HMS Apollo (M01)

HMS Apollo was an Abdiel-class minelayer of the Royal Navy, the eighth RN ship to carry the name. She served with the Home Fleet during World War II, taking part in the Normandy Landings before being transferred to the British Pacific Fleet. Put into reserve in 1946, she was recommissioned in 1951, serving until 1961, and was sold for scrapping in 1962.[1]

Apollo in August, 1945
History
United Kingdom
Name: Apollo
Namesake: Apollo
Ordered: 1940
Builder: Hawthorn Leslie, Hebburn
Laid down: 10 October 1941
Launched: 5 April 1943
Completed: 12 February 1944
Commissioned: 1944
Decommissioned: 1946
Recommissioned: 1951
Decommissioned: 1961
Identification: pennant number M01/N01
Motto:
  • Fortis et benignus
  • ("Strong and kindly (or merciful)")
Honours and
awards:
NORMANDY 1944
Fate: Sold for scrapping, 1962
Badge: On a field Blue, a sun in splendour Gold
General characteristics
Class and type: Abdiel-class minelayer
Displacement:
  • 2,650 long tons (2,693 t) standard
  • 4,000 long tons (4,064 t) full load
Length: 418 ft (127 m)
Beam: 40 ft (12 m)
Draught: 16 ft (4.9 m)
Propulsion:
  • 4 × Admiralty 3-drum boilers
  • Geared turbines
  • 2 shafts
  • 72,000 shp (53,690 kW)
Speed: 40 knots (74 km/h; 46 mph)
Range: 1,000 nmi (1,900 km) at 38 kn (70 km/h; 44 mph)
Complement: 242
Armament:

Service history

1944

Commissioned after sea trials in February 1944 Apollo joined the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow before setting out for Plymouth for minelaying operations in support of the planned invasion of France. Loading mines at Milford Haven she commenced a series of operations off the French coast of Brittany between Ushant and Île Vierge.[1]

She was detached for duty in "Operation Neptune" and on 7 June (D-Day+1) she embarked Allied Supreme Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Naval Commander in Chief Admiral Bertram Ramsay, General Bernard Law Montgomery and staff officers from SHAEF, to visit the assault areas.[2] Unfortunately the minelayer grounded while underway, damaging her propellers, and her passengers were transferred to the destroyer Undaunted.[1]

Apollo took passage to Sheerness and then to the Tyne for repairs, which were completed in September. The ship was then transferred to Western Approaches Command, and deployed in the South-Western Approaches laying deep trap minefields as a countermeasure to U-boat activities in inshore waters.[1] With minelayer Plover she laid more than 1200 Mk XVII moored mines across the coastal convoy route along the north coast of Cornwall. She started on 29 November 1944 with minefield "HW A1" – this minefield was later fatal to the submarine U-325. On 3 December she laid minefield "HW A3" east of "HW A1". This minefield was later fatal to the submarine U-1021.[3]

On 24 December she was transferred to the Home Fleet for minelaying duty off Norway, operating off Utsira in January, accompanied by the destroyers Zealous and Carron.[1]

1945

Apollo laying mines off Norway

On 15 January 1945 she returned to the Western Approaches for minelaying in the Irish Sea. On 13 April Apollo rejoined the Home Fleet for a minelaying operation in the Russian Kola Inlet ("Operation Trammel") as part of "Force 5" with destroyers Opportune, Orwell and Obedient, rejoining the Home Fleet in May.[1]

After the end of the war in Europe Apollo sailed to Oslo in company with sister ship Ariadne and heavy cruiser Devonshire, returning the Norwegian Government-in-Exile and Crown Prince Olav.[1]

On her return Apollo prepared for service with the British Pacific Fleet, departing from Portsmouth at the end of June. After exercises with the Mediterranean Fleet at Malta in July, she finally arrived at Melbourne on 1 August, by which time her services were no longer required, as the Japanese surrendered on the 15th.[1]

Post-war

Apollo was then employed in repatriation work carrying former British prisoners of war to Shanghai for passage back to the UK. She also carried mail and stores to ships and establishments in the Pacific, including the British Fleet Base at Manus, Shanghai, various Japanese ports and Hong Kong. In mid-1946 Apollo returned to Chatham and was paid off into Reserve.[1]

In 1948 her pennant number was changed from M01 to N01.

19511961

Apollo was recommissioned in 1951 after the outbreak of the Korean War,[1] joining the 2nd Cruiser Squadron of the Home Fleet. After Hurricane Charlie struck Jamaica on 17 August 1951, Apollo made a high speed run to deliver relief supplies to the island.[4] In 1953 she took part in the Fleet Review to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II,[5] while in November 1954 she became the Flagship of the Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet.[4] On 25 August 1960, the destroyer Battleaxe was carrying out steam trials while moored alongside Apollo at Portsmouth, when steam was let into Battleaxe's turbines, driving the ship forward and breaking Apollo's mooring lines. Apollo then collided with the frigate Wakeful, which also broke free from her moorings and struck the caisson at the entrance to a dock. Apollo's stem was damaged, while Wakeful suffered buckled plates from the impact by Apollo and a badly damaged bow from the collision with the caisson.[6]

She was paid off and returned to the Reserve in 1961, was put on the Disposal List the next year, and sold for breaking-up by Hughes Bolckow at Blyth, Northumberland, where she arrived in November 1962.[1]

Commanding officers

FromToCaptain
1944 1945 Captain J A Grindle RN
19471948
19531953Captain N A Mackinnon ADC RAN
19601960Captain L D Empson RN

References

  1. Mason, Geoffery B. (5 June 2011). "HMS Apollo - Abdiel-class Fast Cruiser Minelayer". Service Histories of Royal Navy Warships in World War 2. Naval-history.net. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  2. "D-Day Fact Sheet, 6 June 1944". kansasheritage.org. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
  3. Helgason, Guðmundur. "The loss of U 325, U 400 and U 1021: Re-assessment of German U-boat losses in World War II". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
  4. "Ships of the Royal Navy: No. 22. H.M.S. Apollo". Navy News. July 1957. p. 3. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  5. Souvenir Programme, Coronation Review of the Fleet, Spithead, 15th June 1953, HMSO, Gale and Polden
  6. "Apollo, Torn From Wall by Battleaxe, Rams Wakeful". Navy News. September 1960. p. 1. Retrieved 24 August 2018.

Publications

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