15 October 1944

15 October 1944 Channel Islands Sea Defence diary

04:30: FK 28 departed Jersey for the Minquiers under Oberleutnant zur See Gröhne [surname reading; elsewhere Gröne] to establish the Maîtresse strongpoint. The small motorboat had to be left behind owing to the swell. Ida Karl navigation light lit from 04:30 until daybreak.

06:55: Jersey Group ordered firing readiness south, west and north in support of two FK boats to Guernsey. 07:00: FK 01/56 departed Jersey for Guernsey. Ida Karl lit 07:00–07:30. 07:15: destroyer sighted on the southern waiting station. 07:23: Alderney sighted a freighter with one funnel and two masts and an escort destroyer south-eastbound in BF 3516. Jersey Group ready at 07:29.

08:00 weather: south-west force 2–3, sea 1–2, visibility twelve nautical miles, cloud 10/10, base 1,200 metres. 08:25: Guernsey Group ordered readiness southward for Mirus, Strassburg, Generaloberst Dollmann and 7., 8., 9., 10. and 16./1265. 08:50–09:00: northern waiting-station destroyer sighted. 09:30: Alderney sighted five LSTs, one freighter and three escort destroyers northbound in BF 3552. 09:50: FK 01/56 entered Peter Port. 10:00: one freighter, one LST and two escort destroyers northbound in BF 3552.

10:10: Alderney Group ordered immediate firing readiness to support the Guernsey convoy. 10:20: AF 65/71 and coastal motor vessel Claus Wilhelm departed Alderney for Guernsey. 10:45: Guernsey Group ordered readiness for Steinbruch, Mirus and 7., 8., 9., 10. and 16./1265. 11:00: Alderney sighted four motor torpedo boats north-westbound in BF 3527; see sketch on original page 200. 11:10: northern destroyer sighted again.

11:30: the four motor torpedo boats turned sharply and accelerated south-west. The diary assesses that the convoy's departure from Alderney had apparently been observed from Cap de la Hague and the passing boats directed against it. Half an hour later, at noon, they returned at twenty-two knots, apparently unable to catch the convoy. Guernsey and Jersey bearing stations then tracked boats on a wide arc towards St Malo. The Minquiers reconnaissance post later reported only two boats (see 21:15). The diary considers it possible that the intercepting boats reversed course between their disappearance from Alderney's view at 12:10 and Guernsey's first sighting at 14:30, and that the St Malo-bound group was a different one from England. At 13:48 three motor torpedo boats were reported eastbound north-east of Alderney in BF 3527. These are the contemporary assessments, not established identifications.

11:35: Alderney sighted eleven transports of various sizes, nine escort destroyers and two corvettes east-south-eastbound in BF 3524. 11:45: five escort destroyers northbound in BF 3552. 12:00 weather: south force 1–2, sea 1–2, visibility seventeen nautical miles, cloud 9/10, base 1,500 metres. 13:00: transport with two funnels and two masts and nine LSTs southbound in BF 3528. At 13:00 AF 65/71 and Claus Wilhelm entered Peter Port.

16:15: Grouville observation station, Jersey, reported a larger unidentified vessel with one funnel and one mast in BF 3845, coming from the west towards St Malo. 17:10: Alderney reported an escort destroyer on the northern waiting station in BF 2662; another westbound in BF 3514, probably its relief; one LST southbound in BF 3528; and a special-purpose ship southbound in BF 3552, with a tall funnel aft, an equally tall tower-like bridge before it and one mast forward. One tanker northbound in BF 3552.

18:00 weather: variable wind force 1–3, sea 1, visibility eighteen nautical miles, cloud 6/10, base 1,000 metres. 18:35: Guernsey bearing stations reported a transport with one funnel and two masts northbound from St Malo in BF 2683. 20:20–21:15: Ida Karl lit for FK 28's return from the Minquiers. 21:15: FK 28 entered St Helier.

Oberleutnant zur See Gröhne, who remained on the Minquiers, reported: throughout the day one corvette patrolled the triangle 48°45′ N, 1°52′ W — 48°44′ N, 2°12′ W — 48°52′ N, 2°21′ W, approximately Vieux Banc, two nautical miles west of the Minquiers South buoy, and Basse de Sauvages. 09:30: tanker of about 3,000 GRT at fourteen knots from St Malo towards the north-west. 11:55: coastguard boat from St Malo towards the north-west. 15:00: two motor torpedo boats from the north-west entered St Malo; at 17:00 two motor torpedo boats left St Malo towards the north-west.

Enemy convoy traffic observed during the day, from Cherbourg: ten escort destroyers, one tanker, two freighters with one funnel and two masts, and six LSTs. Towards Cherbourg: eleven transports with two funnels and two masts, ten LSTs, nine escort destroyers, two corvettes, one transport with two funnels and two masts, one special-purpose ship, and one vessel of 3,000–4,000 GRT with two funnels and two masts [separate transport groups retained]. From St Malo: two motor torpedo boats, seven transports, four vessels (one funnel and one mast), three vessels with two funnels and two masts, one tanker of 3,000 GRT, one corvette and one coastguard boat. The compressed wording around the seven transports and four vessels is ambiguous in the original. Towards St Malo: four motor torpedo boats and one larger ship with one funnel and one mast.

Archival continuation: scan 0866 states that PG 37998/NID continues on reel T-189B. Scan 0867 is the end card for reel T-188B, photographed by ONI on 12 February 1946, machine 1562; scan 0868 identifies T1022 Roll 2422. These are archival cards, not wartime diary entries.

Roll 2422, scans 0862–0865, original pages 196–199. The diary refers to a sketch on original page 200, continued on the following reel.