Navy | The Royal Navy |
Type | Sloop |
Class | Grimsby |
Pennant | L 59 / U 59 |
Built by | Devonport Dockyard (Plymouth, U.K.): J.S. White & Co. (Cowes, U.K.) |
Ordered | 1 May 1933 |
Laid down | 21 Aug 1933 |
Launched | 11 Apr 1934 |
Commissioned | 22 Nov 1934 |
End service | |
History | HMS Lowestoft is not listed as active unit in the October 1945 Navy List Sold 4 October 1946. |
Commands listed for HMS Lowestoft (L 59 / U 59)
Please note that we're still working on this section.
Commander | From | To | ||
1 | Cdr. Arthur Macdonnell Knapp, RN | 15 Aug 1938 | 8 Jan 1941 | |
2 | Cdr. Ughtred Henry Ramsden James, RN | 8 Jan 1941 | 21 Jul 1941 | |
3 | Lt.Cdr. (retired) Francis Babington Proudfoot, RN | 21 Jul 1941 | Aug 1942 | |
4 | A/Cdr. John Rochfort D'Oyly, RN | 17 Nov 1942 | Jan 1943 | |
5 | Lt. Thomas Keppel Edge-Partington, RN | Jan 1943 | 23 Mar 1943 | |
6 | A/Cdr. (retired) Lawrence Henry Phillips, RN | 23 Mar 1943 | Jun 1945 | |
7 | Lt.Cdr. Charles Grenville Cowley, RN | Jun 1945 | mid 1945 |
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Notable events involving Lowestoft include:
23 Jan 1940
HMS Oswald (Lt.Cdr. G.M. Sladen, RN) conducted exercises off Malta together with HMS Lowestoft (Cdr. A.M. Knapp, RN). (1)
4 Jun 1940
HMS Clyde (Lt.Cdr. D.C. Ingram, RN) departed Rosyth for her 10th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Standtlandet.
Before departure for her patrol area, A/S exercises were carried out in the Firth of Forth with HMS Lowestoft (Cdr. A.M. Knapp, RN).
For the daily and attack positions of HMS Clyde during this patrol see the map below.
(2)
30 Oct 1941
HrMs O 14 (Lt.Cdr. G. Quint, RNN(R)) conducted A/S exercises at / off Scapa Flow with HMS Lowestoft (Lt.Cdr.(Retd.) F.B. Proudfoot, RN) and HMS Chiddingfold (Lt. L.W.L. Argles, RN). (3)
31 Oct 1941
HrMs O 14 (Lt.Cdr. G. Quint, RNN(R)) conducted A/S exercises at / off Scapa Flow with HMS Lowestoft (Lt.Cdr.(Retd.) F.B. Proudfoot, RN), HMS Chiddingfold (Lt. L.W.L. Argles, RN), HMS Montrose (Lt.Cdr. W.J. Phipps, OBE, RN) and HMS Antelope (Lt.Cdr. E.N. Sinclair, RN). (3)
1 Nov 1941
HrMs O 14 (Lt.Cdr. G. Quint, RNN(R)) conducted A/S exercises at / off Scapa Flow with HMS Chiddingfold (Lt. L.W.L. Argles, RN), HMS Hurworth (Lt.Cdr. J.T.B. Birch, RN), HMS Lowestoft (Lt.Cdr.(Retd.) F.B. Proudfoot, RN) and HMS Southwold (Cdr. C.T. Jellicoe, DSC, RN). (3)
5 Nov 1941
HrMs O 14 (Lt.Cdr. G. Quint, RNN(R)) conducted A/S exercises at / off Scapa Flow with HMS Maori (Cdr. R.E. Courage, DSO, DSC and Bar, RN), HMS Lowestoft (Lt.Cdr.(Retd.) F.B. Proudfoot, RN) and HMS Chiddingfold (Lt. L.W.L. Argles, RN). (3)
1 May 1942
HrMs O 9 (Lt. J.F. Drijfhout Van Hooff, RNN) participated in A/S exercises off Lough Foyle together with HMCS Rosthern (Cdr. P.B. Cross, RCNVR), USS Niblack (Lt.Cdr. E.R. Durgin, USN), HMS Lowestoft (Lt.Cdr.(Retd.) F.B. Proudfoot, RN) and HMS Pelican (Cdr. G.V. Gladstone, RN). (4)
2 May 1942
HrMs O 9 (Lt. J.F. Drijfhout Van Hooff, RNN) participated in A/S exercises off Lough Foyle together with HMS Lowestoft (Lt.Cdr.(Retd.) F.B. Proudfoot, RN), HMS Pelican (Cdr. G.V. Gladstone, RN) and HMS Quadrille (T/Lt. N.T. Chetwood, RNVR). (4)
7 May 1943
HMS H 33 (Lt. J.A. Spender, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Lough Foyle with HMS Shikari (Lt.Cdr. D.A. Rayner, DSC, VRD, RNVR), HMS Bryony (T/Lt. T. Hand, RNR), HMS Lowestoft (A/Cdr.(Retd.) L.H. Phillips, RN) and HMS Bergamot (Lt. R.T. Horan, RNR). (5)
9 May 1943
HMS Upstart (Lt. P.C. Chapman, DSC and Bar, RN) conducted A/S exercises in Lough Foyle with HMS Lowestoft (A/Cdr.(Retd.) L.H. Phillips, RN), HMS Bergamot (Lt. R.T. Horan, RNR) and HMS Bryony (T/Lt. T. Hand, RNR). (6)
10 May 1943
HMS H 33 (Lt. J.A. Spender, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Lough Foyle with HMS Lowestoft (A/Cdr.(Retd.) L.H. Phillips, RN). (5)
11 May 1943
HMS H 33 (Lt. J.A. Spender, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Lough Foyle with HMS Lowestoft (A/Cdr.(Retd.) L.H. Phillips, RN), USS Belknap and USS Badger. (5)
28 May 1943
Convoy MKF 15.
This convoy departed Algiers on 28 May 1943 for the U.K.
On departure from Algiers the convoy was made up of the following ships; Antenor (British, 11174 GRT, built 1925), Arawa (British, 14462 GRT, built 1922), Boissevain (Dutch, 14134 GRT, built 1937), California (British, 16792 GRT, built 1923), Duchess of York (British, 20021 GRT, built 1929), Felix Roussel (French, 17083 GRT, built 1930), Franconia (British, 20175 GRT, built 1923), Indrapoera (Dutch, 10825 GRT, built 1925), Johan van Oldenbarnevelt (Dutch, 19429 GRT, built 1930), Letitia (British, 13595 GRT, built 1925), Mooltan (British, 20952 GRT, built 1923), Ormonde (British, 14982 GRT, built 1917), Samaria (British, 19597 GRT, built 1921) and Santa Rosa (American, 9135 GRT, built 1932).
The convoy was escorted by the British sloop HMS Weston (Cdr. L.F. Durnford-Slater, RN), HMS Wellington (Lt.Cdr. J.T. Jones, RD, RNR), HMS Lowestoft (A/Cdr.(Retd.) L.H. Phillips, RN), HMS Gorleston (Cdr.(Retd.) R.W. Keymer, RN), HMS Totland (Lt.Cdr. L.E. Woodhouse, RN) and the frigates HMS Exe (A/Cdr. M.A.O. Biddulph, DSC, RN) and HMS Ness (Lt.Cdr. T.G.P. Crick, DSC, RN).
On 29 May, off Oran, the convoy was joined by the following ships; Cristobal (American, 10021 GRT, built 1939), Dartmouth (American, 9879 GRT, built 1943), Examiner (American, 6736 GRT, built 1942), General George W. Goethals (American, 12093 GRT, built 1942), J.W. McAndrew (American, 7997 GRT, built 1940), John Ericson (American, 16552 GRT, built 1928), Nea Hellas (British, 16991 GRT, built 1922), Seafrain Lakehurst (American, 8108 GRT, built 1940), Staffordhire (British, 10683 GRT, built 1929) and Stirling Castle (British, 25550 GRT, built 1936).
On 30 May the convoy was off Gibraltar. There two more ships joined the convoy, these were; Maloja (British, 20914 GRT, built 1923) and Scythia (British, 19761 GRT, built 1920). Also six ships were detached to Gibraltar, these were the; Arawa, Dartmouth, Examiner, Seafrain Lakehurst, Staffordshire and Stirling Castle.
The following warships joined the escort of the convoy off Gibraltar; aircraft carrier HMS Unicorn (Capt. Q.D. Graham, CBE, DSO, RN), ecort carrier HMS Tracker (A/Capt. G.C. Dickins, RN) and the destroyers HMS Javelin (Lt.Cdr. J.M. Alliston, DSC, RN) and HMS Kelvin (Lt.Cdr. J.T.B. Birch, DSO, DSC, RN).
The sloop HMS Totland was detached to proceed to Gibraltar for repairs as she had defects.
On 1 June 1943, the Scythia was detached.
At 1200 hours on 4 June, HMS Unicorn, HMS Tracker, HMS Javelin and HMS Kelvin parted company with the convoy and proceeded ahead of it to the Clyde (HMS Tracker to Belfast).
10 Oct 1943
HMS Venturer (Lt. J.S. Launders, DSC, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Larne with HMS Philante (Capt. A.J. Baker-Cresswell, DSO, RN), ships from B 7 Escort Group, HMS Pink (Lt. R. Atkinson, DSC, RNR) and HMS Lowestoft (A/Cdr.(Retd.) L.H. Phillips, RN). (7)
Sources
- ADM 173/16373
- ADM 199/1877
- File 2.12.03.6388 (Dutch Archives, The Hague, Netherlands)
- File 2.12.03.6369 (Dutch Archives, The Hague, Netherlands)
- ADM 173/17782
- ADM 173/18373
- ADM 173/18449
ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.