The Winston Specials: Troopships Via the Cape 1940-1943

Must of missed it when i read it! At leadt it confirms the information

 

So as Tomaroa was J4 it suggests that Anselm was J9. This was Booth Line ship SS Anselm (1935) - Official Number 164275. There are several website with information including "Anselm was requisitioned and quickly converted to carry about 500 troops. Her civilian passenger accommodation was assigned for officers; her holds were converted to accommodation for other ranks." There is a useful entry in Anselm (British Troop transport) - Ships hit by German U-boats during WWII - uboat.net - because she was sunk by a U-boat in 1941

 

Archie Munro in his book on Winston Specials states at the start of the chapter on WS5 - "During the course of November 1940 the Ministry of Shipping requisitioned six more liners for sea transport trooping service. These were the Booth Line Anselm from their Amazon service ..... taken to Liverpool for in mid November" and "Anselm and Rangitiki were to be drydocked; all required extensive tween deck fitting to provide troop accommodation." No wonder there were complaints in the record about the accommodation especially cooking facilities.

 

Thanks for this great information much appreciated

 

An updated thread has a 2013 Post 11 relating to WS6 (typed as WS.6) and WS6B & WS6D: Royal Engineers Drilling Water Wells Egypt 1941

 

Gosh ,just found this .My Dad 577 later 573 Field Coy RE, was on WS16 from the Clyde and docked at Durban onward to Suez ,Port Tewfic.( SS Volendam ) He always said they did a wide detour to avoid submarines in the Atlantic .Can anyone verify that ?

 

No suggestion here there was a 'wide detour' for WS16. See: WS (Winston Specials) Convoys in WW2 - 1942 Sailings and WS Convoys

This thread may help from the title: Convoy routes to Mid and Far East

 

My Dad I believe was on ws19p but the charts I have found don't tally with his account. He says they went west and saw the statue of liberty but didn't stop. Then they went south to the coast of Brazil and the first place they stopped was Freetown. This would be a good course to avoid submarines who would mainly be looking for convoys heading east from the USA. Has anyone else got information on this? My Dad wasn't in the habit of making things up and his memoirs are held at the Imperial War Museum. He was in the Queens Regiment which fits with Ws19p too. I noticed that a previous post mentioned wide detours for another WS.

 

There should be a report by the OC Convoy at the TNA Kew. We found a wealth of detail for the one we are interested in.
I've done a partial search see
Folio(s): 207-214. Paper Number: M011399/1942. Convoy: WS 19. Report of Proceedings by... | The National Archives

Looks like the report you need ... There is a WW2Talk thread for help in getting photos of files at TNA

 

. Hi Denise ,I'm glad someone has a similar story that backs up mine. Dad was on WS16 from the Clyde and always said they went across to Brazil to avoid Uboats ( I'm sure he said he saw the statue of Christ on the hill ?) , and down to the South Atlantic and from there to Durban .Thankyou .

 

A big snag with a journey via NYC and Brazil is not recorded by the expert website ConvoyWeb. Both WS19 & WS19P traveled south to Cape Town by the direct route. See: WS Convoys

I quickly looked at six of the list of WS convoys and none diverted across the Atlantic. For context see: WS Convoys

As I understand the WS convoys they had thousands of troops aboard, their speed was fatser than cargo ships and they would have a heavy escort - as German raiders were active in the Atlantic - and other ships in the anti-submarine role. I note WS19P had several US Army transports, whether with US troops aboard is a moot point.

More details on the escort, including a battleship: https://btckstorage.blob.core.windows.net/site15176/WS 19P - Convoy - Clyde to Bombay.pdf

 

As far as WS16 is concerned, it seems clear that it never got anywhere near the Brazilian coast.

The passage to Freetown seems to have followed the normal route (see below). "The Winston Specials" notes that the average speed of WS16 from the Clyde to Freetown was scheduled to be 14 knots but achieved 12.68 knots, having been limited by the speed of the slowest ship. It further notes that on leaving Freetown due to recent U-boat activity in the area - "A wide evasive route was therefore taken out to the westward for the first 24 hours, then a further leg to the south'ard before the convoy turned to the SE for the Cape at 0800 on the 8th." BUT 24 hours at 13 knots = 312 nuatical miles westward before turning south. The most easterly point in Brazil is Recife which is about 1,800 miles south west of Freetown. Rio de Janeiro is even further to the south west. By 1200 on the 10th it was 150 miles NE of Ascension Island. That puts it about mid-way between the South American & African coasts and sailing SE towards the Cape of Good Hope.

So Andy Kemp's father's recollection about a diversion to avoid U-boats would seem correct but the evidence is that it got nowhere near Brazil let alone close enough to Rio to see the Angel. As with everything the definition of "wide" is all relative.

The only WS convoy to be anywhere near North America was WS12X. The story of this convoy was exceptional. The movements it involved began in Britain as convoy CT5 carrying, amongst other units, 18th Infantry Div. It travelled across the Atlantic to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada where the personnel were transferred to 6 US Navy transports on loan from the USN following agreement between FDR & Churchill at the beginning of Sept 1941 (yes this was before Pearl Harbour). The British transports then loaded the Canadian 5th Armoured Div to delivery to Britain. Meanwhile the 6 USN transports with a US Navy escort consisting of the carrier Ranger, 2 cruisers, 8 destroyers and a tanker sailed from Halifax for the Cape of Good Hope as convoy WS12X with its only stop being at Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago in the southern Caribean, thereby bypassing New York altogether.

The normal route for the convoys bound for Freetown (WS and OS) was to sail west from the North West Approaches (between Ireland and Scotland) for a couple of hundred miles before turning SW and then South, then passing through or to the east of the Azores and between the Cape Verde Islands and the African coast to arrive at Freetown in Sierra Leonne in West Africa. That kept them away from the U-boats in the Biscay coast bases. On leaving Freetown the course would normally have been SE heading for the Cape. In the latter part of 1941 U-boat activity was only just beginnning to move southwards into central African waters and the South Atlantic. You can see the losses to U-boats month by month here.
Ship losses by month - uboat.net

As far as the US ships in WS19P were concerned, they had brought troops from the US and disembarked them at Belfast or the Clyde Anchorage before reloading with British personnel & equipment bound for the Middle East. The main unit moved in this convoy was the 44th Infantry Div.

 

Thankyou for the superb info in your reply .Perhaps Dad was correct about the wider route but incorrect about seeing land in the distance .I do remember him saying that he saw the lady in white singing at Durban dockside and the total trip to Port Said /Tewfic was 9 weeks at sea .Great history Thankyou !

 

Hi again got a few more details from war diaries , Grandad was defiantly on WS5 A and i think he might of been on one of these ships HMS Tamara and Anselm, anyone one know if you can confirm units? He was 27 LEE Searchlight

 

Update 306 Bty were on ships designated J4 and J9 i assume they might be the troopshipsTamara and Anselm. However still not sire what ship my Grandad was on

 

The minutes for the DO (40) 52nd meeting suggest the damage was more extensive and provide some further details including the exploration of the possible use of some of the personnel as part of an improvised ‘trojan horse’ action.


https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C386980

 

My father was on WS19P too. Which regiment was your grandfather in? Dad went on to fight in North Africa and Italy.

 

Denise,

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