German Minesweeper M 6

[jan-olof]

Hi,

On October 23rd, 1941 the M 6 was mined and sunk off Lorient, more specifically in MQ BF 6179. Two days earlier the British minelayers HMS Manxman and HMS Welshman had laid minefield HG somewhere in the vicinity. I'm wondering if that minefield might be the agent which led to the loss of the M 6.

Best regards,

Jan-Olof

[Platon Alexiades]

Hi Jan-Olof,

Minefield "HG" could well have accounted for the loss of M 6. It was laid by Manxman and Welshman at 2300/21 October in a triangle between:

1. 47°40' N, 03°40' W
2. 47°20' N, 03°35' W
3. 47°32' N, 04°05' W

The centre of M 6's Quadrat position is slightly outside the triangle but in these days precision in navigation did not match those by GPS today.

Best regards,

Platon

[Urs Heßling]

hi,

Gröner's "Die deutschen Kriegsschiffe 1815-1945", Vol. 2, p. 175, gives the loss position as 47°18' N, 04°20' E (!) where the eastern longitude is an obvious error.
The position 47°18' N, 04°20' W would be, however, outside of the triangle given by Platon (I presume from "British Mining Operations 1939-1945, Vol. 1).

greetings, Urs

[jan-olof]

Hello Platon and Urs,

many thanks for your replies.

I got the position information from DEFE 3/33 page 354, which states:

T O I 1057/23/10/41

From: V 225

M 6 has hit a mine. Boat is sinking. Square BF 6179.

As for BF 6179 we have (according to http://www.navalgrid.com):

Square BF6179

Coordinates:

Center
47°27'00"N, 003°35'00"W

Top left
47°30'00"N, 003°40'00"W
Top right
47°30'00"N, 003°30'00"W
Bottom left
47°24'00"N, 003°40'00"W
Bottom right
47°24'00"N, 003°30'00"W

Looks like a match to me although with mines you can never be 100 percent certain.

Best regards,

Jan-Olof