HMSAS Parktown (T39)
Encyclopedia
HMSAS Parktown was a minesweeping whaler of the South African Naval Services that was sunk during the Second World War. She was built as the whaler Southern Sky for the Southern Whaling and Sealing Company in 1929 and sold in 1936 to the Union Whaling Company, acquiring the new name Sidney Smith. She was requisitioned on 8 August 1940 as HMSAS Parktown and was converted to sweep magnetic mines. She arrived at Tobruk on 10 June 1942 just in time to take part on the evacuation of Allied forces. She was the last ship to leave Tobruk harbour prior to its capitulation to German forces on 20 June 1942. Parktown embarked 60 troops and took a tug in tow outside the harbour. Her reduced speed lead to her being attacked by Axis E-boat
s, most probably Italian "MAS" torpedo-armed motorboats
. Gunfire from the motor boats destroyed the bridge, ruptured the boiler, killed or wounded half of the men on board and lead to on-board ammunition exploding causing her to finally stop moving and setting the ship on fire. She was finally sunk on the evening of 21 June 1942 by an Allied MTB
which had arrived to pick up survivors.
of Middlesbrough and was for two whalers, to be named Southern Sun and Southern Sky, both of which to be registered in Cape Town
. The ships were laid down and launched in 1929. In 1936, both ships were bought by the Union Whaling Company and registered in Durban
as Albert Hulett and Sidney Smith respectively. Both ships were used for whaling in the Southern Ocean
and Antarctic
until 1940.
After the outbreak of World War II, the South African Naval Service was tasked with ensuring free access to the main South African portsWalvis Bay, Saldanah Bay, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London and Durban. for Allied ships passing the Cape. The absence of naval minesweepers lead to a program of requisitioning civilian ships and converting them to this role. Albert Hulett and Sidney Smith were requisitioned on 8 August 1940 with Albert Hulett being re-named HMSAS Langlaagte and Sidney Smith as HMSAS Parktown after the Johannesburg suburb of Parktown.
Harbour from Alexandria
for magnetic minesweeping duties. During the passage she had rescued survivors of two Allied vessels which had been torpedoed off Mersa Matruh. For ten days she continued minesweeping operations off the harbour while the 8th Army
were being driven back by advancing German and Italian forces.
Deutsch-Italienische Panzerarmee
attacked the Tobruk garrison from the south and south east. By 18:00, the German and Italian forces had overrun the main defence lines and were closing on the harbour and all Allied shipes were ordered to embark personnel for evacuation.
By 19:00 German tanks and armoured cars were within the town and started shelling the ships in the harbour. HMSAS Bever received a direct hit as she cast off and as Parktown left the pier, she received small arms fire from German infantry on the jetty. She was also hit by shell-fire from an approaching tank. Under cover of a smoke screen laid by a motor torpedo boat, but still receiving shell-fire from the town, the two ships left the harbour for the open sea. During the night Parktown and Bever became separated.HMSAS Bever reached Mersa Matruh the next morning (21 June 1942) Parktown had taken a small tug filled with evacuated soldiers in tow during the night and had slowed to a speed of 5 knots (9.8 km/h). At 06:45 on 21 June, Parktown sighted an Italian "MAS" torpedo boat
which had been directed to the slow moving vessel by a German reconnaissance aircraft. According to German reports, Parktown was actually engaged by a flotilla of German E-boats based at Derna. Within 30 minutes, more torpedo boats closed and opened fire. Defending herself with a single Oerlikon
and anti-aircraft machine-guns, Parktown was out-numbered and out-gunned by the Italian vessels. A direct hit to the bridge killed the captain, Lieutenant (SAN) Leslie James Jagger, as well as the coxswain. Within 15 minutes Parktown was stationary with a hole in the boiler, half of the crew and evacuated soldiers as casualties, out of ammunition and with the upper deck on fire.
The remaining crew and soldiers abandoned ship and clung to carley float
s. At this time, an aircraft drove off the Italian ships. The tug which had been in tow had not been engaged by the Italian craft and managed to rescue some of the survivors and some of the remaining survivors were rescued by an Allied Motor Torpedo Boat
(MTB) which found them close to the burning minesweeper. The MTB then sank the burning wreck of the Parktown with depth charges before returning to Mersa Matruh that evening.
Accounts on the final hours of the Parktown differ:
E-boat
E-boats was the designation for Motor Torpedo Boats of the German Navy during World War II. It is commonly held that the E stood for Enemy....
s, most probably Italian "MAS" torpedo-armed motorboats
MAS (boat)
Motoscafo Armato Silurante , commonly abbreviated as MAS was a class of fast torpedo armed vessel used by the Regia Marina during World War I and World War II...
. Gunfire from the motor boats destroyed the bridge, ruptured the boiler, killed or wounded half of the men on board and lead to on-board ammunition exploding causing her to finally stop moving and setting the ship on fire. She was finally sunk on the evening of 21 June 1942 by an Allied MTB
Motor Torpedo Boat
Motor Torpedo Boat was the name given to fast torpedo boats by the Royal Navy, and the Royal Canadian Navy.The capitalised term is generally used for the Royal Navy boats and abbreviated to "MTB"...
which had arrived to pick up survivors.
Civilian career
The Southern Whaling and Sealing Company of London ordered the laying down of two additional ships for their operations in South Africa in 1929. The order was placed with Smiths Dock CompanySmiths Dock Company
Smiths Dock Company, Limited, often referred to simply as Smiths Dock, was a British shipbuilding company.-History:The company was originally established by Thomas Smith who bought William Rowe's shipyard at St. Peter's in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1810 and traded as William Smith & Co. The company...
of Middlesbrough and was for two whalers, to be named Southern Sun and Southern Sky, both of which to be registered in Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
. The ships were laid down and launched in 1929. In 1936, both ships were bought by the Union Whaling Company and registered in Durban
Durban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
as Albert Hulett and Sidney Smith respectively. Both ships were used for whaling in the Southern Ocean
Southern Ocean
The Southern Ocean comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60°S latitude and encircling Antarctica. It is usually regarded as the fourth-largest of the five principal oceanic divisions...
and Antarctic
Antarctic
The Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...
until 1940.
After the outbreak of World War II, the South African Naval Service was tasked with ensuring free access to the main South African portsWalvis Bay, Saldanah Bay, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London and Durban. for Allied ships passing the Cape. The absence of naval minesweepers lead to a program of requisitioning civilian ships and converting them to this role. Albert Hulett and Sidney Smith were requisitioned on 8 August 1940 with Albert Hulett being re-named HMSAS Langlaagte and Sidney Smith as HMSAS Parktown after the Johannesburg suburb of Parktown.
Re-fit and Initial Service
Both Langlaagte and Parktown were both found to be in a very poor state of repair after their extended use in the Southern Ocean and long periods away from proper maintenance facilities, and were therefore unsuitable for conversion to conventional minesweepers. It was decided to convert them into magnetic minesweepers deploying the LL magnetic sweep, an arrangement of two buoyant cables equipped at the end with electrodes and powered by a 35 kW generator pulsing 3000 amps for 5 seconds each minute. The conversion was completed at Cape Town in February 1941. Parktown sailed in company with Langlaagte from Cape Town for the Mediterranean in April 1942 to join the 167th Minesweeping Group working from Alexandria, Egypt.Mediterranean
On 10 June 1942, Parktown arrived in TobrukTobruk
Tobruk or Tubruq is a city, seaport, and peninsula on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District and has a population of 120,000 ....
Harbour from Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
for magnetic minesweeping duties. During the passage she had rescued survivors of two Allied vessels which had been torpedoed off Mersa Matruh. For ten days she continued minesweeping operations off the harbour while the 8th Army
Eighth Army (United Kingdom)
The Eighth Army was one of the best-known formations of the British Army during World War II, fighting in the North African and Italian campaigns....
were being driven back by advancing German and Italian forces.
Sinking off Tobruk
On 20 June 1942 General Rommel'sErwin Rommel
Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel , popularly known as the Desert Fox , was a German Field Marshal of World War II. He won the respect of both his own troops and the enemies he fought....
Deutsch-Italienische Panzerarmee
Panzer Army Africa
As the number of German armed forces committed to the North Africa Campaign of World War II grew from the initial commitment of a small corps the Germans developed a more elaborate command structure and placed the now larger Afrika Korps, with Italian units under this new German command structure,...
attacked the Tobruk garrison from the south and south east. By 18:00, the German and Italian forces had overrun the main defence lines and were closing on the harbour and all Allied shipes were ordered to embark personnel for evacuation.
MAS (boat)
Motoscafo Armato Silurante , commonly abbreviated as MAS was a class of fast torpedo armed vessel used by the Regia Marina during World War I and World War II...
which had been directed to the slow moving vessel by a German reconnaissance aircraft. According to German reports, Parktown was actually engaged by a flotilla of German E-boats based at Derna. Within 30 minutes, more torpedo boats closed and opened fire. Defending herself with a single Oerlikon
Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original design by Reinhold Becker of Germany, very early in World War I, and widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others...
and anti-aircraft machine-guns, Parktown was out-numbered and out-gunned by the Italian vessels. A direct hit to the bridge killed the captain, Lieutenant (SAN) Leslie James Jagger, as well as the coxswain. Within 15 minutes Parktown was stationary with a hole in the boiler, half of the crew and evacuated soldiers as casualties, out of ammunition and with the upper deck on fire.
The remaining crew and soldiers abandoned ship and clung to carley float
Carley float
The Carley float was a form of invertible liferaft designed by American inventor Horace Carley . Supplied mainly to warships, it saw widespread use in a number of navies during peacetime and both World Wars until superseded by more modern rigid or inflatable designs...
s. At this time, an aircraft drove off the Italian ships. The tug which had been in tow had not been engaged by the Italian craft and managed to rescue some of the survivors and some of the remaining survivors were rescued by an Allied Motor Torpedo Boat
Motor Torpedo Boat
Motor Torpedo Boat was the name given to fast torpedo boats by the Royal Navy, and the Royal Canadian Navy.The capitalised term is generally used for the Royal Navy boats and abbreviated to "MTB"...
(MTB) which found them close to the burning minesweeper. The MTB then sank the burning wreck of the Parktown with depth charges before returning to Mersa Matruh that evening.
Accounts on the final hours of the Parktown differ:
- Orpen states that the Italian ships were driven off by a South African aircraft. He also records there being four Italian torpedo boats involved in the action.
- Du Toit states that there were six Italian torpedo boats involved and that the aircraft was in fact a German aircraft which erroneously attacked the Italian ships.
- Harris supports the fact that there were four torpedo boats and states that the German aircraft deliberately attacked the Italian vessels as they were firing on survivors in the water.