World War II Database

1.  Alan Chanter says:
17 Jul 2020 01:32:59 AM

During the 2nd Battle of Narvik (13 April 1940) a Swordfish floatplane flown by Petty Officer F.R. Price with Lieutenant Commander W.L.M. Brown as observer was launched from the battleship HMS Warspite. Having reported the position of two enemy ships in the fjord they turned to make a reconnaissance of Herjangsfiord, north east of Narvik.

There the delighted airmen saw the U-boat, U64, lying fully surfaced. Putting his clumsy machine into the nearest approach to a dive of which it was capable, Petty Officer Price released his two 350 lb. anti-submarine bombs, achieving a direct hit on the German submarine. U64 was able to reach the far end of Harjangsfiord, before sinking. Most of her crew escaped.

Returning down the fjord, the crew of the aircraft were just in time to see the Köllner’s retirement into ambush and signalled a warning to Warspite. Thus, when the leading British destroyers, Bedouin and Eskimo, rounded the point of Djupvik their guns were already trained and ready to fire. The enemy threat was quickly and efficiently eliminated.