| Built By: | Greenock & Grangemouth Dockyard |
| Build Group: | Cameron-class |
| Fate: | Placed on the Disposal List in 1948. She was sold to the Clan Line and, after conversion back to a mercantile role, deployed in trade until sold during 1963 for demolition at Hong Kong. |
Midget Submarine Depot ship built for mercantile use by the Clan Line and purchased by the Admiralty in 1942. The ship was launched on 27th October 1942 by Greenock Shipyard and when completed was converted for use as a Depot Ship by Scotts of Greenock. Commissioned on 26th January 1943 she was named HMS Bonaventure and was the 11th RN ship to carry the name, introduced in 1489. The name had previously been used by a DIDO Class cruiser launched in 1939 and completed in May 1940. The cruiser was sunk by Italian submarine ABRA north of Sollum on 31st March 1941.
On completion of trials took passage to Loch Striven on west bank of Clyde for service as main training base and depot ship for midget submarines ("X" Craft). During this passage and trials crews of Midget submarines X5, X6, X7, X8, X9 and X10 were prepared for an operation to attack the German battleship Tirpitz in Altenfjord, Norway.
21st Feb, 1945, Embarked six XE class and took passage to Australia via Panama.
March 7th, arrived at Pearl Harbour. Attitude of US Navy was most discouraging and the use of this type of submarine was not looked on with any enthusiasm.
April 27th, 1945, arrived at Brisbane and in May moved on to Townsville, Queensland where a visit by Senior Officer 14th Flotilla to US Navy Base at Subic Bay did not improve the situation and it was suggested that the ship be used in Fleet Train after conversion for a wider support role. A proposal was made to use midget submarines for cutting Japanese telegraph cables.
The idea was to isolate Singapore from Japan by direct telephone cable traversing Indo China and Hong Kong just before an invasion by a joint force. Four XE Craft were designated for operations.
In June, transferred to Hervey Bay, Queensland (250 miles from Brisbane ) and thence to south of Townsville) to prepare for cable cutting operations. Carried out extensive training and experiments in Hervey Bay using a disused telegraph cable between Australia and New Guinea during which two divers lost their lives by oxygen poisoning.
Operational targets were selected and approved and Bonaventure made passage from Hervey Bay to Labuan, Borneo.
Operations in July included:
All operations were successful. These successes were not clear at the time but, at the ending of the war in the Far East in August, they were confirmed. Hush Hush till the bitter end.
20th Aug, returned to Sydney
Returned to UK from Australia and was retained in RN service until placed on the Disposal List in 1948. She was sold to the Clan Line and after conversion back to a mercantile role deployed in trade until sold during 1963 for demolition at Hong Kong.
The most decorated ship in the Royal Navy, winning:
Totalling 68. Also: Over 100 mentioned in Dispatches were logged.
| 27-10-1942 | Launched by Greenock Shipyard, and when completed, was converted for use as a depot ship by Scotts of Greenock. |
| 25-01-1943 | Commissioned for RN service. |
| 22-01-1944 | Completed refit and re-commissioned for service with the British Pacific Fleet. |
| 21-02-1945 | Embarked six XE class and took passage to Australia via Panama. |
| 07-03-1945 | Arrived at Pearl Harbour. |
| 27-04-1945 | Arrived at Brisbane |
| 20-08-1945 | Arrived at Sydney |
|
||
| Official | ||
| Admiralty Approved | 11th Jun, 1940 | |
| Symbology | The word comes from the Italian phrase buonaventura or Latin bonaventure (bonus meaning 'good' and 'ventura' meaning 'fortune' or 'venture'). The horseshoe therefore translates 'bonaventure' into 'good luck'. The griffin is from the Arms of Drake. | |
| Design Notes | A red griffin with statant wings extended all inclined to profile upon a reversed gold horseshoe on a barry wavy field of six white and blue. | |
| Additional Notes | Elizabeth Bonaventure was Drake's flagship in the West Indies and at Cadiz. The badge was originally designed for the Dido Class cruiser of 1939. In the 16th- and early 17th-century sailing, a bonaventure (or bonaventure mizzen) was an extra small mast and sail placed at the very rear of a large ship behind the main mizzenmast. |
|
| Displacement | 10,423 tons later 8,067 tons |
| Length | 487 ft (148 m) |
| Beam | 63 ft (19 m) |
| Draught | 30 ft (9.1 m) |
| Propulsion | 2 x steam triple expansion and exhaust turbine |
| Speed | 16 knots (30 km/h) |
| Armament | 2 x 4 in (102 mm) AA guns |
| 12 x 20 mm (0.79 in) AA guns |
B 11 (I 00) |
|
| Class: | 1903 - 1906: B Class |
| Built By: | Vickers (Barrow) |
| Build Group: | B |
|
Fate: Converted to Surface Patrol Craft and renamed S11 for service on the Otranto Barrage. Bombed and sunk in harbour at Venice in 1918. Sold for scrap in Italy 1919 |
|
When it was first published in 1953, opinions were sharply divided between those who deplored the apparent extolling of a vicious form of warfare, and this who found in Heinz Schaeffer s account a revealing picture of the German Navys training and methods.
U-Boat 977 was the German submarine that escaped to Argentina at the end of World War Two. This epic journey started from Bergen in Norway, where in April 1945 it was temporarily based, and took three and a half months to complete. Because of the continuing Allied naval activity the commander decided to make the first part of the journey underwater.
Before surfacing near the west coast of Africa U-977 had spent a remarkable sixty-six days submerged. Heinz Schaeffer, the commander of U-977 wrote a full account of his career that culminated in this last command. It depicts the gruelling aspects of a submariner s life aboard a vessel that was subjected to harsh conditions of the sea and oceans.
As an experienced commander Schaeffer took part in many of the decisive U-boat operations in the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean. In the final months of the war, and in common with most surviving U-boat commanders, Schaeffer and his crew came under constant attacks from Allied aircraft and surface ships. The final part of U-Boat 977 is Schaeffer s account of the journey to Argentina and lays to rest some of the more fanciful sorties that followed its arrival.
15 pages added or updated in the last 1 months
Please help to maintain this site by reporting any Errors, Broken Links, Information or Site Issues on this page using this button
If you find this site useful, please consider supporting my work with a small Donation.
Please Note: Donations made using this option go directly to the site owner and not to the Submariners Association.
Thankyou for your support.
|
|
||
| Official | ||
| Admiralty Approved | 11th Jun, 1940 | |
| Symbology | The word comes from the Italian phrase buonaventura or Latin bonaventure (bonus meaning 'good' and 'ventura' meaning 'fortune' or 'venture'). The horseshoe therefore translates 'bonaventure' into 'good luck'. The griffin is from the Arms of Drake. | |
| Design Notes | A red griffin with statant wings extended all inclined to profile upon a reversed gold horseshoe on a barry wavy field of six white and blue. | |
| Additional Notes | Elizabeth Bonaventure was Drake's flagship in the West Indies and at Cadiz. The badge was originally designed for the Dido Class cruiser of 1939. In the 16th- and early 17th-century sailing, a bonaventure (or bonaventure mizzen) was an extra small mast and sail placed at the very rear of a large ship behind the main mizzenmast. |
|
| Displacement | 10,423 tons later 8,067 tons |
| Length | 487 ft (148 m) |
| Beam | 63 ft (19 m) |
| Draught | 30 ft (9.1 m) |
| Propulsion | 2 x steam triple expansion and exhaust turbine |
| Speed | 16 knots (30 km/h) |
| Armament | 2 x 4 in (102 mm) AA guns |
| 12 x 20 mm (0.79 in) AA guns |
B 11 (I 00) |
|
| Class: | 1903 - 1906: B Class |
| Built By: | Vickers (Barrow) |
| Build Group: | B |
|
Fate: Converted to Surface Patrol Craft and renamed S11 for service on the Otranto Barrage. Bombed and sunk in harbour at Venice in 1918. Sold for scrap in Italy 1919 |
|
When it was first published in 1953, opinions were sharply divided between those who deplored the apparent extolling of a vicious form of warfare, and this who found in Heinz Schaeffer s account a revealing picture of the German Navys training and methods.
U-Boat 977 was the German submarine that escaped to Argentina at the end of World War Two. This epic journey started from Bergen in Norway, where in April 1945 it was temporarily based, and took three and a half months to complete. Because of the continuing Allied naval activity the commander decided to make the first part of the journey underwater.
Before surfacing near the west coast of Africa U-977 had spent a remarkable sixty-six days submerged. Heinz Schaeffer, the commander of U-977 wrote a full account of his career that culminated in this last command. It depicts the gruelling aspects of a submariner s life aboard a vessel that was subjected to harsh conditions of the sea and oceans.
As an experienced commander Schaeffer took part in many of the decisive U-boat operations in the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean. In the final months of the war, and in common with most surviving U-boat commanders, Schaeffer and his crew came under constant attacks from Allied aircraft and surface ships. The final part of U-Boat 977 is Schaeffer s account of the journey to Argentina and lays to rest some of the more fanciful sorties that followed its arrival.
15 pages added or updated in the last 1 months
Please help to maintain this site by reporting any Errors, Broken Links, Information or Site Issues on this page using this button
If you find this site useful, please consider supporting my work with a small Donation.
Please Note: Donations made using this option go directly to the site owner and not to the Submariners Association.
Thankyou for your support.
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