HMS Ferret (shore establishment 1940)

Last updated

Ships at HMS Ferret.jpg
Three sailors view numerous destroyers of the escort group B7, which are moored alongside each other after returning home to Londonderry, Northern Ireland from a patrol in the north Atlantic. Identifiable vessels include HMS Versatile, HMIS Godavari, HMS Vanessa, HMS Vidette and HMS Rochester.
History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
NameHMS Ferret
Commissioned9 December 1940
Decommissioned21 June 1947
FateDecommissioned, re-established as HMS Sea Eagle
General characteristics
Class and type Stone frigate

HMS Ferret was a shore establishment and naval base of the Royal Navy during the Second World War, located in Derry. It was given a ship's name as a stone frigate .

Contents

History

With the outbreak of the Second World War and the start of the Battle of the Atlantic, the Admiralty decided to develop a large new naval base in Northern Ireland to serve as a base for convoy escorts, providing repair and refuelling facilities. [1] Derry was selected as a prime location due to Londonderry Port being the UK's most westerly port it provided the fastest access into the Atlantic. Royal Navy warships could then quickly come to the aid of convoys under attack by German U-boats, and help to escort the convoys in and out of British ports. [1]

Part of Ebrington Barracks was handed over to the Royal Navy in mid-1941. The entire barracks came under Admiralty command in 1943 as RN Barracks Ebrington, part of the Londonderry shore base known as HMS Ferret. [2] The old North of Ireland shipyard at Pennyburn was also taken over to be used as a ship repair facility, manned by workers from the Harland and Wolff yard at Belfast. [3] Ships based at Ferret were under the operational control of Western Approaches Command, located in Plymouth for the early part of the war. The main headquarters for the Western Approaches Command was moved to Liverpool in February 1941 as the North Western Approaches became the most vital area of convoy activity. [4] Ferret was then the backup for the Liverpool headquarters, with the other main bases in the area being at Greenock, and later at Belfast. [1] The organisational function of Ferret was to form Escort Groups of the warships based there, mostly small destroyers, frigates, corvettes and armed trawlers. [1] From 1 February 1941 these craft had a separate accounting system from the main base. By 1942 this system had been extended to handle the accounts of Royal Navy ships at St John's and Argentia naval bases in Newfoundland. A Coastal Forces base was established in April 1941, under the name HMS Ferret II. [2]

American presence

The Destroyers for Bases Agreement was finalised between Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt in September 1940, and fifty ageing American destroyers were transferred to the Royal Navy as the Townclass, in return for bases across the empire. [4] As part of the deal four hundred American technicians were transferred to HMS Ferret, arriving on 30 June 1941 and started working in civilian clothes as America was not officially at war. [4] The American personnel later moved out of Ferret and into camps constructed in the area, and on 5 February 1942 a US base was officially established. [2] US Marines also arrived, and were used to guard the camps and the main base, as well as outlying ammunition dumps. In November 1942 Eleanor Roosevelt visited the base, accompanied by Lady Montgomery, the mother of Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. [4]

Later developments

By 1942 Beech Hill Camp had been commissioned as HMS Ferret III, and the base had become an important centre for anti-submarine training. [2] British and other allied submarines were sometimes used to simulate real conditions. New technological developments were also worked on to improve anti-U-boat measures. One of the innovations developed here was the Squid Mortar. [4] The base became an important centre to train new crews, and refit ships transferred from America with the more effective British developments. [4] Some buildings were set aside to train crews in how to handle objects on deck, one building had a full cross-section of a destroyer's deck built inside it. [4]

Surrender of the U-boats

A mass of surrendered German U-boats at their mooring at Lisahally, Northern Ireland. There are nine Type XXIs (1,600 tons carrying 23 torpedoes), four Type IXs (500 tons) and thirty-nine of the Type VIIs (also 500 tons), a total of fifty-two U-boats. HMS Ferret surrendered Uboats.jpg
A mass of surrendered German U-boats at their mooring at Lisahally, Northern Ireland. There are nine Type XXIs (1,600 tons carrying 23 torpedoes), four Type IXs (500 tons) and thirty-nine of the Type VIIs (also 500 tons), a total of fifty-two U-boats.

After the end of the war, large numbers of captured German U-boats were surrendered to British forces on the Scottish and Irish coasts and were brought to Lisahally. [4] The American base had been transferred to the Royal Navy on 31 October 1944 and then closed on 2 September 1944. [2] The site was commissioned in May 1945 as HMS Ferret IV specifically for the internment. Eventually nearly sixty U-boats were brought in to Ferret IV. [4] After a period of study and other trials, many were sunk off Lisahally and Loch Ryan during late 1945 and 1946 in Operation Deadlight. After this had been completed, Ferret IV was paid off to care and maintenance on 19 July 1946. [2]

Postwar

Eventually over twenty thousand allied troops and sailors had passed through Ferret, and the base had been home to over two hundred ships of the Royal Navy, US Navy and the Royal Canadian Navy, as well as ships from the Free French and Free Dutch naval forces and some ships of the Royal Indian Marine. There was a debate over the future of the base, but the Admiralty decided to retain the property but to convert it into a proper school for anti-submarine warfare training. There had been plans to commission the establishment under the name HMS Phoenix, but this was changed in preference to HMS Sea Eagle. Ferret was paid off on 21 July 1947, and HMS Sea Eagle commissioned that same day. [2]

Assessment

Professor J. W. Blake, in his 1956 book Northern Ireland and the Second World War summarised the importance of the work of HMS Ferret:

"Londonderry held the key to victory in the Atlantic. It became our most westerly base for the repair, the working up and refuelling of destroyers, corvettes and frigates. By that critical Spring (1943) when battle for the security of our Atlantic lifelines finally turned our way, Londonderry was the most important escort base in the north-western approaches."

Related Research Articles

Battle of the Atlantic Attempt by Germany during World War II to cut supply lines to Britain

The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allied naval blockade of Germany, announced the day after the declaration of war, and Germany's subsequent counter-blockade. The campaign peaked from mid-1940 through to the end of 1943.

HMS <i>Egret</i> (L75) Lead ship of Egret-class sloop-of-war

HMS Egret was a sloop of the British Royal Navy, the lead ship of her class. She was built by J. Samuel White at Cowes, Isle of Wight, was launched on 31 May 1938, and entered service on 11 November that year. Egret served as a convoy escort with the Western Approaches Command from 1940 until her loss in August 1943: She was on anti-submarine patrol in the Bay of Biscay when she was sunk by a guided missile in combat, the first ship to be lost in this manner.

Flower-class corvette World War II British corvette class

The Flower-class corvette was a British class of 294 corvettes used during World War II, specifically with the Allied navies as anti-submarine convoy escorts during the Battle of the Atlantic. Royal Navy ships of this class were named after flowers, hence the name of the class.

USS <i>Twiggs</i> (DD-127)

The first USS Twiggs (DD–127) was a Wickes-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War I. She was named for Major Levi Twiggs. She was later transferred to the Royal Navy, as HMS Leamington and to the Soviet Navy as Zhguchy, before returning to Britain to star in the film The Gift Horse, which depicts the St. Nazaire Raid.

USS <i>Yarnall</i> (DD-143)

The first USS Yarnall (DD–143) was a Wickes-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War I later transferred to the Royal Navy as HMS Lincoln, to the Royal Norwegian Navy as HNoMS Lincoln, and subsequently to the Soviet Navy as Druzhny.

HMS <i>Kempthorne</i> (K483)

HMS Kempthorne (K483) was a Captain-class frigate of the Royal Navy and named after Captain John Kempthorne of HMS Mary Rose in 1669.

Jack Broome

Captain John Egerton Broome DSC, also known as Jackie Broome, was a Royal Navy officer who served in both World Wars. He commanded the escort group of the ill-fated Arctic Convoy PQ 17 in 1942. After the Second World War, he became a writer and illustrator.

HMS <i>Verulam</i> (R28)

HMS Verulam was a V-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service during the Second World War.

HMS Marigold was a Flower-class corvette of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 4 September 1940 and was sunk by an Italian air-dropped torpedo on 9 December 1942.

HMS <i>Veteran</i> (D72)

HMS Veteran was an Admiralty modified W-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy. She was ordered in April 1918 from John Brown & Company under the 14th War Program. She was the third Royal Navy ship to carry the name.

HMS <i>Begonia</i> (K66)

HMS Begonia was a Flower-class corvette that served in the Royal Navy during World War II. In 1942 she was lent to the United States Navy and commissioned as USS Impulse. Returned to the Royal Navy in 1945, Begonia was stricken and sold into merchant service. She was wrecked off the coast of Spain in 1970.

HMS <i>Ekins</i> (K552)

HMS Ekins (K552) was a British Captain-class frigate of the Royal Navy that served during World War II. Originally constructed as a United States Navy Buckley class destroyer escort, she served in the Royal Navy from 1943 to 1945.

HMS <i>Spragge</i> (K572)

The fourth HMS Spragge (K572) and third ship of the name to enter service was a British Captain-class frigate of the Royal Navy in commission during World War II. Originally constructed as a United States Navy Buckley-class destroyer escort, she served in the Royal Navy from 1944 to 1946.

The second HMS Whitaker (K580), and the first to enter service, was a British Captain-class frigate of the Royal Navy in commission during World War II. Originally constructed as a United States Navy Buckley class destroyer escort, she served in the Royal Navy from 1944 to 1945.

HMS <i>Venomous</i>

HMS Venomous (ex-Venom), was a Modified W-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in the Russian Civil War and World War II.

HMS <i>Versatile</i> (D32)

HMS Versatile (D32) was an Admiralty V-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in World War I, the Russian Civil War, and World War II.

HMS <i>Wivern</i> (D66)

The second HMS Wivern, was a Modified W-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in World War II.

Ebrington Barracks

Ebrington Barracks was a military installation on the east bank of the River Foyle in Derry, Northern Ireland.

HMS <i>Rhododendron</i> (K78)

HMS Rhododendron was a Flower-class corvette that served with the Royal Navy during the Second World War. She served as an ocean escort in the Battle of the Atlantic.

HMS <i>Fleetwood</i> (U47)

HMS Fleetwood was a Grimsby-class sloop of the Royal Navy. Built at Devonport Dockyard in the 1930s, Fleetwood was launched in March 1936 and commissioned in November that year. She served in the Red Sea until the outbreak of the Second World War. Fleetwood served as a convoy escort during the war, which she survived, and sank the German submarines U-528 and U-340. Post-war, the ship served as a radar training ship, remaining in use until 1959, when she was scrapped.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Ferret in N. Ireland". Archived from the original on 6 June 2008. Retrieved 27 May 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Ward, Shore establishments p. 75.
  3. "History of 'Fort George'". Archived from the original on 15 June 2008. Retrieved 27 May 2008.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A history of Ebrington Barracks Archived 6 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Imperial War Museum (2013). "THE ROYAL NAVY DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR (A 29241; caption)". IWM Collections Search. Retrieved 12 March 2013.

Coordinates: 54°59′54″N7°18′43″W / 54.99836°N 7.31196°W / 54.99836; -7.31196