Terence Hugh Back, RN
| Birth details unknown |
| Ranks
Retired: 4 Aug 1946 Decorations
|
Warship Commands listed for Terence Hugh Back, RN
| Ship | Rank | Type | From | To |
| HMS Capetown (D 88) | Capt. | Light cruiser | 31 Jul 1939 | 3 Nov 1940 |
| HMS Bermuda (52) | Capt. | Light cruiser | 14 Jul 1942 | 11 Feb 1944 |
Career information
We currently have no career / biographical information on this officer.
Events related to this officer
Light cruiser HMS Capetown (D 88)
28 Aug 1939 (position 0.00, 0.00)
Around 0600A/28, HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) departed Plymouth.
Later in the day she made rendezvous with the troopship / liner Devonshire (British, 11275 GRT, built 1939) to escort her to Gibraltar. (1)
1 Sep 1939 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) and the troopship / liner Devonshire (British, 11275 GRT, built 1939) arrived at Gibraltar. (2)
3 Sep 1939
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) and HMS Colombo (Commodore R.J.R. Scott, RN) departed Gibraltar to patrol in company with each other between Portugal and the Azores. (3)
12 Sep 1939
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) and HMS Colombo (Commodore R.J.R. Scott, RN) returned to Gibraltar from patrol. (3)
17 Sep 1939 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) departed Gibraltar for escort duty with convoy SL 1.
[For more info see the event ' Convoy SL 1 ' for 14 September 1939.] (2)
27 Sep 1939 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) returned to Gibraltar after convoy escort duty. (2)
28 Sep 1939 (position 0.00, 0.00)
The battleship HMS Ramillies (Capt. H.T. Baillie-Grohman, OBE, DSO, RN), light cruiser HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) and the destroyers HMS Keppel (Capt. F.S.W. de Winton, RN), HMS Douglas (Cdr. R.F.B. Swinley, RN), HMS Vortigern (Lt.Cdr. W.J.B. Handley, RN) and HMS Wishart (Cdr. E.T. Cooper, RN) conducted exercises off Gibraltar. (4)
2 Oct 1939
The battleship HMS Ramillies (Capt. H.T. Baillie-Grohman, OBE, DSO, RN), light cruiser HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) and the destroyers HMS Keppel (Capt. F.S.W. de Winton, RN) and HMS Watchman (Cdr.(Retd.) V. Hammersley-Heenan, RN) departed Gibraltar to join the liner Athlone Castle (British, 25564 GRT, built 1936) coming from Southampton and then escort her to Freetown.
HMS Ramillies however soon developed condenser problems and returned to Gibraltar with both destroyers. They arrived back at Gibraltar after a few hours.
Later in the day HMS Capetown suffered rudder defects and then also returned to Gibraltar. She arrived back at Gibraltar on 3 October. (5)
6 Oct 1939 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) departed Gibraltar for Malta. (6)
9 Oct 1939 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) arrived at Malta where she is docked in No.5 Dock at the Malta Royal Dockyard. (6)
20 Oct 1939 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) is undocked. (6)
25 Oct 1939 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) conducted post repair trials and gunnery exercises off Malta. (6)
27 Oct 1939 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) departed Malta to patrol in the Ionian Sea. (6)
3 Nov 1939 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) returned to Malta from patrol. (7)
8 Nov 1939
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) departed Malta for Gibraltar. (7)
10 Nov 1939
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) arrived at Gibraltar from Malta. (7)
12 Nov 1939 (position 0.00, 0.00)
The submarine depot ship HMS Maidstone (A/Capt. E.H. Longsdon, RN) departed Gibraltar for Freetown. She is escorted by the light cruiser HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN). (7)
17 Nov 1939 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) returned from Gibraltar from escort duty. (7)
18 Nov 1939 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) departed Gibraltar for Malta. (7)
20 Nov 1939 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) arrived at Malta from Gibraltar. (7)
25 Nov 1939
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) departed Malta to patrol in the Ionian Sea and later in the Aegean. (7)
5 Dec 1939 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) arrived at Malta from patrol. (8)
9 Dec 1939 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) is docked in No.2 Dock at the Malta Dockyard. (8)
16 Dec 1939 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) is undocked. (8)
18 Dec 1939 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) departed Malta to patrol in the Ionian Sea. (8)
27 Dec 1939 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) returned to Malta from patrol. (8)
2 Jan 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) departed Malta to patrol in the Aegean. (9)
10 Jan 1940
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) returned to Malta from patrol. She is then taken in hand for a short refit.
She berthed in No.4 Dock but there is no mention in the log of her being docked down. (9)
1 Feb 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) conducted exercises off Malta.
She departed for patrol later the same day. She was ordered to patrol in the Aegean. (10)
11 Feb 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) returned to Malta from patrol. (10)
18 Feb 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) departed Malta for patrol. She is ordered to patrol in the Ionian Sea. (10)
28 Feb 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) arrived at Alexandria from patrol. (10)
3 Mar 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) departed Alexandria for patrol. She is ordered to patrol in the Aegean. (10)
21 Mar 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) departed Alexandria for patrol. She is ordered to patrol in the Aegean. (11)
30 Mar 1940
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) arrived at Malta from patrol. (11)
5 Apr 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) departed Malta for patrol. She is ordered to patrol in the Ionian Sea. (12)
13 Apr 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) returned to Malta from patrol. (12)
19 Apr 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) departed Malta for patrol. She is ordered to patrol in the Ionian Sea. (12)
25 Apr 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) returned to Malta from patrol. (12)
29 Apr 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) departed Malta for patrol. She is ordered to patrol in the Ionian Sea. (12)
6 May 1940
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) arrived at Haifa from patrol. (13)
8 May 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) departed Haifa for Alexandria. (13)
9 May 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) arrived at Alexandria from Haifa. (13)
12 May 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) departed Alexandria for patrol. She is ordered to patrol in the Ionian Sea. (13)
18 May 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) arrived at Malta from patrol. (13)
20 May 1940
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) departed Malta for Marseilles. (13)
22 May 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) arrived at Marseilles from Malta.
She departed again later the same day to return to Malta. (13)
23 May 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) arrived at Malta. (13)
24 May 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) departed Malta for Alexandria. (13)
25 May 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) arrived at Alexandria from Malta. (13)
2 Jun 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) departed Alexandria for patrol. She is ordered to patrol in the Kithira Channel. (14)
11 Jun 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) arrived at Port Said from patrol. (14)
3 Aug 1940
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) departed Alexandria for the East Indies Station. Upon departure gunnery exercises were carried out off Alexandria.
She arrived at Port Said later the same day. (15)
4 Aug 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) departed Port Said for Aden. (16)
7 Aug 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) arrived at Aden. After fuelling she departed for Colombo later the same day. (16)
13 Aug 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) arrived at Colombo from Aden. (16)
18 Aug 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) departed Colombo to patrol off the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and to proceed to Penang afterwards. (17)
21 Aug 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) arrived at Port Blair. (16)
22 Aug 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) departed Port Blair to resume her patrol. (16)
23 Aug 1940
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) arrived at Car Nicobar. She proceeded from Car Nicobar to Nancowry later the same day. (16)
24 Aug 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) departed Nancowry for Penang. (16)
25 Aug 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) arrived at Penang. (16)
27 Aug 1940
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) departed Penang for Colombo. Later the same day she made rendezvous in the Straits of Malakka with the troopship Strathallan (British, 23722 GRT, built 1938) which she is to escort. (17)
31 Aug 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) and the troopship Strathallan (British, 23722 GRT, built 1938) arrived at Colombo.
They departed again later the same day for Bombay. (17)
3 Sep 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) and the troopship Strathallan (British, 23722 GRT, built 1938) arrived at Bombay.
HMS Capetown departed again to return to Colombo later the same day. (17)
6 Sep 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) arrived at Colombo from Bombay. (18)
9 Sep 1940 (position -21.52, 67.20)
The German armed merchant cruiser Atlantis (Schiff 16) sank the tanker Athelking (9557 GRT, built 1926) east of Mauritius in position 21°52'S, 67°20'E. The tanker was in ballast en-route from Capetown to Surabaya. Four crew were killed and thirty-six were made prisoners of war. The Athelking was able to get off a raider report which the Commander-in-Chief of the East Indies Station received and he then dispatched the light cruisers HMS Neptune (Capt. R.C. O'Conor, RN), HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN and armed merchant cruisers HMS Arawa (A/Capt. G.R. Deverell, RN) and HMAS Westralia (Cdr. A.S. Rosenthal, RAN) to search for the German raider but none was able to make contact with the German ship. (19)
10 Sep 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) departed Colombo to patrol near position 08°00'S, 76°00'E to search for a German raider which had been reported the day before. (20)
16 Sep 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) made a short stop at Diego Garcia to fuel. She departed again to continue her patrol later the same day. (18)
21 Sep 1940
Convoy BM 1.
This convoy departed Bombay on 21 September 1940.
It was made up of the troop transports; Batory (Polish, 14287 GRT, built 1936), Orcades (British, 23456 GRT, built 1937) and Stratheden (British, 23722 GRT, built 1937).
It was escorted by the armed merchant cruiser HMAS Westralia (Cdr. A.S. Rosenthal, RAN).
The convoy arrived at Colombo on 24 September 1940.
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The convoy departed Colombo on 25 September 1940.
It was now made up of the Batory and Stratheden.
Escort was provided by the light cruiser HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN). Course was first set to Madras.
At 0750EF(-5.5)/27, the transport Ellenga (British, 5196 GRT, built 1911) joined coming from Madras. Course was then set for Singapore.
The convoy arrived at Singapore on 1 October 1940.
(21)
23 Sep 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) arrived at Colombo from patrol. (18)
25 Sep 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) departed Colombo escorting convoy BM 1.
For more info on this convoy see the event ' Convoy BM 1 ' for 21 September 1940. (20)
1 Oct 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) arrived at Singapore with convoy BM 1. (22)
2 Oct 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) is taken in hand for refit at the Singapore Dockyard. (23)
10 Oct 1940
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) is docked in No.1 Dock (aka King George VI dock) at the Singapore Dockyard. (22)
25 Oct 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) is undocked. (22)
31 Oct 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Capetown (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) conducted compass swing trials off Singapore. (22)
Light cruiser HMS Bermuda (52)
29 Nov 1942
At Algiers, Rear-Admiral C.H.J. Harcourt, CBE, RN, transferred his flag from HMS Bermuda (Capt. T.H. Back, RN) to HMS Aurora (Capt. W.G. Agnew, CB, RN).
HMS Bermuda, which was to return to the U.K., then departed Algiers for Gibraltar. (24)
Sources
- ADM 53/107945
- ADM 53/107946
- ADM 53/107946 + ADM 53/108071
- ADM 53/107946 + ADM 53/110149
- ADM 53/107947 + ADM 53/110150
- ADM 53/107947
- ADM 53/107948
- ADM 53/107949
- ADM 53/111690
- ADM 53/111691
- ADM 53/111692
- ADM 53/111693
- ADM 53/111694
- ADM 53/111695
- ADM 53/111697 + ADM 199/386
- ADM 53/111697
- ADM 53/111697 + ADM 199/383
- ADM 53/111698
- Personal communication
- ADM 53/111698 + ADM 199/383
- ADM 199/383
- ADM 53/111699
- ADM 53/111699 + ADM 199/2549
- ADM 199/652
ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.
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