HMS
Penelope
( HMS 'Pepperpot' ) - Light Cruiser
Taken March 23rd 1942, Malta.
Based in Malta from 21st October 1941 along with her
sister ship Aurora.
The ship name Penelope was no stranger to Malta as a predecessor sailed with
Alexander Ball's blockading force against Napolean's garrison in 1799
| 12th October 1941 | Left Scapa Flow & arrived Malta 21st October to become part of Force 'K'. |
| 8th November |
Left Malta with another cruiser (Aurora)
& 2 (Lance & Lively)
destroyers to intercept Italian convoy (codename Beta) comprising 6
destroyers & 7 merchant ships bound for Libya. Engaged the enemy
ships on the 9th off Cape Spartivento resulting in the sinking of all
merchant ships & the Italian destroyer Fulmine
(which attacked & was sunk by Lance
& Penelope). |
| 23rd November | Left Malta with Force 'K' to intercept Italian convoy. On the 24th the Force sank 2 merchant ships west of Crete. |
| 1st December | Force 'K' sank more ships - MV Adriatico (merchant), Alvise da Mosto (destroyer) & Iridio Mantovani (tanker). |
| 19th December | Struck a mine off Tripoli. Neptune & Kandahar were sunk by mines at this time. Penelope returned to Malta drydock. |
| 5th January 1942 | Left Malta with Force 'K' escorting Glengyle to Alexandria. Returned on the 27th escorting Breconshire. |
| 26th March | Holed in Grand Harbour forward & aft by bombs which near missed. |
| 31st March | Lying in French Creek. At 2000 hrs 40 bombers attacked the harbour. 3 x 2,000 pound bombs fell in the creek but the ship was undamaged. |
| April | In Grand Harbour drydock.
Repeatedly near missed during bombing raids. Suffered many bomb splinters
through the hull which were filled with many wooden pegs. More holes than
a pepperpot. Almost 1,000 bombers concentrated attacks in the harbour at this time with ships as the main target. Over a period of 2 weeks she fired some 6,500 rounds from her 4" twin anti aircraft guns. Axis losses were 3 bombers destroyed & 5 listed as damaged. |
| 8th April | Left Malta for Gibraltar & arrived on the 10th. |
| 10th May | Left Gibraltar for the USA for repairs. |
| 2nd December | Arrived Scapa Flow from the USA where she remained in home waters until the middle of January 1943. |
| 17th January 1943 | Left the Clyde for Gibraltar arriving on the 22nd. She joined the 12th Cruiser Squadron for follow up work to Operation Torch (the allied landings in North Africa). |
| 1st June | Carried out a bombardment of the island of Pantelleria with Paladin & Petard. During enemy gunfire Penelope was hit once with little damage. A further bombardment followed on the 8th with Newfoundland & other ships. |
| 10th June | A force left Malta for Operation Corkscrew - the taking of Pantelleria. This island fell on the 11th. |
| 11th June | Penelope took part in the capture of another Italian island - Lampedusa which fell on the 12th. |
| 10th July | Penelope with Aurora & 2 destroyers carried out a bombardment of Catania as a diversion for Operation Husky. Moved to Taormina to bombard the railway station. |
| 11th July | As part of Force 'H' covered the northern area during the Sicilian landings. During July & August carried out bombardments during the campaign to take Sicily. |
| 9th September | Took part (in Force 'Q') in the Salerno landings in bombardment actions. |
| 22nd January 1944 | Took part in the landings at Anzio. |
| 18th February 1944 | Torpedoed in the after
engine room on the en route to Anzio from Naples by the German submarine
U 410. Another torpedo 16 minutes later struck in the after boiler room causing the ship to sink. This was an unusual attack by U 410 as the ship was travelling at 26 knots. Some 415 men including the captain went down with the ship but 206 survived. |
|
HMS 'Pepperpot'. |
Penelope entering Grand Harbour, Malta. |
References
| http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Duisburg_Convoy | Wiki-Pedia. Duisburg Convoy. |