|
Date |
Entry |
|
1943 |
|
|
[14 Nov
departed Lerwick for 1st War patrol off North Cape, the
most northerly patrol sector covered by RN submarines].
[27 Nov STORM
ended her 1st War patrol at Lerwick].
|
|
1944 |
|
|
[27 Dec 1943 HMS Storm, Lt.
E.P. Young, DSC, RNVR in command, departed Holy Loch for
passage to Gibraltar. This was the first leg of her trip
to the Far East.] |
|
Sat 1st Jan |
At sea, have been for
four days, setting sail on 27/12/43 from Dunoon, at
present 200 mites, west of Cape Finisterre. Voyage so
far calm & uneventful. Have started drawing tot.
|
|
Sun 2nd Jan |
Still at sea, day has been uneventful, calm although a
bit of a. swell, got one wave right down the neck as
went on watch. |
|
Mon 3rd Jan |
Still at sea, sea as flat as anything. Had fun & games
in a.m. came across a ship, but proved to be a neutral
Spanish. Think we should have sunk it really. |
|
Tue 4th Jan |
Bighted a hospital ship early in the morning chased it
until we could decipher the recognition marks, weather
still calm, about 50 miles off the mouth of the Tagus.
Have just read "we are not Arnold’" by G. W. C. Day, not
bad, different. |
|
Wed 5th Jan |
Sighted another Spanish vessel early in a.m. chased it
until identity was established. Usual routine during day
& surfaced at night. Just off Cape St. Vincent lot of
lights about. Weather still nice calm etc. read a book
called "The Squad sent out" jolly good, written by
Robert Greenwood. |
|
Thu 6th Jan |
Arrived in Gibraltar about 1300. Felt lousy due to some
rotten bread that was eaten, weather fairly warm. Gib
looks much the same. went for a bath. in the Warspite.
Squashed the middle finger of left hand - more blood
than that. |
|
Fri 7th Jan |
Still at Gib. Had to go to to sick bay with jolly old
finger, bit of a mess. Painted: the bridge blue & after
casing. No Make& Mend owing to this. Went ashore at
night with chaps had big eats etc. |
|
Sat 8th Jan |
Still at Gib. Went to doctor in a m. had to work in
afternoon painting etc., fetching charts. Wrote home and
to Betty. Rained all day. |
|
Sun 9th Jan |
Left Gib with convoy of about 45 vessels - sea very calm
& weather nice & mild. At night was just off Oran. Speed
of convoy is only about 6½ knots.
[STORM made
part of the passage (to about Malta) in convoy KMS 37]. |
|
Mon 10th Jam |
Still flat calm seas. In a.m. had a. practice shoot. At
dusk had our first air-raid. No ships sunk. We damaged
one plane. Convoy still rolling along at a. steady slow
6 knots, |
|
Tue 11th Jan |
Read “No nightingales” by Caryl Brahms & S.J. Simon, a.
good book. No special incidents happened. At night just
off Algiers, saw it in the distance, three ships left
convoy, about a dozen joined. Lovely weather, sunny.
Full moon at night. |
|
Wed 12th Jan |
Still same routine. No incidents of note. Quite a bit of
swell but day quite warm. Off cape Bizerta at night. One
or two ships joined convoy, one or two left. |
|
Thu 13th Jan |
During the day bumped into one or two convoys. Bizerta &
Tunis. At night were just off cape bon. Uneventful day.
Sea a bit rough - but calmed down at night. |
|
Fri 14th Jan |
Still with convoy. During day passed by Malta, Gozo and
Sicily. Warm weather. Some of ships left convoy. Read
“Huntingtower” by John Buchan. |
|
Sat 15th Jan |
Left convoy in early a.m. Dived for trim for half hour,
and then proceeded at a steady 12½ knots. Sighted 7
aircraft but they were after convoy, missed us. Warn
weather but sea had a nasty swell. |
|
Sun 16th Jan |
Dived in a.m. had to keep at 80 ft as sea was too rough
to keep periscope depth all time. Surfaced at night.
Very rough, lots of people ill. |
|
Mon 17th Jan |
Dived again in a.m. calmed down during day & when
surfaced bridge hardly got any over. At night just about
40 miles off Crete. Read “The lady of the Barge” by W.W.
Jacobs. |
|
Tue 18th Jan |
In a.m. had to dive owing to two enemy aircraft in
vicinity. At midnight just about 160 miles north of
Alexandria. Rainy day. Sea calmed down a bit. |
|
Wed 19th Jan |
Still at sea. Nasty stern swell all day. Intermittent
rain & sunshine. Nothing of note happened during day.
Rather close below decks. |
|
Thu 20th Jan |
Arrived in Beirut, Syria. Rained like anything. Duty
watch & had plenty of work to do. First impressions
rather poor. |
|
Fri 21st Jan |
Still rainy but cleared up later. Went ashore & went
round the Arab markets. Bought some silk stockings etc. |
|
Sat 22nd Jan |
Work in a.m. ashore later with three chaps, went to
cabaret etc. Lovely sunny weather, Cold at night though. |
|
Sun 23rd Jan |
Duty. Topped up batteries. Plenty of work to do. Sunny &
warm day. Bags of mosquitoes. |
|
Mon 24th Jan |
Worked on log most of day with Wally. Went for a quiet
run ashore. Big eats & cinema. Finance very strained. |
|
Tue 25th Jan |
Still at Beirut. Worked on night sights. Went bathing in
afternoon, O.K. After went to flicks had to borrow
money. |
|
Wed 26th Jan |
Worked provisioning ship in a.m. got all gear down in
boat ready for leaving tomorrow. Slept in boat at night. |
|
Thu 27th Jan |
Left Beirut at 0800 arrived at Haifa, Palestine about
1800. Voyage calm. No incidents. Packed off to a base
lots of bugs & things sunny day. |
|
Fri 28th Jan |
Still at Haifa. Moved in a.m. into dry dock. Went to
flicks up at base & saw a propaganda film ’Next of kin’.
Read “The Tarot Murder" by Ludwig. |
|
Sat 29th Jan |
In a.m. changed over to fire and man. Rainy. Left Haifa
about 5 pm. Rough weather. carried one passenger. Spent
6 hours at night looking for survivors of a Wellington. |
|
Sun 30th Jan |
cleared it up, took to 1 am. |
|
Mon 31 Jan |
Left Port Said early in morning travelling through Suez
Canal all day. Windy but warm. Arrived at Port Suez at
night stayed here for night. |
|
Tue 1st Feb |
Left Port Suez travelling down the gulf of Suez. Lovely
hot sun, but a cooling breeze: most of the time. Land in
sight most of the way. Pretty barren & uninteresting. |
|
Left: The commanding officer, Lieutenant (later
Lieutenant Commander) E.P. Young, DSC, RNVR', the first
RNVR officer to command an operational submarine. © IWM
(A 28129)
Right: Members of he crew pictured in the Fore-ends
(Torpedo Storage Compartment and accommodation space).
As a Torpedoman this is where Harold would have lived
and worked.© IWM (A 28123)
|
|
Wed 2nd Feb |
Still at sea. Getting very warn. Crossed Tropic of
Cancer. Bit of a swell. Read “Red Peppers Patients" by
G.S. Richmond also “Mystery On The Midnight Mail" by
Henry Holt. |
|
Thu 3rd Feb |
Hot, still at sea. Had one or two games of chess. Read
"Beyond Control" by Rex Beach. slight swell. |
|
Fri 4th Feb |
Still at sea. Stopped the boat & managed to have a bathe
in a.m. Revolver competition. E.R. has won easily. Jolly
good do tho', played chess at night, also Lexicon during
day. |
|
Sat 5th Feb |
Still at sea. Had two swims a.m. & p m. also another
pistol competition. Water rationed. Very warm, 'spect it
will get hotter still. |
|
Sun 6th Feb |
Read “Quaguiste” by Henty x Marks (?).
Still at sea. Bit rough. Spray coming over most of the
time cooler. Played chess at night. Worked in tube space
in forenoon. |
|
Mon 7th Feb |
Arrived in Aden in a.m. Duty. Hot day. Sent off a lot of
dhobying to wogs. Sorted out some of it. |
|
Tue 8th Feb |
Some survivors arrived alongside. Went ashore in
afternoon to view place. Rather barren. Had big eats &
iced drinks. Went to a Yankee show at night. Rather
dirty but funny. |
|
Wed 9th Feb |
Still at Aden, painting out tube space. Read "The
Traitor" By Sydney Horler. Ashore at night. Saw a film
"The Top of the Town" rather ancient. Saw in an open air
cinema. |
|
Thu 10tth Feb |
Left Aden at night. During a.m. painted in tube space.
Hot. Left in company with the “TANTIVY”,”k14” a Dutch
boat & a corvette as escort. |
|
Fri 11th Feb |
At sea. Nice breeze although quite hot. In a.m. did trim
dive. Also worked in tube space, painting. |
|
Sat 12trh Feb |
Still at sea. Lovely weather with a good cool breeze. In
a.m. painted in tube space. Had a rotten headache most
of day. |
|
Sun 13th Feb |
Still at sea. Read “David & Diana" by Cecil Roberts. Not
quite so warm. Sea a little rougher. |
|
Mon 14th Feb |
Still at sea. Read ‘Library of Humour’ by A.P. Herbert.
Sea rather choppy with a fairly strong breeze. Warm
though. Convoy split up. All going separate ways. |
|
Tue 15th Feb |
Still at sea. Good weather. Put clocks back a couple of
hours at night. U-Boat somewhere in vicinity. Painted in
fore-ends in a.m. |
|
Wed 16th Feb |
Still at sea. Read ‘Wanted to Live’ by Cecil Roberts.
Had a real good tropical storm in a.m. rest of time
sunny. |
|
Thu 17th Feb |
Still at sea. Rather stormy. Choppy sea. Read ‘Giving
and Receiving’ by E. V. Lucas. A series of essays, quite
good. |
|
Fri 18th Feb |
Still at sea. Dived during day for 14 hours. Lack of
fresh water. Rationed. Read ‘Prelude to War’ by Leslie
Charteris, a saint book. |
|
Sat 19th Feb |
Still at sea, rainy and what rain. Read ‘Lost Man in the
Grass’ by Alan Grief. |
|
Sun 20th Feb |
Still at sea. Hot & sunny. Rendezvoused with “TANTIVY” &
an Italian Sloop “ERITREA” going round coast of Ceylon. |
|
Mon 21st Feb |
Still at sea. Very hot sunshine. Nearly reached
destination. sea flat calm. |
|
Tue 22nd Feb |
Arrived at Trincomalee in a.m. Worked with fish in
afternoon. At night were awakened by an alarm that Jap
Fleet was out. Had to work till four a.m. |
|
Trincomalee Harbour, sometimes
referred to as the Scapa Flow of the East, Images:
Don Mackenzie collection.
Click to see larger image
|
|
Wed 23rd Feb |
Alarm still good. Worked like hell all day. Sweat flying
everywhere. Managed to get a swim at night. Read “The
Fortunate Lady” by Frank Swinnerton. |
|
Thu 24th Feb |
In a.m. had to work pretty hard to finish everything
off. Wrote letters in afternoon. Set off on patrol at
1820. Raining at night. Choppy sea.
[Departed
Trincomalee for her 2nd war patrol, ordered to patrol in
the Malacca Straits]. |
|
Fri 25th Feb |
At sea, rainy as anything. Mess split up into 2. Worked
in tube space in a.m. did trim dive. Had a gramophone on
at night. |
|
Sat 26th Feb |
At sea. Rainy. Bit rougher. Nothing of note happened
during day. Worked in mness in forenoon. |
|
Sun 27th Feb |
At sea. Had a fearful headache all day. Roughish sea.
spray coming over a lot. Worked in mess in a.m. |
|
Mon 28th Feb |
Still at sea. At dawn dived. Sighted an enemy submarine.
Too far to get in an attack. Surfaced at night. Lovely
calm sea, moonlight. [Most
likely the Japanese submarine I-165 that had departed
Penang for a patrol in the Indian Ocean the day before]. |
|
Tue 29th Feb |
At sea. Dived at dawn again. Although still on way to
petrol billet. Pretty good dive, No.1 side lookout good
ho. Did routine on fish. |
|
Wed 1st Mar |
At sea. Still on way to billet. Did another 1 routine on
fish. Need to dive twice, once for aircraft, other for a
junk which we didn't bother about in the end. Read
‘Riley Sails The Sea' by Peter Dawlish
(?).
Hot. Lot of wreckage & foliage floating on sea. |
|
Thu 2nd Mar |
Read “The Trial Of Mussolini” by Cassius. Dived at dawn.
Saw a merchant vessel escorted by a corvette. Didn’t
bother about it as it was too small. Did another F on a
fish. Pretty hot when dived. |
|
Fri 3rd Mar |
Dived about 4.45 am. Read ‘Margaret Ogilvy’ by J.M.
Barrie - the story of his own mother. Hot when dived.
Lot of junks about. Saw the sane patrol vessel as
yesterday, left if. Surfaced about 7.45 pm. Misty. |
|
Sat 4th Mar |
Dived at dawn. Read “Late Spring" by Peter Donavan, not
bad. Didn’t sight anything during day. Hot. Eggs turned
rotten. Lousy stink. Surfaced at night, Calm sea.
"STOIC" on way to relieve us. |
|
Sun 5th Mar |
Dived at dawn. Had the middle again. Read “The 39 Steps"
by John Buchan. Had an alarm after surfacing at night.
Proved only to be a junk. Sea pretty calm. Misty up top
though. |
|
Mon 6th Mar |
Dived at dawn. Read “The Power House” by John Buchan.
Uneventful day. Surfaced at night, calm flat seas.
Misty. Not quite so close, hot during day. |
|
Tue 7th Mar |
Read “The Watcher on the Threshold” by John Buchan.
Dived at dawn. Uneventful day. Surfaced at night. Did a
bit of dhobying. Calm seas, bit of a wind. Had bit of a
do, fired 4 fish but kissed within inches owing to being
set to deep. Spent most of night and a.m. loading new
fish, sweaty work.
[2348 hours - attack made at on a Japanese A/S vessel
from 2000 yards, missed and then had to avoid a depth
charge attack]. |
|
Wed 8th Mar |
Ship was dived most of night & of course all day.
Surfaced at night. Read ‘The Moon Endureth" by John
Buchan. Calm seas no wind & very warn. |
|
Thu 9th Mar |
Dived at dawn. Air conditioning fallen over. Pretty hot,
mended later. Uneventful day. Surfaced at night. Calm
seas, bright moon. Started writing to buster. |
|
Fri 10th Mar |
Dived at dawn. Cooler during day owing to air
conditioning repaired. Surfaced at night. Read “Softly
Softly Catchee Monkey” by Stephen Lister. |
|
Sat 11th Mar |
Dived at dawn. Uneventful day. Quite hot tho'. Surfaced
at night. Calm sea. Read “The Mantle of Methuselah” by
Langford Reed & Hetty Spiers. |
|
Sun 12th Mar |
Had an alarm early on, had to dive. Couple of depth
charges dropped. Kept down until 2 pm. Another alarm at
3. Dived. Sunk a merchant packet by gun action. On way
home dived in middle of night owing to some chaser or
other. [1819
hours - sank a coaster with gunfire in the Malacca
Strait; opened fire with the 3" gun from 3000 yards. The
target soon stopped and did not put up a fight]. |
|
Mon 13th Mar |
Dived again at o600 owing to aircraft. Surfaced after
1/4 of hour, on surface all day:. Choppy sea. Read "The
Story of Dr Wassell" by James Hilton |
|
Tue 14th Mar |
Dived at dawn. In between Nicabar Islands. Nothing
happened out of ordinary. Topped up batteries. Surfaced
at night. Bit choppy. |
|
Wed 15th Mar |
At sea. On surface all day. Rained like anything,
nothing out of ordinary. Bit of a swell. |
|
Thu 16th Mar |
Still at sea & on surface. Expect to be in on Sat.
Uckers competition going on. Still a bit of swell,
rainy. |
|
Fri 17th Mar |
Still at sea, on way back. Bit choppy & rainy. Played
off my round of Uckers competition - lost. Read “A Short
History of the World” by H.G. Wells. |
|
Sat 18th Ma |
Arrived in harbour at Trincomalee. Tied up alongside
"MAIDSTONE". Nearly everybody got drunk on bottled
bubbly. Didn’t do much, had a couple swims- one
forcibly.
[Ended her 2nd war patrol]. |
|
The Submarine Depot Ship MAIDSTONE,
(seen here at Algiers) which catered for the maintenance
of Submarine Flotillas in ports where no shore
establishment existed for the purpose. Image © IWM (A 16325)
|
|
Sun 19th Mar |
Half of us sent to rest camp right in middle of Ceylon.
Mess up with Lorries, didn't start till 10 arrived about
9.30 pm. got a bit fed up with Lorries. Quite cold too,
being so high up in the hills. |
|
Mon 20th Mar |
This place is called Diyatalawa went a ramble over hills
in afternoon. Same again at night. Slept very well at
night being a bit tired after so mch exercise.
[Royal Navy
Rest Camp Diyatalawa, H.M.S. UVA]. |
|
Tue 21st Mar |
Got up about 8.30, watched people play golf. Went for a
walk in a.m. In afternoon took a taxi to Bandarawela,
the nearest village from here. Had our photos taken. Hot
day, rained at night. Wrote a few letters. Read “Secret
Servant” by Bernard Newman. |
|
Wed 22nd Mar |
In a.m. lazed about in deck chair. In afternoon went for
a walk & on return wrote letters. At night went for
another walk then saw film “Here Comes the Marines”. |
|
Thu 23rd Mar |
In a.m. sat & read in sunshine. After dinner had a game
of tennis (tried to anyway). Pretty hot. Rainy at night.
Stayed in played cards. |
|
Fri 24th Mar |
In a.m. played tennis. Bit cloudy tho'. In afternoon
went a short walk around a tea plantation. At night
wrote letters. |
|
Sat 25th Mar |
Played tennis in morning, had a bit of a tournament. In
afternoon went to Bandarawela & collected photographs.
Rained like anything - at night went to cinema saw “Good
Luck Mr Yates”. |
|
Sun 26th Mar |
In a.m. played tennis with the boys, in afternoon went
swimming at a waterfall then had big eats & watched a
football match. Rained like anything, had lots of eggs. |
|
Mon 27th Mar |
In a.m. went for a short walk & played snooker. In
afternoon rained like anything so turned in. after tea
played tennis with the boys, then at nigh wrote to
Betty. |
|
Tue 28th Mar |
In a.m. went for a long walk going through Haptale
returning about 3 pm. At night went to films “What’s
Buzzin Cousin” With Ann Miller & Rochester. |
|
Wed 29th Mar |
In a.m. played tennis with the lads. In afternoon went
swimming. Rained real and proper. In was just as wet as
out. Wrote letters at night. Short walk 1.11 before
turning in. |
|
Left: Long view looking at H.M.S. UVA. Centre: The
Wardroom. Right: Camp Hotel & Bar
Click to see larger image
|
|
Thu 30th Mar |
In a.m., played tennis, same in afternoon. After tea,
went swimming. Killed a snake there almost a yard long.
After packed all our gear up. |
|
Fri 31st Mar |
Started from rest camp about 2.30 in the a n. took all
day. Stopped at Kandy & Nuwara on way back. Hot day.
Started sweating again. Found a bit of mail waiting. |
|
Sat 1st Apr |
In a.m., boat moved out of dry dock. In afternoon
started messing about with fish. Sweated like anything.
Duly at night. Wrote home.
[H.M.S. STORM
was in dry dock March 29th – April 1st]. |
|
Sun 2nd Apr |
All day loaded fish. Hot sweaty work. A few letters
arrived, went swimming at night, good ho. wrote to
Betty. |
|
Mon 3rd Apr |
At sea all day doing practice shoot & attacks. Tied up
about 6 pm. saw a film on well deck at night, William
Powell & Myrna Loy in “The Shadow of the Thin Man”.
Worked on paintwork in fore end.
[Conducted exercises off Trincomalee]. |
|
Tue 4th Apr |
In morning went to sea for some sound trials. Worked in
fore ends flowing up fish & putting igniters in. Managed
to get a swim in afternoon. After tying up at 11 a.m.,
went to the dentist, had one tooth stopped. Swam again
at night. Provisioned ship. Duty & had to work late. |
|
Wed 5th Apr |
In a.m. charged the after fish. Dentist polished off my
front teeth. Dropped an igniter on deck-quite some
sparks. In afternoon went for a row with chef in canoe.
Had a swim at same time. Wrote letters at night after
which went to service in church. Hot day. Played cards
till 1 am. |
|
Thu 6th |
In a.m. set off on patrol. On way out had a shoot & then
a few attacks on a Yankee destroyer then an asdic
exercise. Worked in fore ends on numerous leaks. Dived
about 5 times. Hot in boat. Finished exercise about
1600. Left escort at 1830. Calm seas.
[Departed
Trincomalee for her 3rd war patrol with orders to patrol
off Port Blair, Andaman Islands]. |
|
Fri 7th Apr |
At sea, in .m. pulled back no. 5 fish to do a 'P'
routine. Finished about 11. Hot sunny day. on way to
Andaman islands. Calm seas. |
|
Sat 8th Apr |
At sea. In a.m. did a routine on no. 3 fish, found a big
snag. Tried to pull it out again at night & take out
valve group. Warm day. Read the ‘Spy’ by Upton Sinclair. |
|
Sun 9th Apr |
At sea. In a.m. did routines on 6 & 4 fish. Dived at
dawn & kept down all day. Had a short service in C. O.
R. at 11.30. Surfaced at night just off Little Andaman
Isles. Read "Bengal Lancer" by F Yeats Morris. |
|
Mon 10th Apr |
At sea. Dived at dawn. Surfaced at night. Read "Dusk To
Dawn" by A G Street. Land in sight- Andaman Islands. |
|
Tue 11th Apr |
Dived at dawn. Had an alarm in afternoon, nothing
happened tho’. Read "The Whiskered Footman" by Edgar
Jepson. Surfaced at night. Calm seas. |
|
Wed 12th Apr |
Dived at dawn. Read "Love Story" by Ernest Bornehan.
Good few aircraft & ships were about, 1 D/C dropped.
Surfaced at night. Lot of land about. |
|
Thu 13th Apr |
In a.m. fired 4 fish at tanker, Missed. loaded in
reload. hot. calm sea. had a rotten headache when
surfaced at night.. [0505
hours - off Port Blair, fired four torpedoes – believed
all missed astern. STORM went deep on firing. No counter
attack followed]. |
|
Fri 14th Apr |
Early in a.m. S/M chaser sighted, it fired on us, we
dived, were going to sink it when a merchant packet
escorted by 2 aeroplanes & ships spotted. Sank it. Lot
of bombs & D/CS. Loaded in 2 reloads. Read "Clansman" by
Ethel Boileau.
[0852 hours - Fired 6 torpedoes from about 5000 yards.
Went deep after firing and ran the the South-East. 3
Minutes and 20 seconds after firing there were two sharp
explosions with a 5 second interval; 2 possible hits
were claimed but no Japanese ship was sunk in that
position on this date. 0901 – 1050 hours – under counter
attack, 21 depth charges were dropped. No damage was
caused by them]. |
|
Sat 15th Apr |
In a.m. sighted a merchant packet, destroyer & a S/M
chaser, sunk destroyer, damaged M/P. Dived till 1200 to
top up batteries, then followed M/P. sighted it about
1700. Read "Fu Manchu" by Sax Robner.
[0837 hours -
torpedoed and sank the Japanese minesweeper W 7; fired
last two remaining Bow torpedoes from 4000 yards. After
3 minutes and 34 seconds two explosions were heard with
4 seconds between them. One torpedo remained in the
stern tube. Missed the merchantman but hit, what the
captain believed was a Destroyer, but in fact was a
minesweeper, sinking it]. |
|
Japanese minesweeper W7
|
|
Sun 16th Apr |
Read "Pearl Island" by Henry C Rowland. Lost M/P. Had to
dive first in a.m. still on surface sighted a plane,
didn't see us. In afternoon had a. gun action with A/S
vessel, had to dive owing to a jam. 6 D/Cs dropped. On
way back to Trinco.
[1432 hours -
attacked a Japanese armed yacht with her 3" gun off
Little Andaman Island. At a range 4500 yards STORM
returned fire. By the 6th shot the range was found but
after the 10th round however the ammunition supply
suddenly y halted. The action had to be broken off,
STORM submerged under fire and 6 depth charges were
dropped by the enemy but sustained no damage]. |
|
Mon 17th Apr |
Read "Through Flood And Fire" By Robert William Mackenna.
Bit of a swell all day. Sun very hot. |
|
Tue 18th Apr |
On surface all day. Met the "STOIC" on way out to
patrol. Hot day, glowing sun, calm seas. |
|
Wed 19th Apr |
Met our escort 3 M.T.Bs about 0600. Arrived in harbour
about 11.30 Jolly Roger flying. In afternoon went out in
jolly canoe. Swan a good bit. Cooler today.
[HMS STORM
ended her 3rd war patrol at Trincomalee]. |
|
Thu 20th Apr |
Rest of the chaps went on leave. In a.m. got after tube
clear so as to move fish. Greased the front door. Hot
day. Messed about in afternoon. At night flicks,
Constance Bennet in "Sin Town"- not much good. Wrote
hone & Betty |
|
Fri 21st Apr |
In a.m. greased bow caps etc, of forward tubs. Had a
tooth stopped. Foot sentry all afternoon. Hot day.
Boat’s heated up a lot. Duty at night. Wrote to John. |
|
Sat 22md Apr |
Foot movement at 0715. Was mess cleaner all morning. In
afternoon slept & read "David & Destiny" by Ian Hay. Had
a letter from Pat & H Haughty. Hot day. |
|
Sun 23rd Apr |
In a.m. worked in fore-ends, trenches etc. On sentry
most of afternoon. Read "3 Men in a Boat" Jerome K.
Jerome. Wrote letters at night A.R. & Pat. |
|
Mon 24th Apr |
worked on after fish. Had front tooth stopped again. In
afternoon took out a canoe. Spent time in swimming and
messed about. At night wrote To Len & Joan. Saw "Crash
Dive" with Tyrone Power. |
|
Tue 25th Apr |
Still in harbour. A.m. & p.m. messed about with stern
tube. Dentist had another tooth stopped, 3 injections
for it. Hot day. Rained at night tho'. wrote letters. |
|
Wed 26th Apr |
Worked in a.m. doing water shots & getting out mining
gear. Make & Mend in afternoon. Finished off at
dentists, polished ‘em off. Wrote letters to Adam,
Shucks and Mary. Hot day. |
|
Thu 27th Apr |
In a.m. fired more water shots. Inspected all mining
gear. Gashed my head open, 1 stitch. Saw Judy Garland &
Mickey Rooney in "Strike Up The Band". |
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Fri 28th Apr |
In a.m. cleared up fore-ends ready for fish, also loaded
stern fish into tube. Make & Mend in afternoon. Foot
movement at 3pn. Wrote a few letters at night. Hot day,
swam once. |
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Sat 29th Apr |
In a.m. got 6 fish in. In afternoon put in pistols &
igniters. Topped with air. Pretty rotten sweating all
time. Worked after tea putting fish in tubes. Duty at
night. |
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Sun 30th Apr |
In a.m. went to sea for sound trials, had a cold run on
no 4 fish. Took all day putting things right. Wrote to
Betty at night. Rest of crew cane back off leave.
Sweated a lot. |
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Mon 1st May |
In a.m. loaded 6 more fish in. Finished by 12. Tropical
routine started. Saw a film at night" Ray Milland &
Paulette Goddard in "The Crystal Ball". |
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Alongside the depot ship at
Trincomalee.
Left Unloving hammocks and kitbags
after a patrol.
Right: Loading Torpedoes in
preparation for the next patrol © IWM (A 22334)
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[4th
May STORM conducted exercises off Trincomalee. 6th May
departed Trincomalee for her 4th war patrol, to patrol
off the North coast of Sumatra and to conduct a special
operation.]
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Sun 14th May |
Dived at dawn. Read "Ann & Her Mother" by O. Douglas.
Surfaced at darkness. Played cards. Failed to pick up
agent we landed, gave signal but in wrong position. |
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Mon 15th May |
Read "The Search Party" by George A Birmingham. Dived al
dawn. No incidents. had another go to pick up agent,
failed. left the place with a warm send off. guns etc. |
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Tue 16th May |
Read "Just Impediment" by Constance J Smith, played
cards until diving stations. Dived al 5 an. no incidents
during day. Surfaced at night about 7.30. Bit of a swell
coming over just a little. |
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Wed 17th May |
Dived at dawn. Read "The Apple Of Concord" by Richard
Church. Uneventful day. Surfaced at dark. Played cards.
Pitch black night. Pulled back no 2 fish, mended a leak. |
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Mon 22nd May |
Dived at dawn. Read "Winter In April" by Robert Nathan.
No incidents. Sighted a beached ship. Surfaced at night.
Left billet. |
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Tue 23rd May |
Dived at dawn. Passed through Nilcobars. Surfaced at
1500. Read "The Eight Crooked Trenches” by Francis
Beeding. Bit of a swell. |
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Wed24th May |
Had an extension of patrol come, returning to 10°
channel. Hunting for U-boat. Dived at 6pm- on arrival at
billet surfaced after an hour or so - don't suppose
we'll see anything myself. Quite a bit of a swell. |
|
Thu 25th May |
Swell eased off considerably by early a.m. dived at dawn
but surfaced again about 8 a.m . keeping watches on
R.D.F. after aircraft - surface S/M (periscupe etc).
Periscope watch. Normal going in motors-to run batteries
down i suppose. Had to dive twice for aircraft. Left
place about 1 pm for Trinco. |
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[29th
May 1944 HMS STORM ended her 4th war patrol at
Trincomalee].
[11 - 12 Jun 1944 HMS STORM conducted exercises,
including night exercises, off Trincomalee].
[13 Jun 1944 HMS STORM departed Trincomalee for her 5th
war patrol].
[18 Jun 1944 HMS STORM torpedoed and sank the Japanese
auxiliary gunboat EIKO MARU].
[20 Jun 1944 HMS STORM attacked German U-boat U-1062
with torpedoes in the Malacca Strait. 0940 hours - Fired
six torpedoes from 2500 yards, all missed]..
[25 Jun 1944 HMS STORM ended her 5th war patrol at
Trincomalee].
[15 Jul 1944 HMS STORM departed Trincomalee for her 6th
war patrol].
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Fri 21st Jul |
Dived at 5.30. After breakfast did a 'P' on '1' fish,
this entailed moving all the provisions etc. Rolled
quite a bit at 30 ft. Surfaced at night. Quite a bit of
swell. No incidents. Rainy. |
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Sat 2nd Jul |
In a.m. dived, then did two more 'P' routines on 5 & 6,
pretty rotten didn’t finish till 10. Surfaced at 1850.
Rainy bit of a swell. |
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Sun 23rd Jul |
Dived at dawn. At 10 am surfaced and had gun action with
small tanker, 2 prisoners 1 Jap 1 Malayan. Then went
inshore & sank two tugs. Dived again at 1300. One fellow
injured by shrapnel, later had a do with 2 A/S vessels.
guns jammed up forced to dive. 2 D/Cs pretty near.
[Sank the
Japanese coaster KISO MARU just North off Port Owen,
Tavoy Island, Burma 0940 hours - Surfaced 800 yards on
the coasters Port quarter & engaged with the 3" gun.
Ceased fire at 0945 hours after 28 rounds, all of which
hit and slowly sank. At 1035 hours - Sighted three
vessels in Port Owen harbour. One was the hulk of a junk
but the other two were small patrol vessels anchored
close inshore. 1050 hours - opened fire on one of the
patrol vessels from 1200 yards; the third round hit her
and she stopped. The Japanese in the meantime had opened
fire with machine guns. As soon as the crew of the first
patrol vessel abandoned ship fire was shifted to the
second patrol vessel. Soon this vessel was also
abandoned. Both vessels were then finished off. At 1636
hours - off King Island two landing craft were sighted
proceeding down river from Mergui. 1700 hours - Surfaced
for gun action at a range of about 1800 yards. After two
near-misses one vessel turned away. The other one turned
toward and opened fire with two machine guns. It was
intended to shift fire to this landing craft when the 3"
gun malfunctioned. Fire was then to be opened with the
Oerlikon but this gun also malfunctioned. 1704 hours -
dived and proceeded Northwards at speed, 2 D/Cs dropped
near-by]. |
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Mon 24th Jul |
Read "England Made Me" by Graham Greene. Spent all day
on the surface cruising around a lot of islands called
the Mergui Archipelago. Lots of wooded forests but no
signs of habitation. Rained a lot. |
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[7th Aug 1944
HMS STORM ended her 6th war patrol at Trincomalee]. |
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[25 Aug 1944
HMS STORM departed Trincomalee for her 7th war patrol]. |
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Wed 30th Aug |
Dived in a.m. Pulled back no. 4 Fish And Did A ‘P’
Routine On It. Surfaced At 7 Pm. Played Monopoly. Read
"Penguin Parade no 9". Good. |
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Thu 31st Aug |
Dived at dawn. Had a good sleep from 6 - 1. Read "Snow
Vogue" by Darcy Glints. Surfaced at 7 pm. Played
monopoly. |
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Fri 1st Sep |
Dived at dawn. Read "The Greatest People In The World"
By Pilot Officer X. At 10 pm fired five fish at a
convoy, missed. 2 D/Cs dropped. Surfaced. Shadowed 'en.
got ahead & stayed near surface in Mergui Archipelago.
[1136 hours –
fire 5 torpedoes at convoy, range 600 yards, in the
Forrest Strait, Mergui Archipelago. No hits were
obtained]. |
|
Sat 2nd Sep |
Dived in a.m. rained like anything just before. At 1030
convoy caught up with us again. Surfaced. Canned ‘em,
sank two A/S vessels & 1 tanker. Stayed on surface rest
of day. Two torpedoes fired at us.
[1117 hours -
Surfaced and opened fire on the rear coaster from 2000
yards. 7 or 8 fairly destructive hits were obtained. She
turned away and limped towards the shore. Fire was then
shifted to the coaster ahead of her. She was hit several
times and eventually stopped. By now both escorts were
racing towards STORM firing their machine guns. Fire was
now switched to both of them with the 3" gun, Oerlikon
and Vickers. One of the escorts was sunk and the other
one was left a wreck but refused to sink. A Japanese MTB
now engaged and at a range of 3000 yards she turned and
fired two torpedoes. The tracks passed about 100 yards
astern of STORM. An MGB next attacked scoring some hits
on STORM’s casing but no damage. Attempts to finish off
disabled craft were abounded when the 3” gun
malfunctioned again]. |
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Duties: As a member of the Torpedo Branch Harold
worked primarily on Torpedo and Mining duties such as
maintaining and
lading the torpedoes - left (Notice this is the same
compartment in which Harold lived when not used as a
torpedo work space). He would also have taken turns at
other duty stations during the patrol, including
helmsman - right © IWM (A 22329).
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[22 Sep HMS
STORM ended her 7th war patrol at Fremantle, Australia]. |
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[10 Oct HMS
STORM departed Fremantle, Australia for her 8th war
patrol. She was ordered to patrol off the Gulf of Boni,
Celebes, Netherlands East Indies]. |
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[20 Oct At
1455 hours, shortly after arriving in her patrol area,
HMS STORM was bombed by a Japanese aircraft while at
periscope depth. Some minor damage was caused by this
bombing. Storm then withdrew to seaward as the area her
C.O. intended to operate in was now compromised.] |
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Sun 29th Oct |
Read "Four Frightened People" by E Arndt Robertson.
Dived at dawn. Surfaced at 5.41 to sink 2 schooners.
Kept on surface all day, keeping periscope watch.
[Sank two
schooners with gunfire and demolition charges in the
Gulf of Boni: 0332 hours - Sighted a darkened vessel
fairly close. This was later seen to be a schooner. 0416
hours - Dived. 0500 hours - Sighted 2 more sails to the
Westward which were soon seen to be a schooner and a
cutter. Closed to attack. 0540 hours - Surfaced near the
nearest schooner. The crew were sent away in their
canoe. Boarded her. 0615 hours - Sank the schooner,
named MASELOMO, with gunfire. Proceeded towards the
second schooner. 0650 hours - The crew had already
lowered her sail and abandoned ship before STORM reached
her. She was then boarded. Her name was BOENGA PADI. She
was sunk with a demolition charge. 0720 hours - In the
meantime the small cutter, one mile away, had also been
abandoned. The crew had left with their canoe. On board
there was only a small cargo of rice and a few bricks.
The crews of both schooners and the cutter were now
collected and placed on the cutter with orders to sail
to the West which they did]. |
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Mon 30th Oct |
Dived at dawn" moved back to where bombs were dropped on
us. had afternoon watch surfaced at 1900. Calm seas,
land in sight. Read "A Man About The House" by Francis
Brett –Young. |
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Tue 31st Oct |
Dived at 0405. Was on watch at time. Had 8-12 watch
diving .Did xword. Surfaced at sunset. Hot day. Had
middle watch during which sighted a. schooner which we
sunk taking natives on board & then early in a.m.
ditching in on a fishing boat. Cut some fish, sunk
another one at 10.15. Read "Swallow Brown" by Stephen
Hockaby. |
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[1 Nov sank
two schooners with gunfire and demolition charges in the
Gulf of Boni: 0100 hours - Sighted a Westbound schooner.
Closed and boarded. The schooners hold was full with
nickel ore. The crew of 11 Malays was taken on board and
the schooner named GOENONG PERAK was sunk with gunfire.
0930 hours - Sighted a schooner bearing 072° sailing to
the South-West. Closed. A warning shot had to be fired
across her bows before she lowered sail. 1000 hours -
Boarded. She too was full of nickel ore. The Malay crew
was sent away in their canoe. Her name was SABARAE. 1031
hours - The schooner was sunk with a demolition charge]. |
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Thu 2nd Nov |
In a.m. sunk 3 schooners & then ditching in on a fishing
boat. Later sunk four more ditching the natives in like
fashion. Had to dive thrice for aircraft. All crew
suffering from lack of sleep.
[2 Nov sank
seven schooners gunfire off the Gulf of Boni: 0540 hours
- Sighted three Westbound schooners bearing 130°. 0559
hours - Dived for an aircraft detected by radar. 0616
hours - Surfaced and chased the schooners. 0637 hours -
Dived again for an aircraft detected by radar. 0646
hours - Surfaced and resumed the chase. 0700 hours -
Fired a warning shot. All three schooners dropped sail.
Boarded each in turn. They all carried nickel ore. One
of them was named MOELAM PEKKEE, the other two were
un-named. The crews were taken off and sent below. This
meant that there were 18 Malays in the submarine. Four
more schooners had meanwhile been sighted on the horizon
to the South-West. A fishing vessel was sighted to the
Northward. As there was not much wind and the schooners
would not be able to sail at a high speed Lt.Cdr. Young
decided to get rid of the Malays first. 0745 hours -
Left the abandoned schooners and proceeded five miles to
the North towards the fishing vessel. 0828 hours -
Disembarked the Malays and returned to the three
schooners. 0901 hours - Sank the three schooners in turn
with gunfire. 0930 hours - Proceeded towards three of
the four schooners sighted earlier. The 4th was some
distance to the windward of the others. It was decided
to sink the three and then disembark the crews in the
fourth. 1005 hours - Came up with the schooners. All
were fully laden with nickel ore. Boarded each in turn
and took off the crews. Sank them in turn with gunfire.
There were now 38 Malays on board STORM. One of the
schooners was named TJENNING ATIE, the other two were
not named. 1202 hours - Came up with the fourth schooner
which correctly lowered sail. Cargo was again nickel
ore. Had them jettison their cargo and disembarked the
38 Malays.
1700 hours
- Sighted a schooner bearing 060°, bound South-West.
1745 hours - She continued to sail on when she was
approached by HMS STORM. Fired two warning shots of
which no notice was taken except by two of the crew that
jumped overboard. Fired a shot at his mainmast, high up,
it was a hit but produced no result. Fired two shots
through his mainsail but they did not explode. Finally
came alongside. Took the crew on board STORM and
proceeded to another small sailing vessel to put them
aboard. 2127 hours - Returned to the abandoned schooner
and attempted to sink her with gunfire after an attempt
to set her on fire had failed. After sinking the hull
bopped up again on its side and in spite of ramming
refused to sink any further. Her name was TAHAJA AZIA].
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Fri :3rd Nov |
In a.m. had to dive for aircraft. Had forenoon watch & 2
hours in afternoon. Did routines on two fish. One (no
:3) flooded. Started back home at noon. Read "Little Mrs
Manington" by Cecil Roberts. |
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Sat 4th Nov |
On surface all day travelling down the Java Sea. Hot sun
up top. At night had alarm for patrol vessel sighted. |
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Sun 5th Nov |
Dived at dawn to go through Lombok Strait, then dived in
a.m. two A/S vessels in vicinity. Surfaced at 1022, 10
miles from land. On surface rest of day. Ditched all
wood & paper at night. |
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[H.M.S. STORM
ended her 8th war patrol at Fremantle, Australia on
November 13th 1944].
[4 Dec HMS
STORM departed Fremantle, Australia for her 9th war
patrol. She was ordered to patrol in Makassar Strait].
[12 Dec
arrived at Darwin for fuel, water and fresh meat. After
about 6 hours in port she departed for her patrol area].
[18 Dec HMS
STORM made a torpedo attack on an escorted merchant
vessel in the Macassar Strait. No hits were obtained]. |
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1945 |
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[10 Jan HMS
STORM ended her 9th war patrol at Fremantle, Australia].
[31 Jan HMS
STORM departed Fremantle for her 10th war patrol. She
was ordered to patrol off the West coast of Sumatra and
to proceed to Trincomalee upon completion of the
patrol].
[20 Feb HMS
STORM ended her 10th war patrol at Trincomalee].
[24 Feb HMS
STORM departed Trincomalee for the U.K. to refit].
[8 Apr HMS
STORM arrived at Portsmouth completing her first
commission. She was to to Philadelphia, U.S.A. salon May
1st where she was to refit, Lt. R.A.A.C. Ward, DSC, RN
now in command].
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Return to Portsmouth: STORM flying her 'Jolly Roger'
as she enters Portsmouth Harbour on April 8th 1945. Left
© IWM (A 28125) - right © IWM (A 28130)
|
.png)
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