Allied Warships

HMS Vascama (FY 185)

ASW Trawler

NavyThe Royal Navy
TypeASW Trawler
Class[No specific class] 
PennantFY 185 
Built byCochrane & Sons Shipbuilders Ltd. (Selby, U.K.) 
Ordered 
Laid down 
Launched7 Mar 1935 
CommissionedOct 1939 
End service 
History

Completed in April 1935.
Taken over by the Admiralty in August 1939.
Displacement: 447 tons.
Armament: 1 4" gun.

Lent to the Portugese Navy in October 1943 being renamed P-3.
Returned in August 1944.
Sold in July 1945.
Scrapped at Ghent, Belgium in 1963.

 

Commands listed for HMS Vascama (FY 185)

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
1Skr. Edward James Day, RNR20 Oct 193913 Jan 1941
2Lt. Richard Walgate, RNR13 Jan 1941early 1942
3T/Lt. Paul Herman Bech, RNRearly 19429 Nov 1942
4T/Lt. William Watson Telford, RNVR9 Nov 194218 Jan 1943
5T/Lt. Harry Algernon Royce Twomey, RNR18 Jan 1943Oct 1943

6T/Lt. Arthur Marchant Brown, RNVRJul 194428 Nov 1944
7T/Lt. Richard Dirk van der Byl, SANF(V)28 Nov 1944Feb 1945
8T/Lt. Alan Frank Shipman, RNVRFeb 1945

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Notable events involving Vascama include:


25 Aug 1941
German U-boat U-452 was sunk in the North Atlantic south of Iceland, in position 61°30'N, 15°30'W, by depth charges from the British A/S trawler HMS Vascama and from a British Catalina aircraft (209 Sqn RAF/J).

12 Sep 1941
HMS Otway (Lt.Cdr.(Retd.) J.R.G. Harvey, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Tobermory with HMS Vascama (Lt. R. Walgate, RNR) and another vessel. (1)

14 Sep 1941
HMS Otway (Lt.Cdr.(Retd.) J.R.G. Harvey, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Tobermory with HMS Vascama (Lt. R. Walgate, RNR). (1)

28 Sep 1943

Operation Alacrity.

The object of this operation was to land at the Azores (Portugese territory) and establish air bases there.

Negotiations with the Portugese were still ongoing to effect this through diplomatic ways and eventually this succeeded and the airbases were established with Portugese consent.

For this operations three convoys left the U.K., these were the following;
Convoy UA 1.
This convoy departed the Clyde on 28 September 1943 and was made up of the following transports / tankers Corfell (British, 1802 GRT, built 1934), Dux (Norwegian, 1590 GRT, built 1934) and Empire Garden (British (tanker), 8966 GRT, built 1920) which were to proceed to Horta and the Corfirth (British, 1803 GRT, built 1934) and Crane (British, 785 GRT, built 1937) as well as the landing ship HMS LST 13 (Lt.Cdr. R.A. Crozier, RD, RNR) which were to proceed to Angra. The Corfith and HMS LST 13 were however unable to sail with the convoy and remained behind.

Escort for this convoy was made up of the destroyer HMS Volunteer (Lt.Cdr. G.J. Luther, RN), corvette HMS Lavender (Lt. L.G. Pilcher, RNR), A/S trawlers HMS Cape Portland (T/Lt. K.F. Rasmussen, RNR), HMS Saon (T/Lt. J.C. Payne, RNVR), HMS Vascama (T/Lt. H.A.R. Twomey, RNR) and the M/S trawlers HMS Bruray (T/Lt. G.H. Clark, DSC, RNVR), HMS Hayling (T/Lt. G.F. Bryant, RNVR), HMS Mangrove (T/Lt. J.K.M. Warde, RNVR) and HMS Whalsay (T/Lt. F.J.S. Crawford, RNVR).

Convoy UA 2.
This convoy departed the Clyde on 30 September 1943 and was made up of the following transports Empire Outpost (British, 6978 GRT, built 1943) and Scottish Monarch (British, 7004 GRT, built 1943). The landing ships HMS Bachaquero (Lt.Cdr. P.G. Britten, RD, RNR) and (RFA) Dewdale (8265 GRT, built 1941) were also part of this convoy.

Convoy UA 2 was escorted by the destroyers HMS Havelock (Cdr. R.C. Boyle, DSC, RN), HMS Warwick (Cdr. Y.M. Cleeves, DSO, DSC, RD, RNR), corvettes HMS Buttercup (T/Lt. R.J. Jonckheere, RNR), HMS Godetia (T/Lt. M.A.F. Larose, RNR), A/S trawlers HMS Kingston Agate (Lt. J. Simms, RNR), HMS Kingston Amber (T/Lt. R. Adams, RNR), HMS St. Elstan (Lt. R.M. Roberts, RNR) and HMS Vizalma (T/Lt. B. James, RNVR).

Convoy UA 3.
This convoy departed Liverpool on 2 October 1943 and was made up of the troop transport Franconia (British, 20175 GRT, built 1923). She was escorted by the destroyers HMS Inconstant (Cdr. R.H. Mills, RN) and ORP Garland (Kmdr.ppor. (Cdr.) S. Biskupski). These ships were fist to proceed to Belfast Lough were the destroyers were to be fuelled and then on 3 October 1943 they were to rendezvous with the escort carrier HMS Fencer (Capt. E.W. Anstice, RN) and the destroyers ORP Burza (Kmdr.ppor. (Cdr.) F. Pitulko) and HMS Whitehall (Cdr. C.L.de H. Bell, RD, RNR) coming from the Clyde which they had departed also on 3 October 1943. The destroyers HMS Wrestler (Lt. R.W.B. Lacon, DSC, RN) and HMS Viscount (Lt.Cdr. L.E. Woodhouse, RN) joined coming from Londonderry which they had departed also on 3 October 1943.

The convoys arrived near the Azores on or around 8 October 1943. [Further research is required regarding the exact movements of the convoys and the ships in it.]

Sources

  1. ADM 173/16862

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


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