Allied Warships

FR La Moqueuse

Minesweeper of the Elan class

NavyThe French Navy
TypeMinesweeper
ClassElan 
Pennant 
Built byArsenal de Lorient (Lorient, France) 
Ordered 
Laid downSep 1938 
Launched19 Apr 1939 
CommissionedApr 1940 
End service30 Oct 1965 
History

Seized by the British on 3 July 1940.
Transferred to the Free French (F.N.F.L.) on 10 August 1940.
Stricken 30 October 1965.

 

We don't have any commands listed for FR La Moqueuse


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Notable events involving La Moqueuse include:


10 Jan 1941
HMS Thunderbolt (Lt. C.B. Crouch, RN) departed from Holy Loch for her 2nd war patrol. She is to patrol in the Bay of Biscay.

During the passage south through the Irish Sea she was escorted by the Free French minesweeper FFS La Moqueuse. (1)

14 Jan 1941
At 0820 hours, HMS Trident (Lt.Cdr. G.M. Sladen, RN), made rendes-vous with her escort towards Holy Loch, the Free French minesweeper FFS La Moqueuse. (2)

21 Jan 1941
HMS Tribune (Lt.Cdr. R.G. Norfolk, RN) departed from Holy Loch for her 11th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Bay of Biscay.

During the passage south through the Irish Sea she was escorted by the Free French minesweeper FFS La Moqueuse.

For the daily positions of HMS Tribune during this patrol see the map below.

(3)

29 Jan 1941
At 0813 hours, HMS Thunderbolt (Lt. C.B. Crouch, RN), arrived at the rendez-vous with her escort towards Holy Loch, the Free French minesweeper FFS La Moqueuse. (1)

3 Feb 1941
Around 0900A/3, HMS Tigris (Lt.Cdr. H.F. Bone, DSO, DSC, RN) departed from Holy Loch, escorted by the Free French minesweeper FFS La Moqueuse, for her 6th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Bay of Biscay. (4)

9 Feb 1941
At 1415 hours, HMS Tribune (Lt.Cdr. R.G. Norfolk, RN), made rendes-vous with her escort towards Holy Loch, the Free French minesweeper FFS La Moqueuse. (3)

23 Feb 1941
At 0730A/23, HMS Tigris (Lt.Cdr. H.F. Bone, DSO, RN), made rendezvous with her escort towards Holy Loch, Free French minesweeper FFS La Moqueuse. (4)

27 Feb 1941
Late in the afternoon, off Milford Haven near position 51°37'N, 05°28'W HrMs O 21 (Lt.Cdr. J.F. van Dulm, RNN) and HrMs O 23 (Lt.Cdr. G.B.M. van Erkel, RNN) and their escort the Free French minesweeper FFS La Moqueuse encounter the British merchant Losada (6520 GRT, built 1921). As La Moqueuse was more than a mile behind both submarines the crew of the Losada think they were German U-boats and opened fire. To prevent being hit both submarines crash dive. The crew of La Moqueuse had not seen both submarines dive and was now also under the impression that a German U-boat was nearby and dropped three depth charges. O 21 was the target of the attack but sustains no damage. Both submarines surfaced shortly afterwards. (5)

8 Mar 1941
At 1217 hours, HMS Tuna (Lt.Cdr. M.K. Cavenagh-Mainwaring, DSO, RN), made rendes-vous with her escort towards Holy Loch, the Free French minesweeper FFS La Moqueuse. (6)

17 Mar 1941
HMS Union (Lt. R.M. Galloway, RN) departed Holy Loch for Portsmouth. She made the passage through the Irish Sea together with HMS Tigris (Lt.Cdr. H.F. Bone, RN). They were escorted during the passage South by FFS La Moqueuse. (7)

22 Mar 1941
HMS Tuna (Lt.Cdr. M.K. Cavenagh-Mainwaring, DSO, RN) departed from Holy Loch for her 6th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Bay of Biscay.

Passage south through the Irish Sea was made together with HMS Torbay (Lt.Cdr. A.C.C. Miers, RN), HMS Taku (Lt. J.F.B. Brown, RN) and HMS L 26 (Lt. S.L.C. Maydon, RN). They were escorted by the Free French minesweeper FFS La Moqueuse.

No logs are available for this period so no map of this patrol can be displayed. (6)

22 Apr 1941
HMS Clyde (Cdr. D.C. Ingram, DSC, RN) departed Plymouth for Holy Loch. She was escorted by the Free French minesweeper FFS La Moqueuse. (8)

28 Apr 1941
HMS Trident (Lt.Cdr. G.M. Sladen, DSC, RN) departed from Holy Loch for her 17th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Bay of Biscay.

During the passage south through the Irish Sea she was escorted by the Free French minesweeper FFS La Moqueuse until 0030/30.

For the daily positions of HMS Trident during this patrol see the map below.

5 May 1941
Around 1330B/5, HMS Thrasher (Lt.Cdr. P.J. Cowell, DSC, RN) departed her builders yard at Liverpool for Holy Loch. She was escorted by the Free French minesweeper FFS La Moqueuse. (9)

18 Jun 1941
Around 1130A/18, HMS Tigris (Lt.Cdr. H.F. Bone, DSO, DSC, RN) departed from Holy Loch, escorted during her passage through the Irish Sea by the Free French minesweeper FFS La Moqueuse, for her 9th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Bay of Biscay.

As no log is available and the patrol report holds no daily positions no map can be displayed. (4)

24 Jun 1941
Convoy attack exercises were carried out in the Clyde area.

The convoy was made up of HMS Cyclops (A/Capt. R.L.M. Edwards, RN), which served as the 'main target'. She was escorted by HMS Alecto (Cdr. R.M.G. Gambier, RN), HMS Breda (Capt.(Retd.) A.E. Johnston, RN), HrMs Z 5 (Lt. J.J. Steensma, RNN), HMS La Capricieuse (Lt.Cdr. G.W. Dobson, RNR) and FFS La Moqueuse.

This convoy was attacked in the morning by two submarines; HMS Oberon (Lt.Cdr. E.F. Pizey, DSC, RN) and HMS H 43 (Lt. J.D. Martin, RN).

In the afternoon the convoy was attacked (near Campbeltown) by HMS L 27 (Lt. H.N. Edmonds, DSC, RN), HMS H 31 (Lt. R.J. Hemingway, DSC, RN) and HMS H 32 (Lt. B.G. Heslop, DSC, RN). (10)

25 Jun 1941
HMS Oberon (Lt.Cdr. E.F. Pizey, DSC, RN) conducted exercises in the Clyde area for the C.O.Q.C. (Commanding Officers Qualifying Course) with HMS La Capricieuse (Lt.Cdr. G.W. Dobson, RNR) and FFS La Moqueuse

Later practice attacks were made on HMS Cyclops (A/Capt. R.L.M. Edwards, RN) and her escort which was made up of HMS Alecto (Cdr. R.M.G. Gambier, RN), HMS Breda (Capt.(Retd.) A.E. Johnston, RN), HrMs Z 5 (Lt. J.J. Steensma, RNN), HMS La Capricieuse and FFS La Moqueuse. (11)

Media links


Not Really What You'd Call a War

Hampson, Norman

Sources

  1. ADM 199/1846
  2. ADM 199/1864
  3. ADM 199/1847
  4. ADM 199/1845
  5. ADM 199/1880
  6. ADM 199/1844
  7. ADM 199/400
  8. ADM 173/16705
  9. ADM 173/17027
  10. File 2.12.03.7131 (Dutch Archives, The Hague, Netherlands)
  11. ADM 173/16819

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


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