HMS ISIS ...1944

[Alistair Parker]

I recieved an email asking for information on HMS ISIS (ish 1944) but the
ship I was on HMS ISIS was 30 years later....
can anybody help this guy with what he's looking for?...

From a google search of 'HMS ISIS' your id came up and
in a newsnet discusion you mentioned you served on
this ship.

"I am interested in any history on this subject as my
uncle - who I never new - died when she went down of
Normandy in 1944.

If you have any info or links, I would be most
interested - my uncles name was Len Parker - he was an Electrician.

Regards

Sean Quinn"

thanx in advance I know someone in here has the answer for Sean

Alistair (FEZ) Parker

[The Ex-Forces Network]

Hi Fez,

There is a few links here:
http://google.yahoo.com/bin/query?p=%22HMS+ISIS%22&hc=0&hs=0

Best Regards

Raymond "Ray" Day
The Administrator for :
The Ex-Forces Network
e-mail: the_admi...@the-ex-forces-network.co.uk
web: http://www.the-ex-forces-network.co.uk

"Alistair Parker" <a...@tappajabba.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message news:ab20ln$k9g$1...@news7.svr.pol.co.uk...

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[Alistair Parker]

thanx ray I'll pass it on to the guy

fez

"The Ex-Forces Network" <add...@in-the-message.com> wrote in message
news:ab2bc6$krm$1...@helle.btinternet.com...

[Tony Gatenby]

"Alistair Parker" <a...@tappajabba.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message news:<ab20ln$k9g$1...@news7.svr.pol.co.uk>...

Dear FEZ,
My uncle died on HMS Isis when it was mined in 1944, and I have been
collecting information about the ship. I have pasted the details
below, and hope they are of interest to Sean Quinn.
Regards,
Tony Gatenby

HMS Isis (D87)

Information about HMS Isis was collated from various sources by Tony
Gatenby whose uncle, Able Seaman James Arthur Gatenby from Selby,
Yorkshire, died at the age of 21 when the ship was mined in 1944.
Arthur was a sonar operator. If you have any additional information
please send to anthony....@usa.dupont.com

Built
The Destroyer HMS Isis was built by Yarrow (Scotstoun), launched 12
Nov 1936 and completed 2 Jun 1937.

'I' class destroyer information
9 ships of the 'I' class built, including leader - 1,370 tons, 36
knots, 4-4.7in/10tt, 145 crew, 1937-38
Displacement 1,360 tons (standard displacement)
Complement 138
Armament; 4 x 4.7in guns (4x1), 8 torpedo tubes, Depth charge throwers
Max speed 35 knots.
Also known as the The Seven Sisters
These were originally identical, before conversion for minelaying. To
make these, follow the instructions above with the following changes:
Omit the minerails and stern sponsons. Fit all four 4.7" guns. Fit two
sets of pentad torpedo tubes (quintuple, although the RN did not use
that term) – either from spares (Matchbox KELLY again) or from the WEM
range. Fit the boats and their davits in the normal positions (whalers
each side of the forefunnel,
motor cutter to starboard of the after funnel) and a small dinghy to
port of the after funnel. Prewar, they formed part of the 3rd
Destroyer Flotilla in the Mediterranean Fleet – they were
light grey (AP507C) overall, probably with corticene as described for
ICARUS, but with the bare iron deck polished steel. Pennant numbers
were black, and they carried 3 red bands on the after funnel.
After about 1940, modifications to improve their combat capabilities
began, and they soon ceased top be virtually identical – the changes
are poorly documented and far too numerous to detail here! For the
record, the class comprised ICARUS (D03), ILEX (D61), IMOGEN (D44),
IMPERIAL(D09), IMPULSIVE (D11), INTREPID (D10), ISIS (D87) and IVANHOE
(D16). The pennant numbers altered in 1940 – ‘D' was replaced by ‘I'.
Bibliography John English, Amazon to Ivanhoe, (Kendal: World Ship
Society, 1993). Edgar J March, British Destroyers 1892-1953, (London:
Seeley Service & Co, 1966). H T Lenton, British Fleet and Escort
Destroyers Vol One.
These vessels, built in 1937, participated in normal fleet duties and
convoy protection. Surviving ships - ICARUS, ILEX, IMPULSIVE
6 ships lost:
INGLEFIELD (leader), 25th February 1944, Central Mediterranean, off
Anzio beachhead, western Italy - by German aircraft-launched, Hs.293
glider bomb.
IMOGEN, 16th July 1940, Western Europe, off Pentland Firth, north
Scotland (c 58-30'N, 3-00'W) - in collision with RN cruiser 'Glasgow'.
IMPERIAL, scuttled 29th May 1941, Eastern Mediterranean, off north
coast of Crete (c 35-30'N, 25-30E) - by German bombers on 28th.
INTREPID, capsized 27th September 1943, Eastern Mediterranean, off
Leros Island in the Aegean Sea - by German Ju.88 bombers on 26th.
ISIS, 20th July 1944, Western Europe, off Normandy beaches, northern
France - by German mine or possibly 'Neger' human torpedo.
IVANHOE, 1st September 1940, Western Europe, off Frisian Islands,
Holland in North Sea (c 53-30'N, 3-30'E) - by German mines on 31st
August.

Bombed in Malta
On 19th February (year?), HMS Encounter sailed with HMS Isis from
Gibraltar to take the route round the Cape of Good Hope to Suez to
join the Mediterranean Fleet. On 30th April she was severely damaged
at Malta by air attack and was further damaged the next day. By June
she was fit for service again after repairs and took part in several
Malta convoys with Force 'H' before sailing again round the Cape to
rejoin the Mediterranean Fleet.

Crete -1941
Cunningham's strategy for the prevention of a seaborne invasion on
Crete was to divide the fleet into separate forces. Force B, made up
of Gloucester and Fiji and the destroyers Greyhound and Griffin were
ordered to carry out a sweep, during the night of Tuesday 20th May,
between Cape Elephonsi and Cape Matapan. At 0700 on Wednesday 21st May
having sighted nothing, they joined Force A1 which was then in a
position fifty miles west of Crete. Rear Admiral Rawlings, commanding
Force A1 from the battleship Warspite, also had Valiant and the
destroyers Napier, Kimberley, Janus, Isis, Imperial and Griffin. With
the fleet now covering the seaways to Crete, the Eastern Mediterranean
Fleet awaited the anticipated invasion flotilla.

June 15th 1941
HMS Jervis and HMS Kimberley in action with Guepard and Valmy.
Destroyer HMS Isis bombed and towed back to port.

From the Fleet Air Arm Archives
Hall, PR Lt (Nuttall, HW PO killed) 807 sqdn 18.5.1942 HMS Eagle,
fulmar, Malta spitfire convoy, shot down in sea by French Dw520 which
had just shot down a Catalina (crew saved), observer failed to bail
out, 20m NW of Algiers, Hall picked up by HMS Isis.

Australia 1942
Bendigo alongside HMS Isis 28-1-42. Isis towed to sea by tugs on first
step of journey to Australia. We move alongside Toowoomba, this is no
longer a Naval Base. Moves for [made] scorched earth policy, tools
looted by sailors, Jap bombers fly around the Base just as they please
[I wonder if we'll ever get out of this death trap]? Just after dark
two dive-bombers attacked we three [Bendigo, Toowoomba and
Grasshopper] but missed. Some bombs [incendiary] hit the water and
some on the wharf and grass hill, raiders came over till mid night

Indian Ocean
A biography of V Adm Denis Bryan Harvey (b.1914) indicates service as
Engineer Officer, HMS ISIS, Indian Ocean, Apr1942- Feb 1944

February 19, 1943
German submarine U-562 was depth-charged by RN destroyers Isis and
Hursley and RAF aircraft West of St-Nazaire.
The U-562 was sunk on Feb.19, 1943 by depth charges from destroyers
HMS Isis and HMS Hursley. She sank with all hands (49).
The captain of U-562 is listed as Hamm, and the position given is
32-57N,20-54E

Details on sinking of HMS Isis
HMS ISIS Fleet Destroyer. Sunk in the English Channel off Normandy on
20th July 1944 by a mine during operation Neptune (Naval Operations
in support of Operation Overload). Casualties were heavy -154 men
killed.
20th July 1944, Western Europe, off Normandy beaches (seven miles
north of Arromanches), northern France - by German mine or possibly
'Neger' human torpedo.
On anti-submarine patrol off the Western Sector (Normandy Invasion)

HOW A DESTROYER WAS DESTROYED

Question. Can you help me with information about HMS Isis, which sank
off the Normandy coast on 20 July, 1944 after striking a mine? My
grandfather was among those who died. Has the wreck been dived?
Les Cockerton, Gillingham, Kent.

Answer. The wreck of this 1370 ton Intrepid-class destroyer, built in
1936, lies on its port side in 20m, seven miles north of Arromanches.
The ship is recorded as either having been attacked in the dark by two
or three German human torpedoes called Negers, or to have run into a
group of mines. Other reports say that the 323ft ship, with a beam of
32ft and armed with four high-angle 4.7in guns and ten 21in torpedo
tubes, was at anchor at the time of her sinking. Twenty survivors
picked up early the next morning favoured Negers as the culprits,
saying that there was one explosion on the starboard side followed by
two more on the port side, blowing such a large hole that she sank in
minutes. Divers who have visited the wreck say that it is 5m proud and
that what looks like torpedo damage is in two places, near the bow and
amidships.

Surviving being mined on HMS Isis
Mr C. Pearce (b.1922)
I went in the navy as a cook, on HMS Isis, a destroyer. It got mined
and I was in the galley at the time and I got thrown to the floor and
got blew out right into the water. There was only about 25 of us saved
- all the others got killed. We was in the water 12 hours then we got
picked up.
In a lifeboat?
What we called a Karley Float [a life raft], and I had all burns over
me. We got picked up and we was landed in France for two days and then
we got flew home to England.
(Extract from LifeTimes Oral History Archive LTT047 - Duration 56
seconds)

EUROPE - JULY 1944
Western Front - At the beginning of the month, the Americans
are still struggling to take St Lo and the British and Canadians to
capture Caen. As they do so, other units of US First Army start to
push slowly south out of the Cotentin Peninsula. Much of Caen is
eventually taken on the 9th and St Lo on the 18th. Also on the 18th in
Operation 'Goodwood', the British and Canadians mount a major
offensive to the east and south of Caen. The attack makes slow
progress against fierce German resistance, as Caen becomes the pivot
for the American drive to the west. Now the Canadian First Army under
Gen Crerar becomes operational. On the 25th, in Operation 'Cobra', the
US First Army attacks from west of St Lo towards Avranches. As in all
the battles great use is made of Allied air power, and on the 30th,
Avranches is in American hands. The Allies now prepare to close in on
the Germans in the Falaise area and break out across France.

The heavy ships of the Royal Navy are still providing gunfire support
off both the British and American sectors, and supplies and
reinforcements continue to pour in through the British 'Mulberry'
harbour as Cherbourg starts to become operational. Attacks on the
beachhead shipping by E-boats and small battle units such as the newly
introduced "Neger" and "Marder" human torpedoes have limited
successes, but mines still cause the most damage: On the 20th -
Destroyer "ISIS" is sunk by a mine or possibly a Neger off the
beaches.

THE WAR GRAVE ROLL OF HONOUR
There being no official list of maritime war graves, we have started
to compile one to help the Government to make full use of the
1986 Protection of Military Remains Act (PMRA.) Below is the roll of
honour of UK vessels we believe to be war graves lost on the
continental shelf around the British Isles, their approximate location
and the number of those lost on each of them when available..
Those in black type we know to have been located and identified by the
Royal Navy or by sports divers. As a result, these are most
at risk. However, as there are precise grid references available for
all of them, they can be designated controlled sites and thereby
fully protected under the PMRA. The rest (those in blue type) could
and should be named as protected places under the Act until
their exact position is known. The Government has now announced its
intention to make all war graves protected places.
These are all vessels lost strickly in military, not commercial
service, a criterion specified in the PMRA as necessary for
designation. Those with a "SS" designation were troopships.
The Roll of Honour
HMS INDEFATIGABLE (Jutland) 1022
HMS INVINCIBLE (Jutland) 1026
HMS ISIS (English Channel) 20 survivors
HM SUB J6 (Firth of Forth) 29
HMS JASON (Mull) no survivors

Memorial to HMS Isis
There is a memorial bronze plaque in Portsmouth Cathedral listing the
dead, and with an engraving of the ship.

[4chimn...@gmail.com]

My dad Ken Davies was one of the survivors of the sinking of HMS Isis he is still alive at age 93 (he still has night mares about it)

[deniseb...@gmail.com]

Hi my uncle eric burton was on this ship i just wondered if yr dad ken davis knew off him thank you

[cath...@xtra.co.nz]

Hi, I have written a book about a New Zealand Ordinary Seaman, who was on the HMS ISIS on the 20th July 1944 when she blew up off Aromanche on the Normandy coast. Doug Simpson, survived the blast and was rescued the next morning by an American Cutter and taken to a field hospital outside St Lo. He was there for a week and was then taken to a rest camp in the forest in southern England. Doug wrote home about his war and his letters have survived. I have created a story from his letters and other research I did from things he mentioned in his letters and the people i found who remembered this Kiwi sailor. The book is available on Amazon UK. It is titled, Leave a few for Later, Dad. Written by Catherine Kennedy. I am the partner of this sailor's nephew and he has inherited the letters. If you have an interest in the HMS ISIS and the brave men who fought a brave campaign on the ship from D Day till they met their fate on the 20th July, this book will give you a very good understanding of one seaman's experience of it. Doug was only just 19 when he manned an orelikon gun on the decks of the HMS ISIS. His story, told through his letters home to his Mum and Dad and brother, give us, accidentally,a social history of wartime through the stories of a young sailor, half a world away from his home town of Taihape, New Zealand. I trust you will find the book of interest. You can contact me on email : cath...@xtra.co.nz Thanks for your interest. Catherine Kennedy

[cath...@xtra.co.nz]

Hi Ken Davies' son,
If you see my post of 2 Nov 2019, you will see I have written a book about a sailor who was on the Isis and who survived and I have used some of Ken's info (he wrote to me) and I dearly want to give him a copy of the book. Can you get back to me with his address so I can send him one. Also my email is cath...@xtra.co.nz
Looking forward to hearing from you
Regards
Catherine Kennedy

[michaelst...@gmail.com]

On Saturday, 26 January 2019 21:24:30 UTC, deniseb...@gmail.com wrote:
> Hi my uncle eric burton was on this ship i just wondered if yr dad ken davis knew off him thank you

Hi, I'm wondering if your uncle Eric Burton ever gave an eyewitness account of what happened on the Isis? I'm looking for more information, please write to me if you can, best wishes Michael (UK)

[michaelst...@gmail.com]

Many apologies... your uncle was probably one of the casualties, and if so I'm really sorry. Have you done any research on what happened to the people who survived the sinking? It seems very hard to find a list of the men who got off the boat, or even find out the correct number. Michael

[smcbon...@gmail.com]

Hi my name is Stuart Bonnington
I am the youngest son of Robert Bonnington who I believe survived the sinking of HMS Isis in 1944 off Normandy.

Is there any way this can be confirmed?

Thanks for any help.
Regards Stuart Bonnington
Perth WA

[graeme...@gmail.com]

Hi Stuart

My father J E (Ted) Tangye was one of the survivors of the sinking of HMS Isis. In his book "Just Ordinary Seamen" he listed those who died and the survivors. There is no Bonnington in either list.

Regards Graeme Tangye

[graeme...@gmail.com]

Hi Michael

My father J E (Ted) Tangye was one of the survivors of the sinking of HMS Isis. In his book "Just Ordinary Seamen" he listed those who died and the survivors.

Dad travelled to the UK in the 1990's, where he met up with a number of the survivors.

Regards Graeme Tangye

[Glenys biggs]

[Angus McCoatup]

Dear All, my father was Captain (army) Douglas Beaton the BLO on HMS Isis for the Normandy landings and a number of earlier campaigns and survived the sinking on July 20th.

This is a quick note to post in the hope I can a couple of images taken this Christmas of the HMS Isis memorial plaque in Portsmouth cathedral. I try and visit at least once a year and read the names of those lost as a result of the actions of that fateful day in 1944.
I have been in touch with Graeme and Elizabeth and have the very detailed and moving books by Ted Tangye about his time and Elizabeth's collection of Douglas Simpson's experiences through his letters home but would be happy to hear from anyone wishing to share stories of their relatives that were aboard HMS Isis?

I am not sure if the images will appear as images or simply filenames but I will happily send on to anyone wishing them if you ping me an email address....

All best wishes and deep appreciation of the sacrifice of those lost with HMS Isis and the hand of fate that meant survival and life for the few.

Angus Beaton


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