#OTD 1943 Minesweeping Trawlers HMT EARL KITCHENER & LORD GREY (part of 170th Minesweeping Group) depart Colombo, Sri Lanka for Madras (Chennai) then Calcutta (Kolkata), which is assessed vulnerable to enemy mining. They are fitted with LL (magnetic) and SA (acoustic) sweeps & will arrive at their destination on the 28th. The pic shows a typical minesweeping trawler, with the SA sweep in the ‘stowed’ position above the bows. #Sweepers80 #RN #WW2 #SWW #NavalHistory #Histodons

#OTD 1943 duties off Dover now completed, the 9th MSF Bangors are now performing a similar sweeping task off Portsmouth, clearing a channel to allow destroyers & coastal forces to safely transit our minefields to intercept a high value cargo vessel expected soon off the coast of N. France. Op VALUABLE #Sweepers80 #WW2 #SWW #RN #NavalHistory #Histodons

#OTD 1943 Minesweeping trawler HMT CYPRESS is mined off Shoreham; she is beached to avoid sinking. Further North, a frustrated Senior Officer 16thMSF (HMS SHIPPIGAN) (pic © IWM A 19830) asks for more details of the sweeping task his flotilla have been given off Iona following the mining of SS OSTENDE #Sweepers80 #RN #SWW #WW2 #NavalHistory #Histodons

#OTD 1943 Belgian coaster OSTENDE reports being mined in the Sound of Iona. Pic shows her in an earlier incarnation. She is beached in an attempt to save her. ‘Bangors’ QUALICUM & SHIPPIGAN of the newly formed 16th MSF are sailed from Londonderry to start sweeping, supported by M/S Trawlers from Ardrossan #Sweepers80 #WW2 #SWW #NavalHistory @histodons @globalmaritimehistory

#OTD 1943 Minesweeping trawlers HMT SARPEDON, PLAYMATES & WILLING BOYS are bombed & machine-gunned by enemy aircraft whilst sweeping off Dungeness. No damage, no casualties, and all 3 trawlers will survive the war. #Sweepers80 #WW2 #SWW #NavalHistory #histodons

#OTD 1943 last night Fleet Air Arm Albacores & 4 Beauforts laid mines off Tunis to interdict Axis reinforcement of Tunisia. Fast minelayer HMS WELSHMAN (pic) is en route to lay mines on the Skerki Bank (Sicilian Channel) for the same purpose, whilst German E-Boats are preparing to lay mines off Bone (modern Annaba) to interrupt the Allies’ operations. #Sweepers80 #WW2 #SWW #NavalHistory

#OTD 1943 Two coal-burning ‘Smokey Joes’ of the 4th Minesweeping Flotilla are sailed from Swansea to Plymouth to commence sweeping ops in the Channel. The class were built during the latter stages of #WW1, entering service shortly after its conclusion. At #WW2 ‘s onset, many were in the Reserve Fleet. #Sweepers80 (Pic source © IWM FL 7290) #NavalHistory #Histodons

#OTD 1943 ‘Halcyons’ HMS HARRIER & SEAGULL have joined convoy JW51B as local escort for the final leg into Murmansk. The port is vulnerable to air attack (& mining) but ice conditions in the White Sea render Arkhangelsk inaccessible #Sweepers80 #SWW #WW2 #NavalHistory #Histodons @globalmaritimehistory @histodons

#OTD 1942 weather prevents today’s sweeping ops by 9th MSF off Dover. During yesterday’s efforts to clear ingress/egress routes for destroyers/coastal forces transiting our defensive fields, a number of drifting German mines had also been encountered & destroyed. Most often this would be achieved by puncturing the mine casings with rifle fire, although occasionally a horn would be struck; causing a massive explosion. #Sweepers80 #WW2 #SWW #NavalHistory #Histodons

#OTD 1942 At Malta, ‘Bangor’ HMS HYTHE sweeps HM Submarine P48 out, and s/ms RORQUAL & TURBULENT (pic) in via the main channel. In home waters, cargo vessel KNUT is mined & sunk in the Irish Sea, whilst Germany loses another Sperrbrecher (a form of mine destructor vessel); mined off Borkum #Sweepers80 #WW2 #SWW #NavalHistory #Histodons