Allied Warships

HMS Ringdove (M 77)

Minelayer of the Linnet class

NavyThe Royal Navy
TypeMinelayer
ClassLinnet 
PennantM 77 
Built byHenry Robb Ltd. (Leith, U.K.) : Whites M.E. 
Ordered22 Mar 1937 
Laid downSep 1937 
Launched15 Jun 1938 
Commissioned9 Dec 1938 
End service 
HistorySold in 1951 

Commands listed for HMS Ringdove (M 77)

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. Cyril Robert Pilgrim, RN30 Sep 1938Jun 1941
2Lt.Cdr. Bertie Lucock Sadler, RNJun 194117 Mar 1942
3T/Lt. Francis Leslie Wilkins, RNR17 Mar 194214 Jan 1943
4A S Holland, RNR14 Jan 19439 Aug 1946

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Notable events involving Ringdove include:


29 Dec 1939

Convoy ON 6.

This convoy departed Methil on 29 December 1939 and arrived in Norwegian waters near Bergen on 1 January 1940.

The convoy was made up of the following merchant vessels; Highlander (British, 1216 GRT, built 1916), Rigel (Finnish, 1477 GRT, built 1937), Salerno (British, 870 GRT, built 1924), Vienti (Finnish, 1715 GRT, built 1911) and Wanda (Finnish, 1902 GRT, built 1897).

The small minelayer HMS Ringdove (Lt. C.R. Pilgrim, RN) was also part of this convoy.

A close escort was provided for the convoy made up of the destroyers HMS Exmouth (Cdr. R.S. Benson, DSO, RN), HMS Eclipse (Lt.Cdr. I.T. Clark, RN), HMS Encounter (Lt.Cdr. E.V.St.J. Morgan, RN), HMS Escapade (Cdr. H.R. Graham, RN) and the submarine ORP Orzel (Kpt.mar. (Lt.Cdr.) J. Grudzinski, DSO).

A close cover force, made up of the light cruisers HMS Glasgow (Capt. F.H. Pegram, RN) and HMS Edinburgh (Capt. C.M. Blackman, DSO, RN, flying the flag of Vice-Admiral G.F.B. Edward-Collins, CB, KCVO, RN) departed Rosyth on 30 December.

At 0050Z/30, the Highlander parted company to proceed to Aberdeen escorted by HMS Eclipse. HMS Eclipse rejoined the convoy screen around 1000Z/30.

During the night of 29/30 December, the Vienti had straggled from the convoy and was not seen again before the convoy arrived in Norwegian waters.

At 1100Z/30, HMS Eclipse was again detached but now to escort HMS Ringdove towards Scapa Flow. At 1555Z/30, the escort was taken over by the auxiliary A/S trawler HMS Arctic Explorer (Skr. C.L. Buchan, RNR). HMS Eclipse rejoined the convoy screen around 15 minutes later. By that time the Rigel and Wanda had also straggled from the convoy being unable to keep up even at 6.5 knots. They rejoined the convoy the next day after the remainder of the convoy had doubled back for a while as Capt. Benson had been ordered to do so due the important cargoes the ships had on board.

The convoy arrived in Norwegian waters on 1 January where it was dispersed.


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