Operation Neptune ~ D-Day ~ 6th June 1944
In preparation for D-Day the Hargood sailed across the Atlantic from Baltimore to Greenock, Scotland.
The Hargood then made its way south via Belfast to escort a US troopship into Southampton arriving on the 5th June 1944.
She then refuelled and made her way to Falmouth Harbour, Cornwall, which was her jumping off place for the invasion the next day.
Before HMS Hargood left Falmouth Harbour for its D-Day escort duties they took on board a german speaking radio operator. These were known as ‘headache operators’.
'Every important warship in the D-Day Armada and the bombing force was provided with a Headache Unit for the interception and interpretation of enemy air and naval R/T on VHF. Fifty warships in all were fitted with Headache units'.
The officer was dutch born Bart Bredero and he recounts his brief time on the Hargood in his book ‘Detour to Freedom’ published in 1995.
The Hargood crossed the English channel at night safely escorting her convoy of landing craft. They were approached by German e-boats but Bart Bredero recounts that they fled when the Hargood fired flares in their direction.
On D-Day morning the Hargood was in the middle of the invasion fleet. Her first task was to help escort the assault landing craft to Omaha Beach while under fire from the German shore based artillery.
In the evening Hargood was next to the battleship HMS Rodney firing deafening broadsides into German targets from its 16 inch guns.
She then escorted the many convoys of troops and supplies from Portland Harbour in Dorset, and then later from Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight, to the beach heads at Seine Bay, Normandy.
The Hargood then made its way south via Belfast to escort a US troopship into Southampton arriving on the 5th June 1944.
She then refuelled and made her way to Falmouth Harbour, Cornwall, which was her jumping off place for the invasion the next day.
Before HMS Hargood left Falmouth Harbour for its D-Day escort duties they took on board a german speaking radio operator. These were known as ‘headache operators’.
'Every important warship in the D-Day Armada and the bombing force was provided with a Headache Unit for the interception and interpretation of enemy air and naval R/T on VHF. Fifty warships in all were fitted with Headache units'.
The officer was dutch born Bart Bredero and he recounts his brief time on the Hargood in his book ‘Detour to Freedom’ published in 1995.
The Hargood crossed the English channel at night safely escorting her convoy of landing craft. They were approached by German e-boats but Bart Bredero recounts that they fled when the Hargood fired flares in their direction.
On D-Day morning the Hargood was in the middle of the invasion fleet. Her first task was to help escort the assault landing craft to Omaha Beach while under fire from the German shore based artillery.
In the evening Hargood was next to the battleship HMS Rodney firing deafening broadsides into German targets from its 16 inch guns.
She then escorted the many convoys of troops and supplies from Portland Harbour in Dorset, and then later from Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight, to the beach heads at Seine Bay, Normandy.
The sinking of the SS Empire Javelin - 28 December 1944
The SS Empire Javelin was a British war landing ship built by Consolidated Steel Corp. in Orange, Texas.
She was owned by the British Royal Navy and was captained on her last voyage by Captain Mclean.
SS Empire Javelin embarked 1,483 US servicemen at Southampton for Le Havre, France on 28 December 1944.
She was in convoy with USS LST-325 and escorted by the Free French frigate L'Escarmouche.
In the English Channel on the afternoon of the 28th there was an explosion without warning at 50°5′N 1°0′W.
At least 20 lives were lost and 20 more injured.
The L'Escarmouche was called alongside once the extent of the damage had been assessed, and for approximately an hour the men on board the Empire Javelin jumped from the ship.
HMS Hargood (K582) arrived to assist, standing off nearby on submarine watch.
Two minutes after the last man jumped off, there was a large explosion and the ship began settling by the stern.
About 10 minutes later she was completely submerged.
Initially it was thought that the ship had been torpedoed by German submarine U-772, but it was later revealed that U-772 was sunk earlier that month.
Another U-boat, U-322, was active in the area on the same day, and was sunk on the next day south of Weymouth.
There is no definitive proof of what sank the Empire Javelin; it has also been proposed it struck a mine.
She was owned by the British Royal Navy and was captained on her last voyage by Captain Mclean.
SS Empire Javelin embarked 1,483 US servicemen at Southampton for Le Havre, France on 28 December 1944.
She was in convoy with USS LST-325 and escorted by the Free French frigate L'Escarmouche.
In the English Channel on the afternoon of the 28th there was an explosion without warning at 50°5′N 1°0′W.
At least 20 lives were lost and 20 more injured.
The L'Escarmouche was called alongside once the extent of the damage had been assessed, and for approximately an hour the men on board the Empire Javelin jumped from the ship.
HMS Hargood (K582) arrived to assist, standing off nearby on submarine watch.
Two minutes after the last man jumped off, there was a large explosion and the ship began settling by the stern.
About 10 minutes later she was completely submerged.
Initially it was thought that the ship had been torpedoed by German submarine U-772, but it was later revealed that U-772 was sunk earlier that month.
Another U-boat, U-322, was active in the area on the same day, and was sunk on the next day south of Weymouth.
There is no definitive proof of what sank the Empire Javelin; it has also been proposed it struck a mine.
December 28, 1944: Empire Javelin sinking in the English Channel. HMS Hargood K-582 is seen in the background. " Photo taken by Lewis D. Rindone from USS LST-325.
Recollections from US Sergeant J.V. Selman on board the Empire Javelin
The American troops were heading to Belgium as reinforcements in the famous Battle of the Bulge, Germany's last-gasp fierce fight of World War II.
About 2:30 that afternoon, a German U-boat's torpedo* rocked the Empire Javelin, causing unimaginable chaos as the ship began to swiftly go down. Selman, five years out of his hometown of Hobbs, N.M., thought his life might be over. He was on one of the lower decks, trying to keep warm, when he heard the explosion and everything went black.
"First thing I did was pray,'' Selman said. "I said, 'Lord, if you let me on with my life, I'll do my best to serve you.'" About an hour later, a French frigate pulled up against the dying Empire Javelin and the call went out: every man for himself. "It only took them one time to tell me,'' said Selman.
He made a 7-foot do-or-drown leap onto the French ship, and so did many others. There were so many on board that Selman said he could reach down and touch the water. A call rang out that Selman and others had to hurry off that ship on to lifeboats and eventually to an oncoming
British ship.
A shaken Selman, eventually on the British ship, hadn't gone half a mile when he looked back and saw the Empire Javelin for the last time. "It went straight up, and then straight down,'' he said.
Not all made it, but Selman did. They were issued a blanket "and we all huddled together like pigs,'' he said. Able to finally gather himself, he thought of his wife of two years, Burline, and the promise he'd made to his Lord.
*now believed that the Empire Javelin struck a mine
http://www.mybestyears.com/ARCHIVES/WWR/2-021507SelmanEvans.html
The American troops were heading to Belgium as reinforcements in the famous Battle of the Bulge, Germany's last-gasp fierce fight of World War II.
About 2:30 that afternoon, a German U-boat's torpedo* rocked the Empire Javelin, causing unimaginable chaos as the ship began to swiftly go down. Selman, five years out of his hometown of Hobbs, N.M., thought his life might be over. He was on one of the lower decks, trying to keep warm, when he heard the explosion and everything went black.
"First thing I did was pray,'' Selman said. "I said, 'Lord, if you let me on with my life, I'll do my best to serve you.'" About an hour later, a French frigate pulled up against the dying Empire Javelin and the call went out: every man for himself. "It only took them one time to tell me,'' said Selman.
He made a 7-foot do-or-drown leap onto the French ship, and so did many others. There were so many on board that Selman said he could reach down and touch the water. A call rang out that Selman and others had to hurry off that ship on to lifeboats and eventually to an oncoming
British ship.
A shaken Selman, eventually on the British ship, hadn't gone half a mile when he looked back and saw the Empire Javelin for the last time. "It went straight up, and then straight down,'' he said.
Not all made it, but Selman did. They were issued a blanket "and we all huddled together like pigs,'' he said. Able to finally gather himself, he thought of his wife of two years, Burline, and the promise he'd made to his Lord.
*now believed that the Empire Javelin struck a mine
http://www.mybestyears.com/ARCHIVES/WWR/2-021507SelmanEvans.html
In rough seas the Free French frigate L'Escarmouche tied up alongside the Empire Javelin.
The French Captain and crew risked their own lives by tying up to a much larger ship that was sinking.
The French crew helped many of the troops to jump down onto its decks until the small frigate was overloaded.
The French Frigate then moved alongside the American Landing Craft USS LST-325 to transfer over some of the troops.
In rough seas they collided ripping a hole in the side of the landing craft, luckily above the waterline.
Meanwhile the Hargood put men onboard the Empire Javelin to help treat the wounded and picked up survivors from the Empire Javelin's lifeboats.
------
A member of the Hargood crew, Gerrard Walsh, later recalled that he . .
"..went onto the sea deck of the Javelin bandaging and treating wounded and dying troops... He then returned with survivors onto the Hargood.
The Hargood was the last ship by the Javelin as she sunk. Captain Pringle who was commanding would have had authority on ship movements at that point. His ship would leave last as senior officer afloat, other ships were retained at various distances to patrol for U-boats or E-boats.
He remembers men being offered the last rights as he attempted to stop them bleeding to death, and the feeling of his hatred towards the priests who had come onboard and didn't seem able to help in any practical way, even to the extent of being on their knees praying by his side while he was shouting at them to hold tourniquets or put pressure on terrible wounds. He described the chaos, the screaming and how a NAAFI bloke who was first aid trained helped him manhandle victims, holding them down to try and treat them. They cut trousers off and because they were running out of bandages used newspaper directly onto the wounds then tied the trousers on top held on with shoelaces. He described how his jumper and trousers were soaked and heavy with blood. He recalled '"we didn't leave one behind when we left, not one"
------
There was a second explosion (probably from the Empire Javelin's boilers) and the ship sank just after the last of the crew escaped.
As it was thought that the Empire Javelin had been torpedoed the Hargood launched depth charges against suspected ASDIC contacts.
------
One of the survivors from the Empire Javelin onboard Hargood recalled that -
".. The underwater radar, ASDIC, had picked up something very big, very close to the boat and had let go with all 24 depth charges at once. As a result, we had dead fish all over the deck - it was a school of fish, not a submarine that the ASDIC had picked up."
-------
Another survivor from the Empire Javelin onboard Hargood recalled the following:
"Despite our protests, some of the crew members gave us their bunks, so we tried to get some sleep. About an hour later they dropped depth charges again after they had warned us over the speaker system. Again we jumped and got all the more nervous. On the deck there were about 24 positions from which they drop and toss depth charges. They would usually fire one or two positions at a time. I finally went to sleep, only to be awakened by a deafening explosion that felt like a strong earthquake. The boat trembled heavily. As I got up I saw the crew and everyone else dashing for the ladder to get up to the deck, and heard the alarm sirens sounding, I could very plainly see myself swimming around in the freezing water in the black night. I was seasick as the devil, and quite weak, in no mood to go swimming, so I just lay back down on my bunk and decided to wait for everyone to clear out first. All my resistance was gone and I was resigned to my fate. No question that death was just ahead."
-------
The Hargood then helped to ferry Empire Javelin survivors across the English Channel to Le Harve.
------
See the Maritime Quest website for further information on the Empire Javelin.
The recollections of an American Army survivor of the Empire Javelin sinking is on YouTube here.
The American Landing Craft USS LST-325 has been preserved in the USA and is open to visitors. Further information here.
The French Captain and crew risked their own lives by tying up to a much larger ship that was sinking.
The French crew helped many of the troops to jump down onto its decks until the small frigate was overloaded.
The French Frigate then moved alongside the American Landing Craft USS LST-325 to transfer over some of the troops.
In rough seas they collided ripping a hole in the side of the landing craft, luckily above the waterline.
Meanwhile the Hargood put men onboard the Empire Javelin to help treat the wounded and picked up survivors from the Empire Javelin's lifeboats.
------
A member of the Hargood crew, Gerrard Walsh, later recalled that he . .
"..went onto the sea deck of the Javelin bandaging and treating wounded and dying troops... He then returned with survivors onto the Hargood.
The Hargood was the last ship by the Javelin as she sunk. Captain Pringle who was commanding would have had authority on ship movements at that point. His ship would leave last as senior officer afloat, other ships were retained at various distances to patrol for U-boats or E-boats.
He remembers men being offered the last rights as he attempted to stop them bleeding to death, and the feeling of his hatred towards the priests who had come onboard and didn't seem able to help in any practical way, even to the extent of being on their knees praying by his side while he was shouting at them to hold tourniquets or put pressure on terrible wounds. He described the chaos, the screaming and how a NAAFI bloke who was first aid trained helped him manhandle victims, holding them down to try and treat them. They cut trousers off and because they were running out of bandages used newspaper directly onto the wounds then tied the trousers on top held on with shoelaces. He described how his jumper and trousers were soaked and heavy with blood. He recalled '"we didn't leave one behind when we left, not one"
------
There was a second explosion (probably from the Empire Javelin's boilers) and the ship sank just after the last of the crew escaped.
As it was thought that the Empire Javelin had been torpedoed the Hargood launched depth charges against suspected ASDIC contacts.
------
One of the survivors from the Empire Javelin onboard Hargood recalled that -
".. The underwater radar, ASDIC, had picked up something very big, very close to the boat and had let go with all 24 depth charges at once. As a result, we had dead fish all over the deck - it was a school of fish, not a submarine that the ASDIC had picked up."
-------
Another survivor from the Empire Javelin onboard Hargood recalled the following:
"Despite our protests, some of the crew members gave us their bunks, so we tried to get some sleep. About an hour later they dropped depth charges again after they had warned us over the speaker system. Again we jumped and got all the more nervous. On the deck there were about 24 positions from which they drop and toss depth charges. They would usually fire one or two positions at a time. I finally went to sleep, only to be awakened by a deafening explosion that felt like a strong earthquake. The boat trembled heavily. As I got up I saw the crew and everyone else dashing for the ladder to get up to the deck, and heard the alarm sirens sounding, I could very plainly see myself swimming around in the freezing water in the black night. I was seasick as the devil, and quite weak, in no mood to go swimming, so I just lay back down on my bunk and decided to wait for everyone to clear out first. All my resistance was gone and I was resigned to my fate. No question that death was just ahead."
-------
The Hargood then helped to ferry Empire Javelin survivors across the English Channel to Le Harve.
------
See the Maritime Quest website for further information on the Empire Javelin.
The recollections of an American Army survivor of the Empire Javelin sinking is on YouTube here.
The American Landing Craft USS LST-325 has been preserved in the USA and is open to visitors. Further information here.
Tower Hill Memorial, London records the names of Merchant Navy seamen that were lost at sea with no known grave.
The names of the seven Merchant Navy seamen that were lost from the Empire Javelin are there.
There are no roses on a sailor's grave,
No lilies on an ocean wave,
The only tribute is the seagulls' sweeps,
And the teardrops that a sweetheart weeps.
- German song
The Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society provided the survivors with £87/18s worth of financial support – the equivalent of £3,613 today.
The names of the seven Merchant Navy seamen that were lost from the Empire Javelin are there.
There are no roses on a sailor's grave,
No lilies on an ocean wave,
The only tribute is the seagulls' sweeps,
And the teardrops that a sweetheart weeps.
- German song
The Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society provided the survivors with £87/18s worth of financial support – the equivalent of £3,613 today.