In the British War Cabinet meeting of 11 June 1917 reported the First Sea Lord (1) that the convoy coming from the USA arrived safely despite that 2 of the 12 were forces to return lacking enough speed to keep up with the convoy. The commanding officer of the cruiser HMS Roxburgh (2) escorting the convoy thought that was convoys consisting of 20 ships was possible. Jellicoe pointed out that at the moment he was lacking enough cruisers for escort duties. Further more it was a necessity that the merchant ships part of the convoy were fairly fast and of an uniform speed.
Notes
1. John Rushworth Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe (5 December Southampton, England 1859-Kensington London, England 20 November 1935), served in the Royal Navy between 1872-1919 ending his career in the rank of Admiral of the Fleet, First Sea Lord between 30 November 1916 and 10 January 1918 and commanded the Grand Fleet at the Battle of Jutland in May 1916. Governor-General of New Zealand 27 September 1920-12 December 1924.
2. Devonshire-class armoured cruiser, preceded by Monmouth-class, succeeded by Duke of Edingburg-class, laid down by London&Glasgow Shipbuilding, Govan, Scotland on 13 June 1902, launched on 19 January 1904, completed on 5 September 1905 and sold to be broken up on 8 November 1921. Main armament 4x1-19,1cm/7.7” Mk1 guns and 6x1-15,2cm/6” Mk VII guns.
Source
The National Archives, Kew Gardens, England, CAB 23-3-7
No comments:
Post a Comment