DEDICATION
To F N ‘Norman’ Goodwin, author of Midshipman RNR, who encouraged me to write about the fast minelayers,
and
To all the Men Who Served in the Fast Minelayers and to their Fast Minelayers Association
Copyright © Arthur Nicholson 2015
Credited drawings copyright © Eric Leon 2015
First published in Great Britain in 2015 by
Seaforth Publishing,
Pen & Sword Books Ltd,
47 Church Street,
Barnsley S70 2AS
Published and distributed in the
United States of America and Canada by
Naval Institute Press
291 Wood Road
Annapolis, Maryland 21402-5034
This edition is authorized for sale only in the United States of America, its territories and possessions and Canada.
First Naval Institute Press eBook edition published in 2016.
ISBN 978-1-59114-727-5 (eBook)
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015946697
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing of both the copyright owner and the above publisher.
The right of Arthur Nicholson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Drawings by Eric Leon
Typeset and designed by Mousemat Design Limited
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
Preface
Introduction
1. Mines, Minelaying and Minelayers: Origins to the Eve of the Second World War
2. Getting It Just Right – Designing the Abdiel Class
3. The Royal Navy Readies for Mine Warfare in the Second World War
4. The Abdiel Completes and Proves Her Worth: Home Waters and the Mediterranean, 1941
5. The Latona Takes to the Water and Sails around the Cape, 1941
6. Pawns of Coalition War – The Abdiel and Latona on the Tobruk Run, 1941
7. The Manxman Enters the Fray: Malta Runs and a Disguise, 1941
8. The Welshman Joins the Manxman: Laying Mines for the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, 1941–1942
9. The Abdiel and then the Manxman to the Indian Ocean, 1941–1942
10. The Welshman and the Manxman to Malta’s Rescue, 1942
11. The Manxman, Welshman and Abdiel Wreak Havoc in the Mediterranean, 1942–1943
12. Hard Times for Fast Minelayers in the Mediterranean, 1942–1943
13. The Repeat Abdiels Take Shape, 1941–1943
14. The Ariadne Completes and Shows the Flag in the Pacific, 1943–1945
15. The Apollo Rounds Out the Six and Becomes a Yeoman Minelayer, 1944–1945
16. War’s End
17. Peacetime
18. Epilogue and Honours
Appendix: Plans, Camouflage and Models
Notes
Sources
Index
Colour plate section between pages 64 and 65
IN this task, the author has received the generous help of many, many people. I would like to specifically mention the fine detective work of Sue Savidge of Winchester, a relation of the Author’s wife Sandy. At the risk of leaving someone out, he wishes to acknowledge the generous assistance of the following people: Richard Alcock; Douglas Austin; Commander Erminio Bagnasco; Jo Bailey; Gertrude Barrett; Alec Bateson; Maurizio Brescia; Jane (née Friedberger) and Michael Bretherton; Jim Calcraft; Peter Cannon, Petty Officer, Royal Australian Navy, HMAS Canberra; Christian Carpenter; Joseph Caruana; Ron Checketts; Andrew Choong, National Maritime Museum, Woolwich; Julie Cochrane; David Davies; Elizabeth K Dickson; Michael Eisenstadt; Meredith Elsik; Contrammiraglio Maurizio Ertreo; Angela Evennett; Robert Ferry; Hans Frank; Mark Friedberger; Frederick Galea; Jock Gardner, Naval Historical Branch; Edward Barry Gibson, 4th Lord Ashbourne; Rachel Gill, Tyne & Wear Archives; Ian Goodwin; Norman Goodwin, RIP, & son Tim Goodwin; Jeremy Grindle; Catherine Hamilton née Robertson; Jean Hannant née Cowie; Brian Hargreaves, World Ship Society and Warships; Detlef Hartwig; Dolores Ho; Harley and Peta Hodges; Heather Johnson, National Museum of the Royal Navy; Mark Johnston; Alexander Kasterine; Christopher Langtree; Eric Leon; Ken Maher, RIP; L O Maurer; Helen Mavin, Imperial War Museum; Michael McAloon, Naval Historical Branch; Alison Metcalfe, National Library of Scotland; Jeremy Michell, National Maritime Museum, Woolwich; John Mizzi; Ray Moore, Fast Minelayers Association; Victoria Northridge, Imperial War Museum; Charles Orr Ewing; Trevor Piper; Francesca Pitaro, Associated Press Corporate Archives; Robin and Flickie Pleydell-Bouverie; Diana Porter; Anthony Price; Steven Prince, Naval Historical Branch; Bill Pye; George Robbert; Jane
