TNA ADM 199 792

Collection details

TNA ADM 199 792

Admiralty records concerning Operation Dynamo and the evacuation of troops from Dunkirk, covering 1940–1941.

Holding archive: TNA
Collection reference: ADM 199 792

View the archive catalogue entry ↗

Source: The National Archives, Kew, ADM 199/792. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

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Page	Image	OCR text	OCR tags
450	Log in to enlarge	CONFIDENTIAL NL phone: CENTRAL 8700. 90 NAVAL OFFICES, grams: "NAVYCHARGE," GLASGOW. ST. ENOCH HOTEL, GLASGOW, C.I. No. 23/22 A.B./40. 11166 17th September 1940. 1940 MILITERY REPORT OF ENQUIRY INTO THE LOSS OF H.M. TRAWLER "WESTELLA" IN OPERATION "DYNAMO ADMIRALTY 22SEP 1940 Sir, With reference to Admiralty Letter L.6245/40 dated 1st August, 1940, be pleased to lay before Their Lordships the following report resulting from an Enquiry into the loss of H.M.A/S Trawler WESTELLA on 2nd June, 1940. 2. Chief Skipper A. Gove, R.N.R. who was in command of WESTELLA was examined on 13th September, 1940. 3. At about 1600 on 2nd June when patrolling in the vicinity of "I" buoy in company with BLACKBURN ROVERS the latter was blown up by a mine or torpedo, and sank instantly. WESTELLA went full speed ahead towards the position where BLACKBURN ROVERS had sunk. As she neared the position explosions from BLACKBURN ROVERS' depth charges shook and lifted the ship out of the water and put her asdic installation and pumps out of action. 4. Shortly afterwards whilst "WESTELLA" was in about the same position a heavy explosion underneath the ship's port bow opened up the bow and blew in the foremost bulkhead. Cables fell through the bottom and the gun platform on the forecastle deck was bent upwards about 2 feet. She was flooded to the engine room fore bulkhead and took a heavy list to port. About 10 minutes later, Depth Charges having been set to 'Safe', the sinking ship was abandoned survivors being taken onboard GRIMSBY TOWN. 5. As WESTELLA was a danger to navigation GRIMSBY TOWN was ordered by SAON to sink her. Chief Skipper Gove states that he understands that this was done. 6. The ship was probably sunk in about 12/15 fathoms. Except for a few books which were loose, and in use, the Confidential Books and Secret Publications went down with the ship in a weighted perforated bag. 7. Asdic installation was not destroyed before ship was abandoned, but may have been badly damaged by gunfire which sank the ship. 8. It has not been possible to establish definitely what caused the explosion, but all the evidence available points to the probability of it being due to a moored wire. mine D 9. In the circumstances in which this Trawler was lost no useful information was elicited as to the behaviour of material. 10. I was assisted in my Enquiry by Lieutenant Commander S.J. Hunt, R.N. and Commissioned Engineer G.W. Feast, R.N. I am, Sir, Your obedient Servant, aisedford VICE-ADMIRAL The Secretary of the Admiralty, Whitehall, London, S.W. 1.	Grimsby Town London Saon Few Gove Hunt Loose May

Raw OCR

Unformatted machine-generated OCR for document page 450.

CONFIDENTIAL
NL
phone: CENTRAL 8700.
90
NAVAL OFFICES,
grams: "NAVYCHARGE," GLASGOW.
ST. ENOCH HOTEL,
GLASGOW, C.I.
No. 23/22 A.B./40.
11166
17th September
1940.
1940
MILITERY
REPORT OF ENQUIRY INTO THE LOSS OF H.M.
TRAWLER "WESTELLA" IN OPERATION "DYNAMO
ADMIRALTY 22SEP 1940
Sir,
With reference to Admiralty Letter L.6245/40 dated 1st August, 1940, be
pleased to lay before Their Lordships the following report resulting from
an Enquiry into the loss of H.M.A/S Trawler WESTELLA on 2nd June, 1940.
2. Chief Skipper A. Gove, R.N.R. who was in command of WESTELLA was examined
on 13th September, 1940.
3. At about 1600 on 2nd June when patrolling in the vicinity of "I" buoy in
company with BLACKBURN ROVERS the latter was blown up by a mine or torpedo, and
sank instantly. WESTELLA went full speed ahead towards the position where
BLACKBURN ROVERS had sunk. As she neared the position explosions from BLACKBURN
ROVERS' depth charges shook and lifted the ship out of the water and put her
asdic installation and pumps out of action.
4. Shortly afterwards whilst "WESTELLA" was in about the same position a
heavy explosion underneath the ship's port bow opened up the bow and blew
in the foremost bulkhead. Cables fell through the bottom and the gun platform
on the forecastle deck was bent upwards about 2 feet. She was flooded to the
engine room fore bulkhead and took a heavy list to port. About 10 minutes
later, Depth Charges having been set to 'Safe', the sinking ship was abandoned
survivors being taken onboard GRIMSBY TOWN.
5. As WESTELLA was a danger to navigation GRIMSBY TOWN was ordered by SAON to
sink her. Chief Skipper Gove states that he understands that this was done.
6. The ship was probably sunk in about 12/15 fathoms. Except for a few books
which were loose, and in use, the Confidential Books and Secret Publications
went down with the ship in a weighted perforated bag.
7. Asdic installation was not destroyed before ship was abandoned, but may have
been badly damaged by gunfire which sank the ship.
8. It has not been possible to establish definitely what caused the explosion,
but all the evidence available points to the probability of it being due to a
moored wire. mine D
9. In the circumstances in which this Trawler was lost no useful information
was elicited as to the behaviour of material.
10. I was assisted in my Enquiry by Lieutenant Commander S.J. Hunt, R.N. and
Commissioned Engineer G.W. Feast, R.N.
I am, Sir,
Your obedient Servant,
aisedford
VICE-ADMIRAL
The Secretary of the Admiralty,
Whitehall,
London, S.W. 1.