William Charles Lyons
Some information may seem harder to find regarding someone!
 |
| William Charles Lyons Danygraig Cemetery credit - findagrave |
H.M.S. “BEAULY” and “ORCHY” were formerly owned by William Sloan & Co., of Glasgow, and employed in trading between the Clyde, Belfast, and Bristol. Strongly built, coal-burning vessels of between 1000 and 1500 tons with high bulwarks and a long forewell deck. Their top speed was 10.5 knots, and their coal consumption varied between 12 and 24 tons daily. After being requisitioned by Vice Admiral Gordon Campbell VC., they were renamed LOOE and ANTONINE respectively.
 |
| H.M.S. “ORCHY” |
For their Q Ship role, they were armed with 4-inch guns concealed in the holds
behind dropping shutters. Two 12pounders. one of which was disguised as a crane
and the other mounted on the poop in full view as a defensively armed merchant
ship weapon. 2x18-inch torpedo tubes on the well deck 2 Depth Charge Throwers
and a row of depth charges concealed in a deck house aft. They were also fitted
with an Asdic set and a degaussing girdle.
To take command of the LOOE Campbell selected Commander Francis Halley Ashton
an experienced destroyer commander who at the outbreak of the war was serving
on the training staff at the RN Barracks, Portsmouth. Command of the ANTONINE
was given to Commander Charles Vincent Jack, a retired officer who had left the
Navy in 1931 and had seen considerable service in small ships.
Given a complement of between 70/80 officers and men. conditions on board were therefore
exceedingly cramped and uncomfortable, but such a large number was necessary to
allow for a panic party to abandon ship while leaving behind sufficient hands
to man the hidden weapons. Each ship carried between 700/800 tons of timber
below decks for floatation purposes.
It had been arranged for the ships to be converted at Chatham Naval Dockyard.
The work was put in hand at once and it was hoped to get the ships away before
Christmas but because of the enemy’s magnetic mine campaign, the yard became
overwhelmed with damage repair work which was ruled as being of higher
priority. The officers had all been appointed before the end of October 1939
and they spent a miserable winter living on board the partially converted ships
with nothing to do. The weather was so severe that the dockyard basin where the
ships were lying was completely frozen over.
Thus it was not until April 1940 that LOOE and ANTONINE were ready for service.
On completion, each vessel sailed north for the Northwestern Approaches. Their
operational area extended from Torry Island off the tip of Ireland outwards to
St Kilda and the Flannan Islands thence Nort eastwards to the Faroes. South to
the Orkneys and down through the Minches. Each ship was to remain at sea for ten days at the end of which she could put into port to give the crew
a brief rest and take on fuel and stores. Coaling, however, was laborious and
never took less than 12 hours. Both ships needed to carry 50 tons as deck cargo.
Comments
Post a Comment