Jump to content

Action of 27 February 1941

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Action of 27 February 1941
Part of the Indian Ocean theatre of theSecond World War

Maldive Islands (orthographic projection)
Date27 February 1941
Location
offMaldives,Indian Ocean
1°0′N68°30′E/ 1.000°N 68.500°E/1.000; 68.500
Result New Zealand victory
Belligerents
New Zealand Italy
Commanders and leaders
Robert Bevan Alfredo Bonezzi
Strength
Light cruiserLeander Auxiliary cruiserRamb I
Casualties and losses
Leanderslightly damaged Ramb Isunk
c. 150killed
100 captured
of whom: 4 wounded
(1 died of wounds)

TheAction of 27 February 1941was asingle ship actionbetween the BritishcruiserHMSLeanderand the Italian shipRamb I,anauxiliary cruiser.It began whenLeanderordered an un-flagged freighter to stop for an inspection. The freighter raised the Italian colours and engagedLeanderwhich sankRambI shortly after. About 150 members of the crew were killed and 100 were rescued and taken toAddu Atoll,thence toCeylon(now Sri Lanka).Leanderpatrolled southwards to investigate more reports of commerce raiders.

Background[edit]

East African Campaign[edit]

Main article:East African Campaign

In January 1941, British forces simultaneously advanced fromSudanandKenyaintoEritrea,AbyssiniaandItalian Somaliland,as the navy blockaded and bombarded Italian harbours. The port ofKismayuin Italian Somaliland was occupied on 14 February and sixteen Italian and German ships there were sunk or captured, except for one vessel.MerkaandMogadishuwere occupied on 25 February and several hundred Allied merchant sailors were liberated. As Allied forces closed onMassawa,the ItalianRed Sea Flotillawas ordered to break out and run for friendly ports. A group of Italian vessels consisting of the colonial shipEritreaand the auxiliary cruisersRamb I(Lieutenant commanderAlfredo Bonezzi) andRamb IIattempted to operate as commerce raiders while en route to Japan.[1]The Italian squadron managed to evade the British blockade on 20 February and scattered into the Indian Ocean,RambI heading for theDutch East Indies.[2]

HMSLeander[edit]

HMSLeanderwas the leader of theLeanderclassof light cruisers, armed with eight 6 in (150 mm) guns, ten4 in (100 mm) guns,twelve.50 in (12.7 mm) Vickers machine gunsin quadruple mounts and eight 21 in (530 mm)torpedo tubes.Leanderhad armour plating over her turrets, deck and magazines and a top speed of 32.5kn(60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph).[3]

RambI[edit]

Main article:Italian auxiliary cruiser Ramb I
Location map ofItalian Somaliland,1940

Ramb1 (3,667gross register tons[GRT]), was 383 ft (117 m) long, 47 ft 11 in (14.61 m) wide at the beam, had a speed of 17 kn (31 km/h; 20 mph) and was a refrigerated merchant ship (reefer) built for theRegia Azienda Monopolio delle Banane(RAMB, the Royal Banana Monopoly Company) in 1933, adapted for naval service as anarmed merchant cruiser.[4]RambI was armed with two 120 mm (4.7 in) guns and eight 13.2 mm (0.52 in)anti-aircraft machine guns.[5]RambI was much slower thanLeander,with a maximum speed of 18.5 kn (34.3 km/h; 21.3 mph). The ship had departed Suez on 10 June 1940 forMassawaon theRed Seacoast, from where the ship made short cruises along the coast of Eritrea but was mainly used for anti-aircraft defence of the port. As British and Commonwealth and Imperial troops neared the port,RambI andCoburg(7,400 GRT), a German freighter, escaped from Massawa on the night of 20/21 February 1941 and passed into theGulf of Aden.One ship was sighted near the island ofSocotraoff the Horn of Africa but it was considered too dangerous a location to attack.[6]

Prelude[edit]

HMSLeander

Acting on reports ofcommerce raidersin the area,Leanderdetached from Convoy US 9 off Bombay on 22 February.[7]Passing west of theLaccadiveandMaldiveislands, to a patrol area west ofHuvadhu Kandu(One and a Half Degree Channel). At7:00 a.m.on 27 February,Leanderwas steaming east, about 28 nmi (52 km; 32 mi) north of the Equator and 320 nmi (590 km; 370 mi) west of the Maldives (01° N, 68° 30′ E).[8]CaptainRobert Bevan,altered course to the north to head for One and a Half Degree Channel, because news of the capture ofMogadishuinItalian Somaliland(now Somalia) had been received by radio on the previous day. Italian ships in the port might have sailed along that route for the Far East.[2]

Action[edit]

At10:37 a.m.,a ship was sighted ahead andLeanderincreased speed to 23 kn (43 km/h; 26 mph), gradually overhauling the vessel. AsLeanderclosed, a gun was seen on the ship's forecastle and the silhouette of the ship resembled an ItalianRamb-class fruit carrier. Leander went to action stations at11:15 a.m.and when ordered to identify themselves ten minutes later, the crew of the vessel hoisted a British merchant flag. When ordered to give its signal letters, the crew hoisted four letters which were not listed in British signal books.Leandermade thesecret challengebut received no reply and the ship maintained its course and speed. A boarding party stood by and at11:45 a.m.,the ship was ordered to stop instantly but no reply was received. A few minutes later, the ship hoisted the Italian merchant flag and trained its guns onLeander.The cruiser was broad on the beam of the Italian ship and at 3,000 yd (1.5 nmi; 1.7 mi; 2.7 km) was an easy target for its guns and torpedoes. At11:53 a.m.,the Italian ship opened fire and thirty seconds later,Leanderreplied. The Italian fire was inaccurate and it was estimated that only about three shells were fired from each gun.[9]

RambI sinking, February 1941

A few shell splinters hitLeander,which fired five salvoes in a minute, then ceased fire to observe results.Leandermade the flag signal "Do you surrender?", the Merchant flag was seen to be lowered and the crew began to abandon ship.Leanderhad hit the ship several times in the forepart and a fire burned, visible through a large hole in the side. A boat was lowered fromLeanderwith a boarding party to try to save the ship and two lifeboats were seen leaving the vessel as other men jumped overboard or scrambled down the side. An Italian officer in the water called out that the boarding party should not approach the ship, as it was burning and laden with ammunition. The boarding party laid off and as the fire spread, a big explosion before the bridge shot flames and smoke high into the sky, the ship settling bows first. As the fire burned, there was another explosion and five minutes later the ship sank under a cloud of black smoke.Leanderrecovered the boarding party and the Italian lifeboats, while edging away.[9]

Aftermath[edit]

Location of the Seychelles (Madagascar to the south, Africa to the west)

About a hundred and fifty Italians were killed in the engagement and a hundred men survived, of whom one man was seriously wounded and four were slightly injured.[10][a]The seriously wounded man died in surgery during the afternoon and was buried at sunset. The prisoners said thatRambI had been badly damaged by the shell hits and asLeanderclosed, the order to abandon ship had been given.Leanderproceeded eastwards and arrived atAddu Atollthe next morning. The Italian prisoners were transferred to the oilerPearleafwith an armed guard of nineteen ratings and an officer; the ship made forColombo,Ceylon(now Sri Lanka).Leanderwas sent to investigate indications from wireless direction-finding that Axis ships were in the vicinity of theSaya de Malha Bank,several hundred miles south-east of theSeychellesIslands and north-east ofMadagascar.[12]MVCoburg(7,400 GRT) with a prize,Ketty Brøvig(7,031 GRT), a Norwegian tanker, which had been captured by thecommerce raiderAtlantison 2 February 1941, were discovered.[13]The ships were spotted south-east of the Seychelles by aWalrusreconnaissance aircraft fromHMASCanberra.The ships were scuttled on 4 March 1941 at 04° 50′ S; 56° 00′ E, whenCanberraandLeanderapproached them.[14]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^In 2006, Roger Jordan recordedc. 150men killed, which has been preferred as a later source.[11]

Footnotes[edit]

  1. ^Jackson 2006,p. 281.
  2. ^abWaters 1956,p. 96.
  3. ^Campbell 1985,p. 34;Lenton & Colledge 1968,p. 39.
  4. ^Jordan 2006,p. 243.
  5. ^Roskill 1957,p. 605.
  6. ^Waters 1956,p. 98;Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992,p. 51.
  7. ^Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992,p. 51.
  8. ^Jordan 2006,p. 535.
  9. ^abWaters 1956,p. 97.
  10. ^Jordan 2006,p. 535;Waters 1956,p. 98;Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992,p. 51.
  11. ^Jordan 2006,p. 532.
  12. ^Waters 1956,p. 98.
  13. ^Jordan 2006,pp. 75, 468, 300, 561.
  14. ^Jordan 2006,p. 568;Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992,p. 51.

References[edit]

  • Campbell, J. (1985).Naval Weapons of World War Two.Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press.ISBN978-0-87021-459-2.
  • Jackson, A. (2006).The British Empire and the Second World War.New York: Continuum International.ISBN978-1-85285-417-1.
  • Jordan, Roger W. (2006) [1999].The World's Merchant Fleets 1939: The Particulars and Wartime Fates of 6,000 Ships(2nd ed.). London: Chatham/Lionel Leventhal.ISBN978-1-86176-293-1.
  • Lenton, H.T.; Colledge, J. J. (1968) [1964].British and Dominion Warships of World War Two(orig. pub. Warships of World War II ed.). Garden City, NY: Doubleday.OCLC440734.
  • Rohwer, Jürgen; Hümmelchen, Gerhard (1992) [1972].Chronology of the War at Sea, 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two(2nd rev. ed.). Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press.ISBN978-1-55750-105-9.
  • Roskill, S. W.(1957) [1954].Butler, J. R. M.(ed.).The Defensive.History of the Second World War United Kingdom Military Series: The War at Sea 1939–1945. Vol. I (4th impr. ed.). London: HMSO.OCLC881709135.
  • Waters, S. D. (1956).The Royal New Zealand Navy.Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–45 (online ed.). Wellington, NZ: War History Branch, Dept. of Internal Affairs.OCLC11085179.Retrieved23 February2016– via New Zealand Electronic Text Centre.

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Action_of_27_February_1941&oldid=1229272011"