HMS Cape Palliser (FY 256) The Ship My Dad Was On During WW11

With all the talk about the World Wars I'd like to tell about my late Dad's war.
He was in the navy on the Cape Palliser, they escorted ships in convoy to Russia.

This is a brief report of what the ship did.

http://hulltrawler.net/Sidewinder/Ve...SER%20H354.htm

This is the ship once she was back doing what she was built to do after the war. Trawling for fish. Probably one of the few that survived the Russian convoys.

My Dad said the reason she never got hit was because she was too small & the enemy never spotted her among the rest of the fleet.
On one convoy on the way home, they picked up survivors from their convoy, who's ships had been sunk on the way to Russia.

Re: HMS Cape Palliser (FY 256) The Ship My Dad Was On During WW11

Lovely photographs Tiffany and a poignant reminder of the brave sailors who served on those convoys .

Re: HMS Cape Palliser (FY 256) The Ship My Dad Was On During WW11

I saw a programme the other month about the convoys to Russia.
Not only had they to avoid the German gunboats but also the
ice and bad weather too. Very brave men.
Great that your family escaped it all.

Re: HMS Cape Palliser (FY 256) The Ship My Dad Was On During WW11

A big thank you to both of you for your replies.
Sadly that is all I know, because when he was alive he didn't say much about the war & at that time I wasn't interested enough to ask him questions.

Re: HMS Cape Palliser (FY 256) The Ship My Dad Was On During WW11

My dad was a gunner on a destroyer in the convoy protection fleet operating in both the Atkantic and the Med. He too was lucky enough to get through the hostilities unharmed which was quite ironic as several of his friends said he was mad to go into the navy as it was too dangerous. Ironic because they went into the First Airborne Division and all but one of them died at Arnhem.
My dad talked very little about his wartime experiences, but was more expansive about his adventures on leave in various parts of the world.

Re: HMS Cape Palliser (FY 256) The Ship My Dad Was On During WW11

Really interesting story Tiffany and lovely pictures ........

Re: HMS Cape Palliser (FY 256) The Ship My Dad Was On During WW11

An uncle of mine was a gunner on the HMS Matabele, one of the Tribal class destroyers (F26) which was sunk by uboat u454 on the 17th of January 1942. The majority of the crew abandoned ship but died in the freezing water. Only two of the crew survived. She sank in the Barents Sea in less than two minutes. I was two years old. Rest in peace Uncle Bob.

Re: HMS Cape Palliser (FY 256) The Ship My Dad Was On During WW11

Thanks to you all for the replies. It's fascinating to hear about relatives experiences, however briefly they talked about them.

Re: HMS Cape Palliser (FY 256) The Ship My Dad Was On During WW11

Hi Tiffany
My dad was on the Cape Palliser on the murmansk/archangel runs PQ15/16/17/? & picked up survivors from the William Clarke, he was awarded the DSM,

But we have never found out for what he did, or if it was for this action or just for general good conduct,

Did your father ever mention anything about this? my dad was a stoker.
Regards
Bernie

Re: HMS Cape Palliser (FY 256) The Ship My Dad Was On During WW11

Hello Tiffany,
My father-in-law spent time on HMS Cape Palliser as a signalman. He joined the ship in April 1942 in Iceland just before the start of convoy PQ15. PQ15 arrived at the Kola Inlet at 2100 on 5 May. Between May 21st and May 29th, she was on escort duty for convoy QP12. In the autumn of 1942 HMS Cape Palliser was re-fitted in Grimsby. He said "our bows had been reinforced for ice-breaking and stored up with ammunition, depth charges etc.". He added "She was taking part in a top secret operation to the very far northern waters above 80degs north. The admiralty had reason to believe that U-boats were re-charging their batteries in these northern waters. To do this the U-boats had to steam on the surface, which meant they were very vulnerable to attack." After 28 days, they found nothing. It was on the way back from this mission on 12th Nov 1942, that they picked up the 15 survivors from the American merchant William Clark.
On 26th Nov, HMS Cape Palliser left Reykjavik as part of convoy RU50 heading for Loch Ewe.
Father-in-law says "we were about a hundred miles from northern Scotland when the convoy was attacked by six Ju88s from Norway. One tanker was sunk and we suffered a near miss, some shrapnel went through the main steam pipe in the engine room which reduced our speed to 2 knots. After a quick make-do repair, we were ordered to make our own best speed to Scrabster, a harbour in the very north of Scotland for emergency repairs, where we arrived without further attack. When temporary repairs were completed, we were ordered to Grimsby, where we were to have a complete re-fit." After the re-fit HMS Cape Palliser went back to join other escort ships at Greenock.
My father-in-law passed away on 14th November 2020 aged 99 years and 4 months.