Herbert Arthur Stonehouse (1909-1984) was a British Royal Navy Reserve officer who was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and bar for his service escorting convoys during the Second World War and who in 1943 sank the German submarine U-192.
Herbert Arthur Stonehouse (1909-1984) was a British Royal Navy Reserve officer who was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and bar for his service escorting convoys during the Second World War and who in 1943 sank the German submarine U-192.
Herbert Stonehouse was born in West Derby, Lancashire, in 1909, [2] to Adeline Ann and Reginald Stonehouse, a shipping clerk from Horsforth in Yorkshire. [3]
Stonehouse was registered as a merchant seaman in Liverpool in 1930 and shown with a rating of QM (Quarter Master). His card shows the name El Paraguayo , [4] a meat carrier believed at the time of her launch in 1911 to be the largest refrigerated vessel constructed with a capacity of over 405,000 cubic feet. The ship plied the route between Liverpool and the River Plate in South America. [5]
Stonehouse became an Acting Lieutenant in the Royal Naval Reserve on 3 February 1939 and attained the rank of Lieutenant on 11 January 1940.
In 1943–44, he was the commander of the corvette HMS Loosestrife [6] which on 5 May 1943 attempted unsuccessfully to scuttle the merchantman SS Wentworth after the ship was seriously damaged by German submarine U-358 , under the command of Rolf Manke. [7]
On 6 May 1943, Loosestrife sank the German submarine U-192 in the North Atlantic south-east of Cape Farewell using depth charges. [8]
From 20 July 1944 to mid 1945, Stonehouse commanded the corvette HMS Alnwick Castle as an Acting Lieutenant Commander. [8]
From 9 July 1945 to 30 December 1945 he commanded the corvette HMS Oakham Castle. Stonehouse became a Lieutenant Commander 11 Jan 1948 and a Commander on 30 June 1954. He retired from the navy in 1959. [8]
Stonehouse was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross on 19 October 1943 [9] and bar on 19 June 1945. [8]
Stonehouse died in North Walsham, Norfolk, in 1984. [10]
German submarine U-413 was a Type VIIC U-boat built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine for service during World War II.
German submarine U-333 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 11 March 1940 at the Nordseewerke yard at Emden, launched on 14 June 1941, and commissioned on 25 August 1941 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Peter-Erich Cremer. After training with the 5th U-boat Flotilla at Kiel, on 1 January 1942 U-333 was transferred to the 3rd U-boat Flotilla based at La Pallice for front-line service.
Aconit was one of the nine Flower-class corvettes lent by the Royal Navy to the Free French Naval Forces. During World War II, she escorted 116 convoys, spending 728 days at sea. She was awarded the Croix de la Libération and the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945, and was cited by the British Admiralty. Following the war she was used as whaling ship for three different companies from 1947 to 1964.
German submarine U-1276 was a Type VIIC/41 U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine, built for service during World War II. She was laid down at Bremer Vulkan of Bremen-Vegesack on 13 July 1943. She was commissioned 6 April 1944 with Oberleutnant zur See Karl-Heinz Wendt in command. U-1276 was equipped with a submarine snorkel when she sailed on her last cruise.
German submarine U-192 was a very short-lived Type IXC/40 U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine built during World War II for service in the Battle of the Atlantic. During her maiden voyage in May 1943, she was sunk by a British warship, HMS Loosestrife on 6 May 1943.
German submarine U-531 was a Type IXC/40 U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine built for service during World War II. She was laid down at Deutsche Werft in Hamburg as yard number 346 on 22 December 1941, launched on 12 August 1942 and commissioned on 28 October with Oberleutnant zur See Herbert Neckel in command.
German submarine U-124 was a Type IXB U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. She operated in the Atlantic as part of the 2nd U-boat flotilla, both west of Scotland and east of the eastern US coast. She was also present off northern South America.
German submarine U-125 was a Type IXC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. She was laid down at the DeSchiMAG AG Weser as yard number 988 on 10 May 1940, launched on 10 December and commissioned on 3 March 1941. In seven patrols, she sank 17 ships for a total of 82,873 gross register tons (GRT). The boat was a member of three wolfpacks. She was sunk on 6 May 1943. All 54 men on board died.
German submarine U-256 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II, she also served for a short time as an anti-aircraft submarine under the designation U-flak 2. During her career, U-256 completed five wartime patrols and sank one warship of 1,300 tons.
German submarine U-103 was a Type IXB U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine that operated during World War II. She was one of the most successful boats in the entire war, sinking 238,944 gross register tons (GRT) of Allied shipping in 11 patrols, in a career lasting more than four years.
Vice-Admiral Sir Arthur Richard Hezlet, nicknamed Baldy Hezlet, was a decorated Royal Navy submariner. He became the Royal Navy's youngest captain at the time – aged 36 – and its youngest admiral, aged 45. In retirement he became a military historian.
Escort Group B7 was a British formation of the Royal Navy which saw action during the Second World War; principally in the Battle of the Atlantic.
German submarine U-744 was a type VIIC U-boat, launched on 11 March 1943, commanded by Oberleutnant zur See Heinz Blischke.
HMS Vetch (K132) was a Flower-class corvette that served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War. After helping to escort many convoys and sinking two U-boats, she was decommissioned and sold in 1945.
German submarine U-264 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 21 June 1941 at the Bremer-Vulkan-Vegesacker Werft (yard) in Bremen as yard number 29. She was launched on 2 April 1942 and commissioned on 22 May under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Hartwig Looks.
German submarine U-358 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
HMS Goodall (K479) was a British Captain-class frigate of the Royal Navy in commission during World War II. Originally constructed as the United States Navy Evarts-class destroyer escort USS Reybold (DE-275), she served in the Royal Navy from 1943 until her sinking in 1945.
HMS Loosestrife (K105) was a Flower-class corvette of the Royal Navy which sailed with the North Atlantic convoys of the Second World War.
HMS Alisma was a Flower-class corvette that served in the Royal Navy.
HMS Sunflower was a Flower-class corvette of the Royal Navy. She served during the Second World War.
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