大象传媒

This story appears courtesy of and with thanks to Mike Kemble and Captain Frederick Walker

At 1126 the hunters rejoined the convoy finding no trace of the U-boats. The other U-boats were closing in and Walker decided to turn the convoy east and put the convoy out of reach of submerged U-boats, if they wanted to attack during the night they would have to run on the surface. Unfortunately the merchantmen did not understand and as Deptford staged a mock battle every merchant ship fired off snowflakes. At 2033 the Norwegian Annavore was torpedoed. Audacity, as normal, was zigzagging outside of the convoy without an escort, as Walker had only Stork and four escorts left and Stork had no Asdic. U-571 was shadowing on the surface and put three torpedoes into her. She listed to port and went down in ten minutes at 2210. Her commanding officer, eight officers and 63 of her complement of 400 were lost, and Pentstemon saved most survivors. Marigold chased down a U-boat on the convoy's port side, while Samphire and Deptford chased another on the starboard. During this battle, U-567 was sunk. Her commander, Lieutenant-Commander Endrass, was one of Germany's best and most experienced U-boat commanders. In her rush to get back to the convoy, Deptford ran into Stork's side and five German prisoners were killed in the collision. Deptford lost a six-foot square of plating about four feet above the waterline on the ship's bow.
The following night the convoy changed course three times, covered by a fake battle, and the first Liberator had been sighted earlier that day. The night passed quietly and HG.76 made port on 23rd December 1941. It was during the passage of this convoy that the foundation stone of the Captain's far-seeing concepts for the destruction of enemy submarines was laid. His ideas were soon to prove themselves. His tactics still form the principles of basic training in anti-submarine operations today. The nucleus of his determination to "seek out and destroy an enemy lurking below" was undoubtedly formed during the passage of HG. 76.
Once at sea, Walker quietly but firmly clamped down with an iron hand. He made it clear that the task of the group was to destroy U Boats and that all they did from then onwards was directed to this end. The first paragraph of his Orders read:
Second Support Group Operating Instructions (SG2)
Object
"The Object of the Second Escort Group is to destroy U Boats, particularly those which menace our convoys"
This being a significant difference between those and the standard orders of an escort group which was "the safe and timely arrival of the convoy".
Another abstract from Walker's Operating Instructions read:
"Our object is to kill, and all officers must fully develop the spirit of vicious offensive. No matter how many convoys we may shepherd through in safety, we shall have failed unless we slaughter U Boats. All energies must be bent to this end."
A typical Walker classic was the sinking of U-252, destroyed jointly by STORK and VETCH with the sending of a total of 8 signals, embracing 25 words.
Commander Walker went off for a few days' leave and learnt he had been awarded a DSO. After a short week at home, he presented his report of Proceedings at the Admiralty and to make his recommendations to the C-in-C Western Approaches, the Director of Anti-Submarine Warfare, Captain George Creasy and other senior officers. By 10th January, he returned to sea in temporary command of HMS Pelican to guard the Gibraltar convoys. He returned to Stork after she had been repaired and continued with the 36th Escort Group and during the escorting of HG.82 had his first experience of radar, coming away with mixed views, as the Type 271 proving accurate on HMS Vetch and the Type 286P, in the hands of Stork, was virtually useless. On 30th June 1942, Walker was promoted to Captain.
At least 3, and possibly 4 more U-Boats were sunk by the 36th Escort Group before the Captain left STORK to take an appointment as Captain (D) Liverpool. Operating from Derby House. Whilst there he persistently badgered the Admiralty for a sea-going appointment, and in February 1943, he was given command of HMS STARLING, then being built in Glasgow. this at a time when the Allied need for escorts far outstripped the availability. The need in March 1942 was for 1,315 escorts; at the time less than half, 505, were available. To add to the woes of the Allies, from the beginning of 1942 D枚enitz had been able to read the Allied Naval Cipher No 3 and Bletchley Park was experiencing problems with the Shark Enigma signals. Allied merchant fleet losses were appalling. The need now switched from lack of ships, aircraft and weapons to the need for new tactics, training and manning at all levels. American-built escorts would soon start to arrive in great numbers and the tactics for these new support groups would need to be completed and revised. In February 1943, HMS Starling was launched from Fairfield in Glasgow. When HMS Starling was due for commissioning, Captain Walker requested Admiralty that as many as possible of his former ship's company should be the nucleus of his new command. Although a large number of STORK personnel had been sent to other ships, almost half did in fact join Starling. After she was launched and carried out her gunnery and anti-submarine trials she was ordered to Londonderry to have the 291-radar set removed and the latest HF/DF gear fitted. This last-minute modification gave Walker the opportunity to avoid the training at Tobermory and train his own crew.
Of the 21 million tons of Allied shipping lost during World War 2, 15 million tons were sunk by U-boats. The Allies retaliated by sinking 781 U-boats, which resulted in a loss of nearly 30,000 of the 40,000 Kriegsmarine personnel serving in U-boats. There was nothing accidental about this victory at sea. It was the direct result of a relentless pursuit of the enemy by the little ships, largely inspired by the brilliant exploits of one man, Captain Johnny Walker of the Royal Navy. Today, Walker is officially recognised as the man who did more to free the Atlantic of the U boat menace than any other single officer. In 1941, Great Britain and Canada maintained 400 assorted escort ships along the Atlantic convoy routes, but the rate of U-boat sinking remained dismally low, approximately two per month. Then Johnnie Walker took command of an escort group of nine ships, two sloops and seven corvettes. These were major victories won without loss and by the use of unorthodox methods.
Since the outset of the war, it had been generally accepted that escorts would stay close to their charges to ward off U-boat attacks. Walker, then holding the rank of commander, had achieved his successes by ignoring this principle and hunting his victims well away from their quarry. He sank 2 U-boats 40 miles away from the convoy he was protecting. In high places at the Admiralty there were powerful forces at work seeking to brand Walker as a lucky heretic. Only his success and the unqualified backing of Admiral Sir Max Horton, the C in C of Western Approaches, prevented Walker from being posted ashore. While Admiral Horton was in a favourable mood, Walker persuaded him to try a revolutionary theory: Six modern, fast, specially equipped sloops, freed from the fetters of convoy duty, should be given a roving commission to hunt down U-boats in their most vulnerable grounds, the Bay of Biscay, which they crossed when beginning or completing their patrols, and far out in the Atlantic where they surfaced with immunity because the sky was clear of aircraft. In the spring of 1942, Walker took command of the Second Support Group, the first of the new striking forces. From the bridge of Starling, his own sloop, he drilled Wild Goose, Cygnet, Wren, Woodpecker and Kite until they became a team, swinging into action with few orders and no mistakes. The first few weeks were uneventful and gave the crews time to work up, before spending a few days in Iceland prior to leaving on 21st May.
In June, Walker found an opponent worthy of his guile, Kapit盲nleutnant Gunter Poser, commanding officer of U-202. This U-boat was returning home after a special mission in which it had landed five Nazi agents in the United States on Long Island's Amagansett Beach. (These agents were all captured and executed) (See footnote at base of this page). It was U-202's ninth operational trip of the war, and 27-year-old Poser was a quick-witted, capable captain. U-202 transmitted a long signal while surfaced and the Group homed in on her position in line abreast. On June 13, Poser's officer of the watch sighted mastheads through the periscope and called him to the control room. Poser took over the eyepieces and immediately he thought them as destroyers. He ordered diving stations and within seconds U-202 was down to 500 feet.
The captain turned to the asdic officer and announced his intention to attack. Starling surged forward. The "ping" of the sonar beam echoing from the hull of U-202 coming faster as the range shortened. Then came the order to fire depth charges. Tons of high explosives rolled from the stern rails and shot from throwers on either side of the quarterdeck. Ten charges dropped through the water toward the enemy. For a few seconds there was silence. Then miles of ocean and the waiting sloops quivered as the blasting charges exploded. Huge columns of water boiled to the surface and sprayed up into vast fountains astern of Starling. The great cascades subsided; but of the U Boat there was no sign. Walker settled down to the waiting game. The enemy was proving tough to hold and hard to find.
During exercises, Walker had evolved a form of attack known as Operation Plaster. It called for three sloops steaming in line abreast to roll depth charges off their sterns. Now he ordered Wild Goose and Kite to join Starling, and the three sloops steamed forward dropping a continuous stream of charges, the naval equivalent of an artillery barrage before an infantry attack. The sea heaved and shook under the impact of the explosions. Twisting and turning and always leaving a trail of charges, the ships plastered the area. In three minutes, 86 depth charges had rocked and shaken the attackers almost as much as it had U-202. The U Boat settled deeper and deeper, the control room crew watched the depth gauge. Down to 700. Much more and the submarine would crack under the tremendous pressure. 750. Poser's eyes would have been fixed on the controls, and his mind listening to the creaks and groans reverberating from the straining hull. 800, the engineer officer's will have warned. 850. Poser snapped out his commands: "Level off and keep her trimmed at 800 feet. Steer due north, 3 knots." Far above, Walker was talking to his officers: "No doubt about it. She's gone deeper than I thought possible, and our depth-charge primers won't explode below 600 feet. Very maddening indeed." He grinned and continued: "Well, long wait ahead. Let's have some sandwiches sent up. We will sit it out. I estimate this chap will surface at midnight. Either his air or batteries will give out by then." It was shortly after noon on June 13. By 8 p.m. Poser had taken several evasive turns without result. He could not shake off his tormentors. At two minutes after midnight his air gave out. He ordered reluctantly, "Take her to the surface." Without any audible warning, U-202 rose fast through the water to surface with bows high in the air. Her crew leaped through the conning tower hatch to man her guns, and Poser shouted for full speed in the hope of outrunning the hunters. On Starling's bridge, the tiny silver conning tower was visible in the moonlight. "Star shell...commence," ordered Walker. One turret bathed the heavens with light. Then came a flashing crash of the first broadside from all six sloops laying a barrage of shells around the target. A dull red glow leaped from behind the conning tower of the U-boat. A dimmed lamp blinked from Starling, and firing ceased while Walker increased speed to ram. Then he saw the jagged stump of the conning tower ablaze and shouted in triumph. U-202 was obviously too damaged to escape. He ran alongside, raking her decks with machine-gun fire and firing a shallow pattern of depth charges that straddled the submarine, enveloping her in smoke and spray. Poser clutched the hot periscope column, drew his revolver and shouted a last order: "Abandon ship! Abandon ship!" The cry was taken up and passed through the U-boat. Poser turned to say goodbye to his officers. Rather than be captured, he was taking his own life. At 12:30 a.m. the battle was over - 16 hours after it had begun.

Continued.....
'This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by 大象传媒 Radio Merseyside鈥檚 People鈥檚 War team on behalf of the author and has been added to the site with his / her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.'

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.