Date of Arrival

Place

1.1.42

Murmansk

17.1.42

At sea

17/1 Convoy PQ8 was joined by eastern local escort of Hazard and SHARPSHOOTER despite the thick fog that kept Britomart and Salamander in Kola.

At 1945 the freighter Harmatris was hit by a torpedo from U454 which passed underneath Harrier. Speedwell was ordered to drop back and stand by the stationary Harmatris. An hour later a second torpedo hit Harmatris but failed to explode, the captain thought he had hit a mine. Speedwell was ordered alongside to evacuate some of Harmatris’s crew. After much effort a towing wire was passed but Speedwell was unable to move her as the starboard anchor had let go when the torpedo struck and stuck in the sea bed.

At 2200, as SHARPSHOOTER had joined the screen, the destroyer Matabele was sent back to Harmatris. U454 fired another salvo of torpedoes which missed their target, a tanker, but hit Matabele. SHARPSHOOTER took part in the search for survivors. Although about 60 of the 200 crew escaped alive, most were killed by the destroyer’s own depth charges and the cold. Only two survived. Harrier recovered the dead from the sea.  The volunteer crew withdrew from Harmatris to the relative safety of Speedwell and she circled the freighter all night.

Source: Arctic Convoys by Richard Woodman

18.1.42

At sea

CLICK HERE for report of attack on U Boat by SHARPSHOOTER

At 0600 with both ships (Harrier and Harmatris) alone in the ocean the crew went back to Harmatris and slipped the anchor chain, reconnected the tow wire and at 0800 got under way again. They were now joined by SHARPSHOOTER and Hazard. At noon a Heinkel He111 made a half hearted low level attack but was driven off by the AA armaments of the minesweepers and the DEMS gunners on Harmatris. A second plane dropped her bombs a mile away.

At about 14.30 a high pressure steam pipe on Speedwell burst, badly scalding three men and Youngs signalled for a Soviet tug, which arrived within the hour. Speedwell left at speed to seek medical assistance for her injured crew members. Two further tugs arrived and Harmatris got to Murmansk early on 20/1.

Source: Arctic Convoys by Richard Woodman

23.1.42

At sea

HMS SHARPSHOOTER, Britomart and Salamander carried out a searching sweep for mines between Svyatol Nos and Gorodetski. The ships were attacked by enemy aircraft on both days. On the 24th HMS Britomart shot down one Ju 88. HMS Britomart was hit by two bombs which failed to explode, suffering only slight damage and two casualties; one killed and one wounded. No mines were swept. 

24.1.42

At sea

2.2.42

With Hebe and Bramble, SHARPSHOOTER sailed with QP6 (6 ships) as local eastern escort.

5.2.42

At sea

7.2.42

HMS SHARPSHOOTER and Britomart carried out a submarine patrol off Kola Inlet prior to meeting convoy PQ9 and PQ10.

7.2.42

At sea

10.2.42

SHARPSHOOTER was local eastern escort for PQ9/10 (10 ships), with HMS Britomart arriving Murmansk 10/2. No enemy action.

13.2.42

At sea (

?

Hazard and Speedwell provided local eastern escort for QP7 (8 ships) from Murmansk from 12/2 until 13/2 when Britomart and SHARPSHOOTER took over from them until 15/2 (as far as 16 degrees east). No enemy activity.

1.3.42

At sea

Harrier and SHARPSHOOTER provide eastern local escort for QP8 (15 ships) from 1^st until dawn on 3^rd March as far west as 30°E. The ocean escort included Hazard (Lt Com J R A Seymour Senior Officer, Escort) and Salamander.

21.3.42

At sea

Convoy QP9 (19 ships) sailed with an Eastern Escort for the first two days comprising the destroyer Gremyaschi and the minesweepers Gossamer, Hussar, Harrier, Niger and Speedwell. The Ocean Escort consisted of the destroyer Offa and the minesweepers Britomart and SHARPSHOOTER (Lt Commander Lampen). The cruiser Kenya, carrying 10 tons of bullion was due to cover QP9 but did not make the rendezvous.  

The convoy ran into short visibility from the start which afforded protection from the attentions of both friend and foe. A gale of wind force 8-9, sea 7, with heavy snowstorms was encountered during the 23rd and 24th March. As the weather abated that evening, 70 miles south of Bear Island, SHARPSHOOTER rammed and sank a U-boat (U655), which she sighted 300 yards off in a snow squall. She sustained damage, but was able to continue under her own steam independently, turning over the convoy to Offa.
 

From HMS SHARPSHOOTER                                               24.3.42

IMMEDIATE

Have rammed U boat in position 073 degs. 25’ North,  020 degs. 50’ East  rudder damaged fore peak – slightly damaged am unable to proceed in present weather.

Signalman Kenneth Hendry, HMS SHARPSHOOTER: 

‘We left the Kola Inlet as senior escort for the return convoy QP9, together with the destroyer Offa and two trawlers. The convoy consisted of about half a dozen merchant ships and we were stationed ahead, doing the usual zig-zag sweep. All was quiet until the evening of our third day at sea. It was dark but visibility was reasonable when the showers cleared.’  

‘I went on watch at 8 p.m. The weather was fairly calm but with frequent snow showers, keeping you on your toes at the end of each leg of the sweep to ensure that you were still on station and that none of the merchant ships was uncomfortably close, which often occurred in such conditions. It was dark but visibility was reasonable when the showers cleared.’ 

‘It was about 8.25 p.m. and we had just turned and settled on to another ‘leg’ with a snow shower clearing ahead of us, when there was a hail from the leading-gunner closed up on the four inch on the foc’sle. Two or three cables away and about 10 degrees off our starboard bow we saw a U-boat lying beam-on with, as far as could be seen, no one on deck or in the conning tower. The OOW called the captain and I sounded off action stations. The captain (Lieutenant-Commander David Lampen RN) immediately called the engine room for emergency-full-ahead and the “Stand by to ram!” – and we had just begun to gather speed when we struck the U-boat just abaft the conning tower. She turned across our bow, listing, and bumped down our port side, obviously sinking as she went, and finally disappeared into the gloom astern. It was all over very quickly. SHARPSHOOTER had stopped engines, damage control parties had already been mustered and I was ordered to signal by lamp to any ship I could see, “Have rammed U-boat – think I am sinking – please stand by me”. I managed to flash the signal to two merchant ships coming up astern but they were probably too preoccupied with avoiding us to read the signal. Later damage control parties reported that the forward mess deck was shored up and the pumps were coping, and Offa came alongside. She was instructed to take over the convoy and leave us to proceed at slow speed independently. The next few days as we limped along were pretty worrying, but the weather proved kind and we eventually reached Iceland.’ 

Source:   Out Sweeps  by Paul Lund and Harry Ludlum 

This event was a great tonic, not only for SHARPSHOOTER but for all the ships who had such a dangerous and difficult task on the 'Kola Run'. SHARPSHOOTER proceeded ahead of the convoy to Iceland where she arrived on 30 March. After temporary repairs, SHARPSHOOTER went on to Leith for an extended refit and, in the flush of fame, a royal inspection by King George and Queen Elizabeth.      (Ruegg)

‘The minesweeping sloop “SHARPSHOOTER”, which we had through our hands on several occasions, gained considerable public attention when she sank a German submarine while on Russian convoy duty. She rammed the submarine going at full speed, which resulted in fairly extensive bow damage. This we repaired in the Prince of Wales dry-dock. Photographs show the stem bent to the form of the submarine.’

‘During the course of the repairs the whole of “SHARPSHOOTER’s” bow was suitably stiffened to obviate such extensive damage occurring if she had the good fortune to ram another submarine. The commanding Officer of the “SHARPSHOOTER” was decorated and promoted Commander for this action.’  

Source: ‘Leith Built Ships on War Service being the war-time history of the firm of Henry Robb Ltd’.

30.3.42

Iceland

2.4.42

31/3 SHARPSHOOTER can be taken in hand by Messrs Robbs of Leith for half yearly docking on 8/4
With BRITOMART sailed for Scapa.

8.4.42

Scapa

8.4.42

9.4.42

Rosyth

10.4.42

D of D 20/4 Taken in hand 14/4 Docking repairs to underwater damage and A’s and A’s. Completes early June 42

?

Rosyth

27.6.42

28.6.42

Scapa

30.6.42

1.7.42

Rosyth

12.7.42

13.7.42

Scapa

13.7.42

?

Scapa

14.7.42

16.7.42

Iceland

3.8.42

SHARPSHOOTER remained at Hvalfjord for a time in August with degaussing problems, then with the venerable destroyer Skate she escorted Convoy RU34 from Iceland to the Clyde. (Ruegg)
 

8.8.42

Greenock

14.8.42

?

Scapa

18.8.42

Source: ADM 101/613

 HMS SHARPSHOOTER Medical Officer’s Journal 19^th August 1942 – 30^th September 1942 (Extracts) 

Surgeon Lieutenant D Micklewright RNVR

 Average numerical strength of Ship’s Company 119

(Note: Actual Illnesses have been omitted out of respect to ‘patient confidentiality’)