TNA Unclassified 1

Dyrams 314
Blale m. Lieut.Commdr.K.M.Drake,R.N.R., c/o W.Simons & Co., Renfrew.
1325
e. 13th.June 1940
-
85
Vice Admiral, Dover. copy to 0.in O., Nore.
mitted in accordance with Nore General Order 448/40 relative to ration "Dynamo".
On the morning of 27th.May I proceeded from Chatham to Portsmouth
:h draft, to take over Dutch ship "TINY". On arrival at Portsmouth I
3 informed that "TINY" had already been taken over by the C.O. and ships mpany of "JAVA" which had broken down and was then undergoing repair,
1 I was instructed to proceed to Southampton and take command of the tter ship;this I accordingly did on the evening of the same day.
Repair work proceeded as arranged in accordance with F.O.1/c.
uthampton's instructions and main engine trials were held during the renoon of 29th. May; these appeared to be satisfactory.
ring the afternoon of the same day I received instructions to proceed
Dover at the earliest possible moment, the urgency of these instructions king it impossible to carry out the full tests of auxiliary machinery originally planned with a further 24 hours at my disposal.
I left Inner Dock, Southampton at approx.1840/29th.and,after justment of compasses and fuelling at Hamble Jetty, finally sailed for ver at 0400/30th. arriving off that port at 1730 on the same day.
On passage the following defects had appeared:-
Driving belt from main engines to auxiliary machinery broken.
Auxiliary diesel refused to start.
Leaks from air bottles had resulted in starting air supply being reduced to only sufficient air for one certain restart.
Mooring and windlass diesel refused to statt.
Ballast pump out of order.
On arrival off Dover a report was made through the Examination essel to the effect that engineroom repairs were required and I was later nstructed to berth alongside in Submarine Basin. This was done at approx. 2230/30th.
Repair work was started the following day but at 2000 was stopped is all ships were at immediate notice and remaining repairs would require at least 24 hours. At that time the only repairs which had been completed were the renewal of the driving belt and the restarting of the auxiliary
Omant

I grams 89.
Blu/o/197
R.N. Barracks,
134
Portamouth.
6th June 1940.
Vice Admiral Dover, hr Commodine. R.N.B.
TINE
Sir,
I have the honour to submit the following report on the operation carried out by H.M.S. Tiny under my command. The ship was commissioned on Monday May 27th at Southampton and loaded with 350 tons of mixed Army ammunition consisting of mostly cased and 2000 rounds of 6" and an amount of 4.5 howitzer, which the
Authorities at Southampton loaded on the top.
On arriving
285
at Dover I was instructed to proceed to La Panne, dumping overboard the 6" shell and cordite and 4.5 shell on the way over. The majority of this I managed to do.
On arrival at La Panne I was ordered to beach the ship head on one hour before high water, this being the only possible way of disembarking the ammunition. The tide at low water leaving the ship high and dry. I ms able to land during the four hours available approximately 50 tons, which was man-handled by troops above high water level; consisting of 25
pdr. A.A. and Beaufors and a certain amount of smoke shell. We embarked 400 troops. At high water I took the ship off, but owing to lack of compressed air for starting was unable to proceed when once afloat. I was towed for three hours by "Brighton Belle", after which I managed to get my compresser going and re-charged compressed air bottles and started engines and landed the troops at Ramagate.
After proceeding to Sheerness we were instructed to land the 200 tons of ammunition at Stroode, which was loaded into trucks. This was done by the Military.
On completion we proceeded to Tilbury, but four miles from Sheerness, owing to the oil pressure gauge registering a false reading an oil failure occurred and the engine seized up.
I obtained a. tow and paid the ship off in the Surrey Docks, at 6.0.p.m.
on Wednesday June 5th.
On the journey out the ship was attacked three times by a Heinkel Bomber, which dropped four 500 lb. bombs each with approximately five second delay action fuse, the nearest falling 150
yards from the Ship.
Except for a severe shaking, no damage was done to the Hull.
During a machine gun attack by the Heinkel it was observed that a bullet penetrated the steel upper after-deck of the "Tiny".
On the return journey an apparently unstable magnetic mine blew up 100 yards abeam doing no material damage.
THe construction of these vessels must be of a very high and strong standard.
This dead weight heavy cargo loaded high up each side of the hold must have set a severe strain on the frame while the ship was high and dry, but no noticeable damage was done, except for a general vibration when steaming home which was not present on the outward journey.
I would like to pay tribute to my First Lieutenant,
Lieutenant Martin, the Cox'n and Crew, three of whom were Ordinary ino
Seamen, who had never been to sea before and the E.R.A., 5th class, who had only finished his disciplinary training a fortnight previously and had never been in charge of any form of engine.
COMMODORE
R.N.
BARRACK
OF
have the honour to be Sir,
JUN
Your obedient Servant,
8 - JUN 1940
PORTSMOUTH
Nus.Huntin
Limb Cons! RN.