Allied Warships

HMIS Madras (ii) (J 237)

Minesweeper of the Bathurst class

NavyThe Royal Indian Navy
TypeMinesweeper
ClassBathurst 
PennantJ 237 
Built byCockatoo Docks and Engineering Co. Ltd. (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) 
Ordered24 Sep 1940 
Laid down4 Aug 1941 
Launched17 Feb 1942 
Commissioned12 May 1942 
End service 1960 
HistoryDecommissioned in 1960.

 

Commands listed for HMIS Madras (ii) (J 237)

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

CommanderFromTo
1Lt. Sadishar Ganesh Karmarkar, RINR19422 Oct 1943
2T/Lt. Calpaham Jagan Mohan, RINR2 Oct 19431 Dec 1944
3T/Lt. Gajanan Jaganunath Dhurandhar, RINR1 Dec 19447 Sep 1945
4A/Cdr. Killingworth Richard Utten Todd, RIN7 Sep 1945

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Notable events involving Madras (ii) include:


27 Aug 1939
HMIS Madras (Gunner G.B. Tolfrey, RIN) arrived at Bombay from Karachi. At Bombay she was taken in hand for boiler cleaning. (1)

13 Jul 1942

'Schooner' convoy.

This convoy departed Colombo on 13 July 1942.

It was made up of the following (troop) transports; Aronda (British, 9031 GRT, built 1941), Athlone Castle (British, 25565 GRT, built 1936), City of Canterbury (British, 8331 GRT, built 1922), City of Lille (British, 6588 GRT, built 1928), Clan MacDonald (British, 9653 GRT, built 1939), Devonshire (British, 11275 GRT, built 1939), Dunedin Star (British, 11168 GRT, built 1936), Ekma (British, 5108 GRT, built 1911), Martand (British, 7967 GRT, built 1939), Rajula (British, 8478 GRT, built 1926) and Westernland (Dutch, 16479 GRT, built 1918).

On departure from Colombo the convoy was escorted by the light cruiser HMS Gambia (Capt. M.J. Mansergh, CBE, RN), armed merchant cruiser HMS Worcestershire (A/Capt.(Retd.) E.H. Hopkinson, RN), sloops HMIS Jumna (Cdr. J.E.N. Coope, RIN), HMIS Sutlej (Capt. P.A. Mare, RIN) and the corvettes HMS Aster (Lt. W.L. Smith, RNR) and HMS Tulip (Lt.Cdr. A. Wilkinson, RNR).

Around 1845F/14, HMIS Jumna, HMIS Sutlej, HMS Aster and HMS Tulip parted company in position 02°23'N, 80°23'E.

Around 1750F/16, the City of Lille was ordered to proceed independently as she was unable to keep up with the convoy. Position was 06°03'S, 81°34'E.

Around 1330F/19, the light cruiser USS Phoenix (Capt. H.E. Fischer, USN) took over from HMS Gambia in position 17°02'S, 82°24'E. HMS Gambia then parted company with the convoy to proceed to Mauritius.

Around 0715F/20, the armed merchant cruiser HMS Kanimbla (A/Capt. W.L.G. Adams, RN) took over from HMS Worcestershire in position 20°11'S, 83°17'E. HMS Worcestershire then parted company with the convoy to proceed to Mauritius.

Around 0855H/27, the destroyer HMAS Voyager (Lt.Cdr. R.C. Robison DSC, RAN) joined the convoy in position 31°04'S, 112°00'E.

Around 1350H/27, the minesweeper HMIS Madras (Lt. S.G. Karmarkar, RINR) joined the convoy and five minutes later the convoy was split up, in position 31°11'S, 112°16'E, into two sections ' Schooner A ' for Melbourne and ' Schooner B ' for Fremantle.

' Schooner A ' was made up of the transports Athlone Castle, City of Canterbury, Dunedin Star and Martand. They were escorted by USS Phoenix and HMAS Voyager.

' Schooner B ' was made up of the transports Aronda, Clan MacDonald, Devonshire, Ekma, Rajula and Westernland. They were escorted by HMS Kanimbla and HMIS Madras.

' Schooner B ' arrived at Fremantle in the morning of the 28th.

At 1015H/28, in position 33°28'S, 113°48'E, ' Schooner A ' merged with convoy ZK 12 which was coming from Fremantle escorted by the light cruiser HrMs Tromp (Cdr. J.B. de Meester, RNN). Convoy ZK 12 was made up of the transport Duntroon (10346 GRT, built 1935) and the armed merchant cruisers HMAS Manoora (A/Capt. J.M. Armstrong, RAN) and HMAS Westralia (A/Capt.(Emgy.) H.V. Hudson, OBE, RAN).

Around 1900H/29, in position 36°45'S, 119°48'E, HrMs Tromp and HMAS Voyager parted company with convoy ' Schooner B '. They were to return to Fremantle.

Around 0530K/3, the Athlone Castle, City of Canterbury, Dunedin Star and Martand parted company with the convoy and proceeded to Melbourne.

Around 0715K/5, the destroyer HMAS Arunta (Cdr. J.C. Morrow, DSO, RAN) joined the convoy.

The convoy arrived at Sydney around 1630K/5.

25 Oct 1943

Combined Convoy AB 18 / AP 50.

This combined convoy departed Aden in company on 25 October 1943.

Convoy AB 18 was made up of the following transports;
City of Lille (British, 6588 GRT, built 1928), Clan MacInnes (British, 4672 GRT, built 1920), Clement Clay (American, 7176 GRT, built 1943), Esperance (British, 5072 GRT, built 1923), Fort Buckingham (British, 7122 GRT, built 1943), Glenapp (British, 9503 GRT, built 1920), Heimvard (Norwegian, 4851 GRT, built 1930), Jalavihar (British, 5330 GRT, built 1911), Kohistan (British, 5884 GRT, built 1930), Kong Sverre (Norwegian, 7238 GRT, built 1941), Mahout (British, 7921 GRT, built 1925), Pasha (British, 5307 GRT, built 1919), Tjibadak (Dutch, 7083 GRT, built 1929) and William Whipple (American, 7181 GRT, built 1942).

The tug Empire Harry (British, 458 GRT, built 1943) was also part of the convoy.

The landing ship HMS Royal Scotsman (Lt.Cdr.(Emgy.) R.C. Gervers, RN), tank landing ships HMS LST 180 (?) and the cable ship HMS Bulan (T/A/Lt.Cdr. J. Donaldson-Palmer, RNR) were also part of this convoy.

On departure from Aden this convoy was escorted by the sloop HMIS Jumna (A/Cdr. I.B.W. Heanly, RIN), frigate HMS Kale (Lt.Cdr. G.W. Houchen, OBE, RD, RNR) and the corvette HMS Rockrose (T/Lt. H.J. Makepeace, RNR).

Convoy AP 50 was made up of the following transports / tankers;
A.C. Bedford (British (tanker), 9485 GRT, built 1918), Bradford City (British, 7266 GRT, built 1943), British Fidelity (British (tanker), 8465 GRT, built 1938), British Sailor (British (tanker), 5576 GRT, built 1918), Charles Henderson (American, 7176 GRT, built 1943), Egero (Norwegian (tanker), 7590 GRT, built 1929), Esso Baytown (American (tanker), 7991 GRT, built 1937), Harry Lane (British, 7176 GRT, built 1942), Havkong (Norwegian, 9666 GRT, built 1937), Jalapa (American, 10195 GRT, built 1943), Juan de Fuca (American, 7176 GRT, built 1943), Mark Twain (American, 7176 GRT, built 1942), Samoa (British, 7219 GRT, built 1943), Santa Margarita (American, 6507 GRT, built 1942) and Thomas Pollock (American, 7176 GRT, built 1943).

On departure from Aden this convoy was escorted by the minesweepers HMAS Cessnock (Lt.Cdr. T.S. Marchington, RANR(S)), HMIS Madras (Lt. S.G. Karmarkar, RINR) and HMIS Punjab (T/Lt. V.V. Pogoretsky, RINR).

The convoys were to split on reaching longtitude 56°E.

Around 1600F/31, convoy AB 18 was joined by the destroyers HMAS Quiberon (Cdr. G.S. Stewart, RAN), HMS Quality (Lt.Cdr. G.L. Farnfield, DSO, RN).

Convoy AB 18 arrived at Bombay on 3 November 1943.

Convoy AP 50 arrived off Bandar Abbas on 3 November 1943.

28 Mar 1945
HMS Vivid (Lt. R.M. Seaburne-May, DSC, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Varsova with HMIS Ramdas (T/Lt. H.D. Baker, RINR) and HMIS Madras (T/Lt. G.J. Dhurandhar, RINR). (2)

29 Mar 1945
HMS Vivid (Lt. R.M. Seaburne-May, DSC, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Varsova with HMIS Ramdas (T/Lt. H.D. Baker, RINR) and HMIS Madras (T/Lt. G.J. Dhurandhar, RINR). Upon completion of these exercises HMS Vivid proceeded to Bombay. (2)

Sources

  1. ADM 199/368
  2. ADM 173/20823

ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.


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