HMT Bedfordshire

HMT [The abbreviation HMT - 'His Majesty's Trawler' - identifies the "Bedfordshire" as a non-commissioned ship.] "Bedfordshire" was an armed anti-submarine trawler in the service of the Royal Navy during World War II. She was sunk by the Uboat "U-558" on May 11 1942 off the coast of Ocracoke Island on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, with the loss of all hands.

Construction

"Bedfordshire" was a commercial fishing trawler built in 1935 by Smith's Dock Co. in Middlesbrough, England and launched at Teesside. In 1939 she was sold to the Admiralty. Converted for anti-submarine patrols, she was armed with a 4-inch gun, machine guns, and depth charges.

ervice on the American coast

After Germany declared war on the United States on December 11, 1941, German U-boats quickly became a serious threat on the East Coast. The United States Navy was ill-prepared to defend against submarine warfare, and U-boats found it easy to pick off commercial shipping vessels, which traveled unescorted. The onslaught began in January 1942, when 35 Allied ships were sunk by U-boats off the American coast. [Hancock, p. 414.]

In March 1942, the Royal Navy sent 24 ships, including the "Bedfordshire", to assist the United States Navy with anti-submarine patrols along the East Coast.Conn, p. 96.] U-boats continued to terrorize local shipping, and 45 ships were lost between February and April 1942, with US defenses only managing to sink one U-boat (U-85) during that period.

On May 10, "Bedfordshire" and HMT "Loman" were dispatched from their base at Morehead City to search for a U-boat believed to be in the vicinity of Ocracoke Island. The ships were spotted by "U-558", under the command of Kapitänleutnant Günther Krech. Later in the evening, Krech, believing his sub had been detected, fired on the "Loman", but the British ship spotted the torpedoes and evaded them. At 05:40 on May 11 1942, "U-558" fired a torpedo at "Bedfordshire", missed, and fired a second, which scored a direct hit and sank her immediately. All 37 men aboard were killed. [Runyan, p. 163.]

Although the "Bedfordshire" was attached to the US Navy, its absence had not yet been noted when a Coast Guardsman discovered two bodies on the shores of Ocracoke Island on May 14. They were identified as Sub-lieutenant Thomas Cunningham and telegraph operator Stanley Craig of the "Bedfordshire". The remains of the two servicemen were buried in a small plot next to a cemetery in Ocracoke Village. The Royal Navy flag draped over Cunningham's coffin was one of several that he himself had given to a local man less than a month earlier for funeral ceremonies. [ [http://www.ddorian.com/ocracoke/cemeteries.htm Graveyard of the Atlantic] ] [Runyan, p. 163.]

The discovery of the bodies of the two British seamen was the first indication to the US Navy that "Bedfordshire" may have met her end. [Hickam, p. 207.] Shortly thereafter, two additional bodies were discovered washed ashore on Ocracoke Island; these were also buried in the 'British Cemetery' and remain unidentified. In late May or early June, a fifth body, that of Seaman Alfred Dryden, washed ashore at Sandbridge, Virginia. [Dryden was buried in Oak Grove Baptist Cemetery at Creeds, Virginia, with several victims of HMT "Kingston Ceylonite" whose bodies washed ashore nearby. The "Kingston Ceylonite" sank after it struck a German mine at the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay on June 15 1942. [http://www.rnpatrolservice.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=166&p=474&hilit=alfred+dryden#p474 Seaman Alfred Dryden HMT Bedfordshire] .] While it was eventually presumed that "Bedfordshire" had been sunk by a submarine, her fate was not confirmed until "U-558" was sunk the following year off Cape Finisterre, resulting in the capture of Kapitänleutnant Krech.

The tiny plot of land at the British Cemetery was deeded in 1976 to the British government, which supplied the granite headstones and provides long-term care through its Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Regular maintenance is handled by the US Coast Guard. A Royal Navy flag flies over the cemetery, and a ceremony is held there each year on May 11 to honor the men of the "Bedfordshire". [ [http://www.offbeattravel.com/british-cemetery-outerbanks.html Offbeat travel:British Cemetery at Ocracoke, North Carolina] ] The wreck of the "Bedfordshire" was located in 1980 at coord|34|10|N|76|41|W|display=inline,title. [ [http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/6308.html U-boat.net: HMS "Bedfordshire" (FY-141)] ]

Notes

Bibliography

*cite book|last=Conn|first=Stetson|year=2002|origyear=1964|title=Guarding the United States and Its Outposts|location=Seattle|publisher=University Press of the Pacific|isbn=1410201929|url=http://www.army.mil/cmh/books/wwii/Guard-US/ch4.htm#b1|chapter=Chapter IV: The Continental Defense Commands After Pearl Harbor
*cite book|last=Hancock|first=W.K.|coauthors=M.M. Gowing|title=British War Economy|series=History of the Second World War|url=http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/UK/UK-Civil-WarEcon/UK-Civil-WarEcon-14.html|year=1949|location=London
*cite book|last=Hickam|first=Homer H.|title=Torpedo Junction: U-Boat War Off America's East Coast, 1942| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=P8GZ0KX1Gh4C&pg=PA205&lpg=PA205&dq=%22HMS+Bedfordshire%22&source=web&ots=8YodrCdrfc&sig=xhclP5kQeqmG6551EV1SfLoTKJg&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result#PPA207,M1|year=1996|publisher=Naval Institute Press|isbn=1557503621
*cite book|last=Runyan|first=Timothy J.|coauthors=Jan M. Copes|title=To Die Gallantly: The Battle of the Atlantic| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=g2unsdVT1jgC&pg=PA163&lpg=PA163&dq=%22HMS+Bedfordshire%22&source=web&ots=nmWWD1FtUX&sig=F5Oa62YJSvuJoMWvfDF8AkyAOlY&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result| publisher=Westview Press|year=1994|isbn=0813323320

External links

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKvkm2hZICg Film about the loss of HMT "Bedfordshire"] , including interviews
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/threecounties/content/articles/2005/02/15/hms_bedfordshire_feature.shtml "The sinking of HMS Bedfordshire" at bbc.co]
* [http://www.harry-tates.org.uk/veteranstales4.htm "HMS Bedfordshire one of the 24 British trawlers sent to help the United States"]
* [http://www.carolinacurrents.com/detail.php?833 "Fire on the Sea: The Sinking of Merchant Ships off the Atlantic in 1942" in "Carolina Currents"]