversed in print] arrived with Minotaure from Malo. Signed Dr Diederichs.

T-1022 Roll 2423, scans 0646–0647, original pages 7–9.