Post by Administrator on Apr 7, 2017 10:58:49 GMT
CONVOY TM 1
Nine tankers in a convoy in nineteen forty two,
Steamed from Port of Spain - each with valiant crew,
Sailing to Gibraltar to feed the Allied needs,
Hampered by a head wind reducing modest speeds.
A U-Boat close at hand, reported back to base,
So Doenitz gathered wolf-packs and sent them on apace,
To stalk the lumbering vessels laden down with oil,
And sink them with torpedoes by their toxic toil.
The convoy had an escort - a destroyer and corvettes,
But failed to stop the enemy discern the silhouettes,
First the British Vigilance, was hammered in the dark,
She dropped back through the convoy derelict and stark.
Albert Ellsworth then blew up, while leading column one,
Within a couple of minutes, she was entirely gone,
Next Oltenia Two was struck - very soon thereafter,
Then Minister Wedel and Norvik, totting up disaster.
The escorts tried so hard, to defend the scene,
But those infernal U-Boats foiled the navy screen,
Empire Lytton’s tanks were breached - set the sea on fire,
Next day British Dominion was turned into a pyre.
Only two ships made it, to Gibraltar’s welcome berth,
Our tenacious Seamen showed their dauntless worth,
By shipping out regardless against a deadly foe,
Knowing they were `sitting ducks` travelling in a row.
Only Cliona and the Vanja survived from the nine tankers in convoy TM1 - arriving on 14th. Jan. 1943.
Two U-Boats were damaged during the attacks.
Nine tankers in a convoy in nineteen forty two,
Steamed from Port of Spain - each with valiant crew,
Sailing to Gibraltar to feed the Allied needs,
Hampered by a head wind reducing modest speeds.
A U-Boat close at hand, reported back to base,
So Doenitz gathered wolf-packs and sent them on apace,
To stalk the lumbering vessels laden down with oil,
And sink them with torpedoes by their toxic toil.
The convoy had an escort - a destroyer and corvettes,
But failed to stop the enemy discern the silhouettes,
First the British Vigilance, was hammered in the dark,
She dropped back through the convoy derelict and stark.
Albert Ellsworth then blew up, while leading column one,
Within a couple of minutes, she was entirely gone,
Next Oltenia Two was struck - very soon thereafter,
Then Minister Wedel and Norvik, totting up disaster.
The escorts tried so hard, to defend the scene,
But those infernal U-Boats foiled the navy screen,
Empire Lytton’s tanks were breached - set the sea on fire,
Next day British Dominion was turned into a pyre.
Only two ships made it, to Gibraltar’s welcome berth,
Our tenacious Seamen showed their dauntless worth,
By shipping out regardless against a deadly foe,
Knowing they were `sitting ducks` travelling in a row.
Only Cliona and the Vanja survived from the nine tankers in convoy TM1 - arriving on 14th. Jan. 1943.
Two U-Boats were damaged during the attacks.
