HMS Galatea

[Jordi Comas]

Hi all,

What ships accompanied British cruiser Galatea at time of torpedoing by German submarine U-557 on 14/12/41?

It seems that the accompanying destroyers of Force B were detached to Alexandria at time of the attack so no escort was nearby and Naiad and Euryalus were the only ships near her. Is this right? if that's right, does anyone know the disposition of the ships when the attack took place?

Thank you very much
Jordi

[phil morgan]

Greetings Jordi
The official record does not mention them. Cunningham’s records mentions: Vian’s cruisers. “on 14-15 December Vian’s force was about to enter the searched channel off Alexandria when Galatea was hit by two torpedoes and sunk”. At 10PM on 15 th Vian was off again in the Naiad,with Carlisle, Euryalus, and seven destroyers.
Good hunting
Phil

[t-geronimo]

Naval-history.net confirms that the destroyer screen was detached before the attack:

"Returning from the unsuccessful sweep against the Italian convoys, light cruiser GALATEA (Captain E. W. B. Sim) was sunk by U.557 off Alexandria in 31-17N, 29-13E. The destroyer screen had been detached into Alexandria before the submarine attack."

http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-4112-39DEC01.htm


But the reconstructed war diary from U 557 says that the uboat sent a radio message:
"Attack on third ship in line. 2500 m. 3 hits amidship. Big explosion or ammunition explosion. Broke in two halfes. Sank in 2 minutes. No destroyers. Supposed to be of "Aurora"-type."

So who was with her?

[Jordi Comas]

Thank you guys!

I think the disposition of the ships at time of U-557's attack against Galatea was the following:

Naiad (Adm. Vian flagship) ahead, Euryalus in the middle and Galatea in the rear.

Regards
Jordi

[Brian Corijn]

Hi Guys,

According to the logbooks of HMS Naiad (ADM 53/114757) and HMS Euryalus (ADM 53/114250) it were indeed these two cruisers that were in company with HMS Galatea.
The logbook of HMS Naiad mentions that the destroyer screen was detached half an hour before HMS Galatea was torpedoed.
They were zig-zagging at 22 knots apparently in the order Naiad, Euryalus, Galatea.

Kind regards,
Brian Corijn
(uboat.net crew / Allied warships section)

[Darius]

Great data, Brian.

Regards

Darius

[Jordi Comas]

Thank you also Brian!

Regards