The Spanish Odyssey of LCT 332: A Flight P Postscript

The Spanish Odyssey of LCT 332 – a Flight P Postscript

 

On 18th November the British Naval Attaché in Madrid wired the Admiralty.

‘IMMEDIATE

An L.C.T. with engine broken down has come near Gijon. 3 officers and 16 ratings in hand for Naval Authorities. Will report further details when available and also press for repairs and release.’

 Mark 3 Landing Craft [Tank]. Imperial War Museum

The Flight P Convoy’s problems are dealt with elsewhere. the-flight-p-convoy-disaster  During the transfer of 25 Landing Craft [Tanks] from Gibraltar to the United Kingdom, Four LCTs would sink before reaching Falmouth. The fifth would begin a journey of approximately 550 miles which, in one sense, wouldn’t end till 1947.

The Convoy left Gibraltar on 5th November 1943 and, despite mechanical mishaps , sailed across an almost flat calm sea.  Lieutenant Derek Luke RNVR [1], commander of LCT 332, own troubles began when a cylinder head cracked in the starboard engine on 11th November.  This may have been an inconvenience the weather had not turned and a gale began to blow up from the North-West. As the weather worsened the crew battled to pump the water from the, now filling, cargo deck. By the 13th they had become detached from the convoy, were suffering from oil leakages and failing to make any headway.  

Lieutenant Commander Masterman [Commodore of the Flight P Convoy]  last reported seeing his straying charge at 10.00 that morning. Discovering her condition he sent a signal to Lieutenant Walker, as Senior officer of the escort – to send assistance. Walker  replied Man O’ War – an armed trawler - would be sent but, unbeknownst to Masterman, she was already towing  a vessel, and couldn’t go.  Luke decided to make a run for the Spanish shore, presumably because England was unobtainable and Nazi Occupied France to be avoided if at all possible.

 The journey of LCT332 from last position sited to Playa de San Pedro

LCT 332 arrived in Spain

The Cabo Vidio coastline [photo- author's]

The Northern Spanish Coast is not replete with long sandy beaches and the rocky Asturian Coast that loomed ahead of Luke and his crew on 16^th November. The cliffs around the Cabo Vidio offered little prospect however, to the east of the headland was the Playa de San Pedro de La Ribera. This beach had been the home of fishing and whaling vessels and offered a safe landing. It was a shame, therefore, that when coming into this haven the LCT332 hit rocks and was wrecked.

 Playa de San Pedro de la Ribera - from websitre https://vivecudillero.com/ 

The arrival of British Service Personnel proved a little problematic to the Guardia Civil who encountered them until a local, who had spent some time in America, and so could speak English, was found. The crew were quickly interned and sent to Vigo.  What followed were two separate problems.  What to do with the men and what to do with the ship.

On 18th November the British Naval Attache was able to cable the Admiralty that an LCT with broken engine had come ashore near Gijon and three officers and 16 ratings were in the hands of the Naval Authorities.

Northern Spain: Google Maps

 

By the 1st December 1943 the Attache was able to cable home that his assistant had spoken with Luke, who was being held in a hotel in Gijon. His men were all safe and the Ship’s Log was being forwarded.  He was pressing for the repair of the craft. According to the transcript the LCT had come ashore at Playade – which suggests someone in the train of transmission had not a great deal of Spanish.

Internment

By the winter of 1943 it was clear that the war was not going as well for General Franco’s once hoped for Allies as it had in 1940 however Spanish troops were still serving on the Russian Front and vital minerals were still being sold to the Third Reich.  [2]  However, the hoped for quick release of the men was not going to happen.  On 24th February 1944 they were moved to Vigo.

 

The relatives left behind in Britain began to wonder what had happened to their loved ones – especially when some started to get letters from Spain.   Mrs Banks, mother of Able Seaman Banks, had written to the Commodore, RN Barracks, Devonport, on 4th December and got a reply in Mid-January.  According to the Admiralty a ‘minor engine defect’ had caused the vessel to put into a Spanish port.  Negotiations were on going for his release but, in the meantime, if any of this was mentioned it might reduce the chances of her son being released. Identical letters were sent out to other inquirers.

 

Communications between the internees and home were monitored by the British Prisoner of War Branch of the Postal and Telegraph Censorship Department.   Extracts of these letters were passed on to higher authorities.

 

The issue of money cropped up. On 8th March 1944    Banks complained that, though they got their naval pay they hardly had enough to keep going and they faced the issue they could not change English money into Pesetas.  On the same day Davies wrote home noting any cash sent to them was taken by the Spanish.

 

David Wallis had caught malaria in Sicily. He complained [13.4.44] that the food they were getting is very poor and wouldn’t have been given to pigs in England. He had lost 12 pounds since Christmas.

 

John McCrea [1.3.45] complained that Spanish Customs wanted to charge him £5 for every 200 cigarettes being sent to him.  He noted the British expats in Vigo were smoking duty free cigs which were meant for the Navy.  McCree was not having the best of luck as he broke his arm playing football the same month. He was concerned in case his mother found out.

 

John Ricketts wrote to a Miss Buchanan in February 1945, suggesting he had typhus – as he was unwell and it was rife in the town.

 

The sub-odyssey of Stoker Moore

 

Stoker Moore seems to have been set to leave Spain in November 1944, and Admiralty assured relevant parties he was Britain bound but not by a direct route.   On 5th November he wrote home saying he was working his passage as a fireman, had a few ports to visit, but will be home by Christmas.  He wasn’t.   Moore had joined the SS Gloucester City, replacing a crew member who landed because of illness.  He was to sail to Valencia and then to Naples – where he was to leave the ship. He was sought for in Sicily and Malta, where he had been on 14th December.   On 1st March 1945 he was reported to be with the 5th LCT Flotilla, still in the Med.

Repatriation

 

It was not until the Spring of 1945 that most of the crew were repatriated. The Naval Attaché in Madrid received unofficial word that the Spanish were ready to release the crew on 13th March.  While good news, it was feared this would be an excuse to release interned U-Boat crews and assurances were needed that this would be the case.

 

An officer and four ratings left Madrid for Gibraltar on 19th April. Two more parties were expected in the following week.  Lieutenant Wood and four ratings were to be sent to the UK directly.  [3]

Salvaging the LCT 332

  

If getting all the crew back to Britain and accounted for seemed a task of note it was nothing compared to the labyrinthine feat of getting the thing off the rocks.  Amid the correspondence in National Archive file ADM1 /18162  [4]

 

A letter which ended up on the desk of the Director of Naval Intelligence in 1947 stated:

 

‘The feeling of relief expressed by Military Branch I two months ago when this matter appeared to be finished, and shared by others who had been concerned in this protracted sale and disposal of LCT 332, unfortunately proved to be premature.’

 

Initially it had been hoped that a simple operation would occur, the LCT would be freed, repaired and returned to the United Kingdom.  That was not the case.  A tug was sent from the nearby port of San Esteban de Pravia but it was unable to shift the craft and salvage attempts were abandoned.

San Esteban de Pravia

Spanish interests in purchasing the 332 can be traced back to October 1944. At the time the Naval Attaché in Madrid felt the diesel engines were much sought after and requested permission to sell to the highest bidder.

By 1945, without all the tiresome business of Spain’s ‘neutrality’ getting in the way, there only remained the issues of:

 

• ·         The terms of any sale to a salvage firm.
• ·         Protection of the patents on the Paxman Engines  [5]
• ·         Claims made by the Ministry of Marine for guarding, care and maintenance.
• ·         Getting hold of sterling to affect the transaction
• ·         Finding out if any of the craft was covered by Lend-Lease and who owned it.

 

The Assistant Naval Attaché, Commander S.A. Gomez-Beare, more famed for his role in Operation Mincemeat, was also involved in the disposal of LCT 332.  He noted the Spanish Ministry of Marine were interested in both purchasing the craft and getting paid for trying to refloat it. He also felt that speed was important as the ship was in danger of deteriorating to the point it was valueless.

 

In late April 1945 the issue of the salvage of LCT332 had risen back to the top of some agendas. Although Spain had cut diplomatic relations with Nazi Germany the previous month Franco was persona non grata with the Allied Nations and there was no question of selling to Spain as a military vessel. Some thought was given to turning it into a commercial vessel and precedent was cited.  [6] 

 

A series of letters then went back and forth across the Bay of Biscay. The Royal Navy wasn’t keen of getting, at best, a very damaged LCT back and questioned if it was in any state to be converted. Messrs Paxman, while having no patent rights on the TP 12 engines wanted safeguards on any similar items sold – a thing which was considered impossible to do.

 

By June 1946 an offer had been made to buy the 332 for its scrap value. The Navy was keen to get it done, in case the offer was turned down. It then ran into the financial problems faced by both countries in terms of wanting to hang on to sterling during the Post-War Economic squeeze. The Treasury was insisting the offer be made in sterling, not pesetas and claimed Spain had ample reserves to meet this.  The Spanish Minister of Industry maintained they didn’t have enough sterling and announced that nothing could be done until at least October.  In the meantime the question of the Spanish Government issuing an import license had to be considered.

 

October came and went.  In November increasing frustration was noted in the minutes by H.A. Myers, who went by the abbreviations of which the records are liberally endowered For Hd of M.I.  LCTs were going for £4,000 but an offer had been made of £12,000. This raised all sorts of speculations not least why? It was also feared the Spanish government may step in to prevent the sale or reduce the price. If this happened it was felt the Foreign Office would not be bothered to become involved.  In the end, given the craft was deteriorating, clinching the deal was the desired option.

 

 £8,356 1s 2d was the price fixed and Myers recorded that ‘all’s well that ends well. On 24^th January 1947. It was two months later that the letter, quoted above, appeared.  All was not well.  While a price of 551,500 pesetas had been fixed by the purchaser, Elias de Gondra of Bilbao, he had to pay a further 38,408 pesetas to the Ministry of Marine for salvage and a further 21,340 for ‘care and maintenance.’  The issue was one of principle.  Governments didn’t usually pay other governments to salvage their public vessels and while the Naval Attache in Madrid had offered out of pocket expenses. It was felt that De Gondra had been done over by the Ministry of Marine in claiming so much and the British would refund the care 21,340 pesetas for maintenance.

 

Things appear to have been sorted out until in June the Foreign Office decided it could not allow the sale of any vessel to any Spanish interests. In fact, no vessels were to be sold to any foreign interests because they may be used to aid illegal immigration to Palestine. They had, however, already agreed to the sale of LCT 332 so that went ahead, although De Gondra’s hope for further purchases of two LCTs was refused.

July 1947 came and with it a note to allow the payment of yet another 300 pesetas, additional to the maintenance bill.  The final bill came to

 

• Salvage and Care [Ministry of Marine]           59838.26
• Paid to Ministry of Marine                              300
• Removal of small arms and ammunition        2400
• Care and Maintenance                                  26475.60

                                                                        Total 89013.86

 

In the summary the Naval Attaché noted, without de Gondra taking care of the engines there probably would have been nothing to sell.

 

Some stories from the Second World War highlight, in miniature, the major themes of the struggle.  Others just reflect the mood music of the time.  LCT332 crashed into a Spain who found it easy to stick to its neutrality when it had nothing to be gained from not doing so. The fate of the internees only altered not so much in the death throes of Nazi Germany but after the coffin had been lowered and the final dirt was being shovelled in.  Post War politics, the isolation of Spain politically and the growing issue of Palestine, meant getting rid of the wreck which, frankly, the Royal Navy had no interest in, more difficult than it should have been.  However, the real story of the fate of the LCT 332 is the triumph of paper.  The story, held in the National Archive, is a fragment of the entire weight of documents and letters created as the sort to deal with the mess – most of which had so many sets of initials on them , as multiple copies whizzed off, as to appear to be the work, not so much of bureaucracy, as cryptology. 

 

Footnotes and rabbit holes

[1]  Luke appears in the Navy Lists as a Temporary Sub-Lieutenant, with seniority from 9^th October 1942.  He was promoted to Lieutenant as of 1st July 1944.

[2]  A further discussion of the Franco’s relations with the Allies can be found in chapter 8 ‘Franco and the Allies in the Second World War’ by Denis Smyth.  Part of Spain and the Great Powers in the Twentieth Century, edited by Sebastian Balfour and Paul Preston, Routledge 1999.            

[3]  Events connected with the Internees of LCT 332 can be found in the National Archives ADM 358/4290.

The Officers and men were:

Sub-Lieutenant D Luke RNVR

Sub-Lieutenant R Wood RNVR  Repatriated to UK

Midshipman WH Gray, RNVR

Able Seaman JD Banks, Bolton, Lancs

Able Seaman C Bratt  Castleford, Yorkshire

Petty Officer Motor Mechanic F Bright

Able Seaman J Davies  Repatriated to UK, Llanybyther, South Wales.

Stoker 1^st Class F A Dean, Bilston, Staffordshire

Ordinary Seaman  E Dougan  Belfast, Northern Ireland

Ordinary Signaller GW Fryer, Whitstable, Kent

Stoker 1^st Class F Glossop  Repatriated to UK

Leading Seaman M Hamilton, South Shields, County Durham

Signaller A L Harrison

Ordinary Seaman JG McCrea of Ballycraigy, Northern Ireland.

Stoker 1^st Class E Moore of Padiham, near Burnley, Lancashire.

Able Seaman J W Ricketts – possibly from Glasgow

Ordinary Seaman A A Smith, Great Wakering, Kent

Engine Room Artificer 4^th Class F R Skinner  Repatriated to UK

Able Seaman A Wallis  - In the 1945 documents connected to repatriation to the UK D/SSX.32699 Wallis became I.F. Wallace.  His mother was to be contacted via the Telephone Exchange, Dulverton, Somerset.

[4] The file, originally M.04156 was closed until 1978.

[5]  For details of the Paxman engines https://www.paxmanhistory.org.uk/paxeng34.htm#12tp

[6]  HMS Syringa had been sold to the Egyptian Ports and Lights Board after the last war.

Postscript.  This History and its sibling, the Flight P Disaster article were born when on holiday in Asturias and searching for something on local history and found this blog. http://xurdemoran.blogspot.com/2021/10/san-pedro-la-ribera-asturias-el-gran.html

It contained part of the story of LCT 322 and led me on to the National Archive, the documents related to internees, general failings of LCTs and the Flight P Convoy.