Henry Hastings McWilliam, RN

Born  23 May 1894


If you can help with photo or any information on this Officer please
use our comment form
.

Ranks

15 Jan 1912 Mid.
15 May 1914 A/S.Lt.
15 Nov 1914 S.Lt.
15 May 1916 Lt.
15 May 1924 Lt.Cdr.
31 Dec 1929 Cdr.
31 Dec 1937 Capt.

Retired: 8 Jan 1947


Decorations

23 May 1944 Mentioned in Despatches (MID)

Warship Commands listed for Henry Hastings McWilliam, RN


ShipRankTypeFromTo
HMS Ceres (D 59)Capt.Light cruiser20 Sep 19415 Dec 1941
HMS Ceres (D 59)Capt.Light cruiser30 Dec 19413 Jan 1942
HMS Hunter (ii) (D 80)Capt.Escort Carrier27 May 194210 Sep 1944

Career information

We currently have no career / biographical information on this officer.

Events related to this officer

Light cruiser HMS Ceres (D 59)


21 Sep 1941
HMS Ceres (Capt. H.H. McWilliam, RN) departed Mombasa for escort duty with convoy WS 10X. She joined that convoy the following day.

[For more information on this convoy see the event ' Convoy WS 10X ' for 15 August 1941.] (1)

26 Sep 1941
HMS Ceres (Capt. H.H. McWilliam, RN) arrived at Aden from convoy escort duty. (1)

28 Sep 1941
HMS Ceres (Capt. H.H. McWilliam, RN) departed Aden for Mombasa. (1)

3 Oct 1941
HMS Ceres (Capt. H.H. McWilliam, RN) arrived at Mombasa from Aden. (2)

8 Oct 1941
HMS Ceres (Capt. H.H. McWilliam, RN) conducted gunnery exercises off Mombasa. (2)

13 Oct 1941
HMS Ceres (Capt. H.H. McWilliam, RN) departed Mombasa for escort duty with convoy WS 11. She joined that convoy later the same day.

[For more information on this convoy see the event ' Convoy WS 11 ' for 31 August 1941.] (2)

19 Oct 1941
HMS Ceres (Capt. H.H. McWilliam, RN) arrived at Aden from convoy escort duty. (2)

22 Oct 1941
HMS Ceres (Capt. H.H. McWilliam, RN) departed Aden for Mombasa. (2)

27 Oct 1941 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Ceres (Capt. H.H. McWilliam, RN) arrived at Mombasa from Aden. (3)

3 Nov 1941
HMS Ceres (Capt. H.H. McWilliam, RN) departed Mombasa for escort duty with convoy convoy CM 18X. She joined the convoy the following day.

[For more info on this convoy see the event ' Convoy CM 18X ' for 29 October 1941.] (3)

8 Nov 1941 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Ceres (Capt. H.H. McWilliam, RN) arrived at Aden from convoy escort duty. (3)

10 Nov 1941 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Ceres (Capt. H.H. McWilliam, RN) departed Aden for Mombasa. En-route she was to visit and Guardafui and Al Hufun in Somalia. (4)

11 Nov 1941
HMS Ceres (Capt. H.H. McWilliam, RN) made a short stop at Guardafui. After a few hours, she departed for Al Hufun where she arrived later the same day. She departed for Mombasa late in the evening. (3)

14 Nov 1941 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Ceres (Capt. H.H. McWilliam, RN) arrived at Mombasa from Aden. (3)

16 Nov 1941 (position 0.00, 0.00)

Convoy CM 22.

This 'convoy' departed Durban for Suez on 16 November 1941.

It was made up of only one troop transport, the Mauretania (British, 35739 GRT, built 1939, with 3959 troops on board).

On departure from Durban the escort was the light cruiser HMS Colombo (Capt. C.C.A. Allen, RN).

Around 0830D/20, escort was taken over by the light cruiser HMS Ceres (Capt. H.H. McWilliam, RN). HMS Colombo then proceeded to Mombasa.

Around 2215D/23, HMS Ceres parted company with the Mauretania which then continued on to Suez unescorted. She arrived at Suez on 26 November 1941.

HMS Ceres arrived at Aden on 24 November 1941. (5)

24 Nov 1941 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Ceres (Capt. H.H. McWilliam, RN) arrived at Aden from convoy escort duty. (3)

26 Nov 1941 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Ceres (Capt. H.H. McWilliam, RN) departed Aden for Mombasa. (3)

30 Nov 1941

Convoy CM 23.

This convoy departed Durban on 30 November 1941. It arrived at Aden on 13 December 1941.

The convoy was made up of the following (troop) transports; City of Canterbury (British, 8331 GRT, built 1922), Dilwara (British, 11080 GRT, built 1936), Dunera (British, 11162 GRT, built 1937), Elisabethville (Belgian, 8351 GRT, built 1922), Llandaff Castle (British, 10799 GRT, built 1926) and Pulaski (Polish, 6345 GRT, built 1912).

On depature from Durban the convoy was escorted by the light cruiser HMS Colombo (Capt. C.C.A. Allen, RN).

Around 0600C/7, HMS Colombo was relieved by the light cruiser HMS Ceres (Lt.Cdr.(Retd.) H.W.V. Stephenson, RN). HMS Colombo then proceeded to Mombasa.

The convoy arrived at Aden on 13 December 1941. (5)

1 Dec 1941 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Ceres (Capt. H.H. McWilliam, RN) arrived at Mombasa from Aden. (6)

Sources

  1. ADM 53/113890
  2. ADM 53/113891
  3. ADM 53/113892
  4. ADM 53/113892 + ADM 199/408
  5. ADM 199/408
  6. ADM 53/113893

ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.


You can help improve officers Henry Hastings McWilliam's page
Click here to Submit events/comments/updates for this officer.
Please use this if you spot mistakes or want to improve his page.

Allied Commanders main page