uboat.net

Allied Warships

HMS Abdiel (M 39)

Minelayer of the Abdiel class

NavyThe Royal Navy
TypeMinelayer
ClassAbdiel 
PennantM 39 
Built byJ.S. White & Co. (Cowes, U.K.) 
Ordered 
Laid down29 Mar, 1939 
Launched23 Apr, 1940 
Commissioned15 Apr, 1941 
Lost10 Sep, 1943 
Loss position
 
HistoryHMS Abdiel (Capt. David Orr-Ewing, DSO, RN) was mined and sunk in Taranto harbour, Italy on 10 September 1943. The mines were laid just a few hours earlier by the German motor torpedo boats S-54 and S-61 while they escaped from the harbour. Abdiel, carrying troops of 1st airborne division (6th Royal Welsh battalion), took the berth which had been declined earlier by the Captain of USS Boise. Shortly after midnight, two ground mines detonated beneath her and the minelayer sank in three minutes with great loss of life among both sailors and soldiers. The airborne division suffered 58 dead and around 150 injured, while 48 crewmen were lost. We have received info that the ships degaussing equipment was turned off to allow troops below decks to sleep better with less noise.

Commanding Officers:
Capt. Hon. Edward Pleydell-Bouverie, MVO, RN
15 September 1940 - 10 October 1942

Capt. David Orr-Ewing, RN
10 October 1942 – 10 September 1943
DSO awarded on 10 September 1943 


Noteable events involving Abdiel include:

21 May, 1941
HMS Abdiel (Capt. Hon. E. Pleydell-Bouverie, MVO, RN) laid a field of 150 mines off Akra Dhoukaton (Cape Dukato, southern tip of Levkas island, Ionian sea).
On the field were later the same day lost the Italian destroyer Carlo Mirabello (1840 tons) the Italian gunboat Pellegrino Matteucci (620 tons) and the German transports Kybfels (7764 GRT) and Marburg (7564 GRT).

27 May, 1941
On the night of 26-27 May, HMS Abdiel (Capt. Hon. E. Pleydell-Bouverie, MVO, RN) escorted by the British destroyer HMS Hero (Cdr. H.W. Biggs, RN) and the Australian destroyer HMAS Nizam (Lt.Cdr M.J. Clark, RAN), landed 800 Commandos at Suda Bay.

31 May, 1941
HMS Abdiel (Capt. Hon. E. Pleydell-Bouverie, MVO, RN) sailed from Alexandria for Skakia, Greece, with the British light cruiser HMS Phoebe (Capt. G. Grantham, RN) and 3 destroyers. During the following night these ships removed 4.000 troops from Crete.

1 Dec, 1942
Between December 1942 and April 1943 HMS Abdiel, in cooperation with the British minelaying submarine HMS Rorqual and Abdiels sistership HMS Welshman laid several minefields, totaling some 2.000 mines, in the Sicilian Channel.

9 Jan, 1943
Lays one of the fields mentioned above, athwart the Axis evacuation routes from Tunisia.
Later the same day an Italian convoy fould the field and loses the destroyer Corsaro (1645 tons), while the destroyer Maestrale (1440 tons) is severely damaged.

3 Feb, 1943
Another Italian convoy fouls one her minefields, this one south of Marettimo island, off the western tip of Sicily, losing the destroyer Saetta (1225 tons) and the torpedo boat Uragano (910 tons).

8 Mar, 1943
Lays a minefield on the Axis evacuation route, 30 nm north of Cap Bon, Tunisia. On 24 March a convoy enters the field, losing the Italian destroyers Ascari (1645 tons) and Lanzerotto Malocello (2125 tons).

3 Apr, 1943
Lays a miefield between the Italian fields X-2 and X-3 (whose location was known to the Allies through ULTRA intercepts and captured documents). On 7 March another convoy fouls the field, losing the Italian torpedo boat Ciclone (910 tons).


Return to the Allied Warships section