Allied Warships

HMS Kos XIX

ASW Whaler

NavyThe Royal Navy
TypeASW Whaler
Class[No specific class] 
Pennant 
Built byFramnæs mekaniske Værksted (Sandefjord, Norway) 
Ordered 
Laid down 
Launched 
CommissionedApr 1941 
Lost3 Jun 1942 
Loss position32° 06'N, 24° 12'E
History

Completed in September 1936.
Norwegian whaler of Hvalfangerselskap Kosmos A/S (Anders Jahre), Sandefjord, Norway taken over by the Admiralty in October 1940.
Displacement: 307 tons.

Kos XIX was renamed Cocker in September 1941.

HMS Cocker (T/Lt. D.H. Crampton, RNR) was torpedoed and sunk east of Tobruk in position 32º06'N, 24º12'E by the German motor torpedo boat S 57.

 

Commands listed for HMS Kos XIX

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

CommanderFromTo
1Lt. Leslie Halman Davies, RNR28 Apr 1941Late 1941
2T/Lt. John Scott, RNVRlate 1941mid 1942
3T/Lt. Denis Hugh Crampton, RNRmid 19423 Jun 1942

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Notable events involving Kos XIX include:


26 Feb 1941

Convoy US 9A.

This convoy departed Bombay on 26 February 1941.

The convoy was made up of the following (troop) transports; Cap. St.Jacques (British (former French), 8009 GRT, built 1922, 758 troops and stores), Khedive Ismael (British, 7290 GRT, built 1922, 841 troops and stores, the troops included nurses), Nevasa (British, 9213 GRT, built 1913, 1213 troops and stores), Slamat (Dutch, 11636 GRT, built 1924, 972 troops and stores) and Westernland (Dutch, 16479 GRT, built 1918, 2041 troops and stores).

On departure from Bombay the convoy was escorted by the armed merchant cruiser HMS Hector (Capt.(Retd.) F. Howard, DSC, RN).

Around 0830C/5, the sloops HMS Auckland (Cdr. E.G. Hewitt, DSO, RN) and HMAS Parramatta (Lt.Cdr. J.H. Walker, MVO, RAN) joined followed about an hour later by the light cruiser HMS Caledon (A/Cdr. C.S. Britton, RN). HMS Hector was then detached and proceed to Aden.

The auxiliary A/S whalers, HMS Syvern (?), HMS KOS XIX (?), HMS KOS XXI (T/Lt. A.R.J. Tilston, SANF(V)), HMS KOS XXII (Lt.(Retd.) H.D. Foxon, RNR) and HMS KOS XXIII (Lt.Cdr. J.J. Reid, RNVR) also joined the convoy for passage to Suez.

Around 2000C/6, HMS Kos XIX dropped astern due to engine trouble. HMAS Parramatta and HMS Kos XXI went to her assistance and the following morning they almost caught up with the convoy. They were then however ordered to proceed to Port Sudan together with the troop transport Cap St. Jacques. The four ships arrived at Port Sudan on 8 March 1941.

HMS Auckland parted company with the convoy on 7 March 1941 to return to Aden.

Around 2100C/9, HMS Caledon parted company with the convoy to return to Aden via Port Sudan.

The convoy anchored off Mahamad Gul and proceeded to Suez arriving there 15 March. The Westernland had gone ahead and had already arrived on 13 March. The three remaining A/S whalers had also gone ahead arriving at Suez on 10 / 11 March 1941. (1)

5 Nov 1941
The A/S whaler HMS KOS XIX / Cocker (Lt. L.H. Davies, RNR) sighted a periscope about 32 nautical miles west of Alexandria at 2220/5.

A hunt was started and she was joined by the corvette HMS Snapdragon (T/Lt. P.H. Potter, RNR), A/S whaler HMS Falk (Lt. H.S. Upperton, RNR) and the A/S motor boat HMS MA/SB 2.

Destroyer HMS Encounter (Lt.Cdr. E.V.St J. Morgan, RN) was sent from Alexandria to assist. She already sailed at 2325/5.

Two more destroyers, HMS Hotspur (Lt. T.D. Herrick, DSC, RN) and HMS Decoy (Lt.Cdr. J.M. Alliston, RN), joined in the morning 6th. They had sailed at 0900/6 and 1000/6 respectively.

The destroyers were recalled to harbour at 1800 and arrived later in the evening. No contact had been obtained.

As an oil slick was sighted in the area of the hunt on the 7th the destroyers HMS Hotspur and HMS Kipling (Cdr. A. St.Clair-Ford, RN) were sent to hunt in the area again. They departed Alexandria at 1200 and 1400 hours respectively.

The search continued during the night of 7/8 November. HMS Encounter joined the destroyers in the morning. She sailed from Alexandria at 0815/8.

The hunt was however soon abandoned as no contact could be obtained and and the three destroyers then escorted the light cruiser HMS Neptune (Capt. R.C. O'Conor, RN) during a practice bombardment at Aboukir. HMS Neptune had departed Alexandria at 1000/8.

Following the exercise HMS Neptune immediately returned to Alexandria arriving at 1630/8.

HMS Encounter, HMS Hotspur and HMS Kipling returned to Alexandria at 1015/9 having remained outside on patrol for another night. (2)

20 May 1942
HMS Cocker (T/Lt. J. Scott, RNVR) picks up 43 survivors from the British tanker Eocene that was torpedoed and sunk earlier that day by the German U-boat U-431 about 13 miles northeast of Bardia in position 31°56’N, 25°14’E.

Sources

  1. ADM 199/408
  2. ADM 53/115216 + ADM 199/415

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


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