13 October 1944

13 October 1944 Channel Islands Sea Defence diary

At first light one destroyer on each northern and southern waiting station. Alderney–Guernsey convoy postponed owing to weather. 08:00 weather: west-south-west force 4–6, sea 3–4, visibility fifteen nautical miles, cloud 7/10, base 1,000 metres.

09:10: Alderney sighted twelve Liberty ships, one large tanker of about 15,000 tonnes resembling Abbeydale (Weyer, page 260), four LSTs, one LSI and one J/K/N-class destroyer northbound in BF 3528. 10:30: small passenger ship northbound in BF 3552. 11:00: Spitfire over Guernsey; heavy anti-aircraft fire, no hits observed. 11:15: three LSTs northbound in BF 3552. 12:00 weather: south-west force 5–6, sea 3–4, visibility fifteen nautical miles, cloud 8/10, base 1,200 metres.

12:45: two LSTs southbound in BF 3552. 13:20: twelve LSTs southbound in BF 3528 and one auxiliary aircraft carrier southbound in BF 3552. 18:00 weather: south-west force 7–9, sea 5–6, visibility three nautical miles, cloud 10/10, base 500–800 metres, hazy.

Enemy convoy traffic observed: towards Cherbourg, one freighter with one funnel and two masts, fourteen LSTs and one auxiliary aircraft carrier. Towards England, one LST, one auxiliary aircraft carrier, twelve Liberty ships, four LSTs, one LSI, one destroyer, one large tanker of 15,000–16,000 GRT, one small passenger ship and three LSTs [separate groups retained as listed]. Towards St Malo, five freighters with one funnel and two masts and one escort destroyer.

Roll 2422, scans 0860–0861, original pages 194–195.