| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | ASW Trawler |
| Class | Hill |
| Pennant | T 218 |
| Built by | Cook, Welton & Gemmill (Beverley, U.K.) : Holmes |
| Ordered | 20 Nov 1940 |
| Laid down | 12 Mar 1941 |
| Launched | 9 Jul 1941 |
| Commissioned | 23 Dec 1941 |
| Lost | 14 Jun 1944 |
| Loss position | 5° 00'N, 9° 00'W |
| History | HMT Birdlip (T/Lt. Iorwerth Brian Evan Humphrey, RNVR) was torpedoed and sunk off Greenville, Liberia in approximate position 05º00'N, 09º00'W by the German submarine U-547. Hit by U-boat |
| U-boat Attack | See our U-boat attack entry for the HMS Birdlip |
Commands listed for HMS Birdlip (T 218)
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.
| Commander | From | To | ||
| 1 | T/Lt. James Alcorn, RNVR | 12 Nov 1941 | mid 1942 | |
| 2 | T/Lt. Frederick Waine, RNVR | mid 1942 | mid 1942 | |
| 3 | Lt. Eric Nelson Groom, RNR | 3 Nov 1942 | late 1943 | |
| 4 | T/Lt. Iorwerth Brian Evan Humphrey, RNVR | 1 Jan 1944 | 14 Jun 1944 (+) | |
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Notable events involving Birdlip include:
23 Sep 1942
HMS H 43 (Lt. B.J.B. Andrew, DSC, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Lough Foyle with ORP Garland (Lt.Cdr. H. Eibel), HMS Inkpen (T/Lt. H. Vernon, RNR), HMS Beagle (Cdr. R.C. Medley, RN) and HMS Birdlip. (1)
13 Nov 1942
HMS H 33 (Lt. P.C. Chapman, DSC, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Lough Foyle with HMS Birdlip (Lt. E.N. Groom, RNR), HMS Butser (T/Lt. A.F. Cameron, RNVR), HMS Mignonette (Lt. H.H. Brown, RNR) and HMS Helier 2 (A/Skr.Lt. G.L. Oleson, RNR). (2)
11 Mar 1943
HMS P 615 (Lt. C.W.St.C. Lambert, DSC and Bar, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Freetown with HMS Birdlip (Lt. E.N. Groom, RNR) and HMS Butser (T/Lt. A.F. Cameron, RNVR). (3)
30 Apr 1943
HMS Birdlip (Lt. E.N. Groom, RNR) picks up 77 survivors from the British merchant Bandar Shahpour, 39 survivors from the British merchant Corabella, 73 survivors from the Dutch merchant Kota Tjandi and 111 survivors from the British merchant Nagina that were all torpedoed and sunk by German U-boat U-515 from convoy TS-37 about 130 miles southwest of Freetown.
HMS Arran (T/Lt. D.S. Hutton, RNR) and HMS Birdlip together pick up 97 survivors from the British merchant City of Singapore that was torpedoed and sunk in a second attack on the convoy by the same U-boat on 1 May.
Sources
- ADM 173/17253
- ADM 173/17231
- ADM 199/635
ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.