HMS BIRMINGHAM
Herbert George Bateman was born 24 February 1924,
in H.M. Ships Bert served
on:
HMS Birmingham at
HMS Birmingham Crest
HMS Birmingham New crew intake: Bert – middle row left end
Members of the crew HMS
Birmingham (Note crew member 2nd
from left looks like Bert) Bert was reassigned to HMS Warspite
March 1943 in
Telegram from Bert regarding his transfer to HMS Warspite HMS WARSPITE
is perhaps marginally the most famous of her Class. She was in action with
German and Italian surface warships, supported many She was a much loved vessel by her commanders and crews. Once on her return to Malta Warspite received the following signal from Admiral Cunningham C in C ANXF, “Operation well carried out. There is no question when the old lady lifts her skirts she can run.”) On the 27th September 1945 Admiral Andrew Cunningham was installed as Knight of the Thistle in St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh. At this time he handed over Warspite’s ensign to the Cathedral for safe keeping. This was the Admiral’s final tribute to his much loved flagship and ensured at least one small reminder of the “Grand Old Lady” remained. Source: Walcheren Island 1944, account of landing craft www.naval-history.net/WW2Memoir-Walcheren.htm HMS Warspite
went into the Mediterranean to support the American landings in the The following extract is from www.naval-history.net. The account covers 6 days. SERVICE HISTORIES of ROYAL NAVY WARSHIPS in WORLD WAR 2 HMS WARSPITE - Queen Elizabeth-class 15in gun Battleship 1943 July 14th At 1700 hours
Force H comprising battleships Nelson (C in C Force H), Rodney,
Warspite, and Valiant, aircraft carriers Formidable and Illustrious
escorted by destroyers Jervis (D 14), Ilex, Pathfinder, Penn
and Petard sailed from Malta for Gibraltar. Warspite was en
route to the At 2000 hours
the CinC Force H received a signal recalling Force
H and instructing him to detach Warspite and Valiant with the
escorting destroyers to proceed with all dispatch to (The reason
for this deployment was because during the 12th-14th September the Germans
unleashed a concerted counterattack by six divisions against the 15th At 1100 hours Warspite, Valiant
and destroyers Jervis (D 14), Ilex, Pathfinder, Penn and
Petard arrived off the beachhead in the middle of an air attack by FW
190’s. Warspite’s gunnery officers crossed to the HQ ship USS Biscayne
to obtain target information . At 1320 hours the
gunnery officers returned and her captain of Marines embarked on Petard
who landed him on the beachhead to act as FOO for her bombardment. Warspite
then moved to a position approximately 1000 yards off the mouth of the At 1752 hours Warspite
opened fire with her main armament on Altavilla, in support of US troops, 9
out of her 12 salvos were right on the target. Warspite’s target was
also being bombarded by cruisers During the night the assembled shipping came under sustained air attack. The destroyer escorts were positioned around the two battleships approximately 4000 yards out. During one air attack a 6in shell from Warspite hit Petard and exploded amongst the ammunition supply party for A and B guns, killing 2 and wounding 6. 16th At 0830 hours Warspite returned to her previous day’s bombardment position, with destroyers Cleveland, Cottesmore and Garth as escort and resumed her bombardment of enemy positions. One of her targets was a German ammunition dump behind Altavilla she fired 48 rounds of 15in at the target, 16 of which fell right on the target and 8 were within 100 yards. Mid morning the bombarding ships came under
heavy air attack. Due to the nature of the mission and the concentration of
shipping the ability to take avoiding action was limited. During one air
attack a 4in shell from Warspite hit destroyer Offa, exploding
on B gun deck, killing one and wounding several others. At
1400 hours she was moving away from her bombardment position having completed
her mission. When she was attacked, out of the sun, by 12 FW 190
fighter-bombers, these were fought off without result. But in repelling this
attack all attention had been concentrated on these 12 aircraft. At
1427 hours, moving at 10 knots through the congested shipping, with her
attention diverted and only a few minutes after the fighter-bombers had
disappeared; the ship’s lookouts sighted a group of high-level D0 217 K-2
bombers which released 3 FX-1400 (Fritz X) glider bombs. Of the three glider
bombs launched, two found their target. The
first bomb came straight for the port side of the ship and penetrated six
decks to hit her double bottom before exploding and flooding No.4 boiler-room
and eventually causing the flooding of 4 of the other 5 boiler rooms. The
second was a near miss amidships abreast the bulge on the starboard side,
where it burst under water causing a long gash in her starboard bulge. The
third bomb was a near miss on the starboard side aft. From the time of
sighting to the time of the bombs' arrival was some seven to ten seconds. 9
men were killed and 14 injured. All steam was lost and the ship could not
steer. All communications were temporarily out of action and some 5,000 tons
of flood-water had increased her draught by about five feet. (The
attacking aircraft were from the Luftwaffe unit 111/KG100 based at Warspite was left drifting without
power, Radar out of action, unable to operate her armament or steer. She had
4 destroyers in company. Captain Parker issued orders to prepare for a tow,
changed over to mechanical steering and called upon HM AA Cruiser By
1615 hours the Fleet Tug USS Hopi had a line on her. Two more Fleet
Tugs, the USS Moreno and USS Narragansett, arrived soon
afterwards and course was set for the Straits of Messina at 4 knots. At 1930
hours cruiser Scylla joined the escort. At
2300 hours cruiser Euryalus arrived on the
scene. At which time Warspite was drifting sideways, despite the best
efforts of the tugs. With the agreement of Captain Parker, Admiral Vian ordered Euryalus
abreast of the battleship’s bulky bows to pick up her towing hawser. As
soon as this was secured, Euryalus went
ahead dead slow. Unfortunately at this point the tugs had cast off their own
tows and Warspite had become a waterlogged deadweight and the towing
hawser parted. 17th At 0130 hours the tugs had secured
further towing hawsers and had her under way again. A speed of 4 knots was
maintained through the night. But by next morning Warspite’s list had
increased to 4.5 degrees. However she was only 45 miles from the 18th In the
Straits of Messina HM Ocean Salvage Vessel Salveda
joined the group. But the southward current was so strong that all towing
wires except one parted, and the waterlogged ship went through the straits
broadside on. Eventually she emerged at the southern exit of the straits,
where the tow was resumed. 19th At
0800 hours Warspite arrived back at HMS Warspite was later taken to Having survived the attack at Salerno Bert
later served on the
Transfer to HMNZS Leander Bert was very much affected by his
experiences during World War II, particularly on HMS Warspite when
several of his mates were blown up during bombing and enemy fire described
above. After the war he worked as a surveyor/draughtsman in a Photos from Bert’s album
HMS Birmingham at anchor
HMS Birmingham leaving harbour
HMS Birmingham at
Christmas Menu 1942 For many of our contributors researching the past brings back sometimes poignant and unsettling memories. It reminds us all of those who are no longer with us and when we search we often find we have more still with us than we ever realised. The following extract is from one of As promised, my
parents discovered notes amongst the items already mentioned to you, but that
led on to the discovery of a small photo album they didn't realise they had! The photo album has
some revised dates as follows: Bert was on HMS
Birmingham 1941 - 1943. There is a photo of
Bert with his group of new conscripts in WWII. Also a Christmas
1942 printed menu with "HMS Birmingham" printed on the front plus
the plaque with the motto Forward (photo attached). There are 2 black
and white photos of HMS Birmingham and also a larger one HMS Birmingham in Several small
pictures of the crew enjoying themselves in the water! A small emblem
(printed in blue) of the plaque, probably cut out from an item of stationery
(included in an attached photo). It appears that
Bert was transferred to HMS Warspite from the There is a telegram
to my great grandfather dated 26th March 1943 announcing his transfer to HMS
Warspite The Warspite sailed
from I also attach a
copy of the Transfer to HMS Leander and also the emblem of HMS Birmingham as
mentioned above. I hope this helps
you a little more. Kind regards I am very grateful to Elizabeth Blackstock and her parents for their contribution to the website. More photos from Bert’s album
Members of the crew of H.M.S
Birmingham c1942 Bert attended the launch of the new HMS Birmingham.
The latest bearer of the famous name is a Royal Navy Guided Missile Destroyer
launched 30 July 1973. Bert kept both the newspaper notice and the
invitation. Copies of both are shown below.
Invitation to the launch of the new guided missile destroyer HMS Birmingham
Newspaper notice regarding the invitation Back to: |
