Henry Gerard Laurence Oliphant DSO, RN
| Born | 22 Nov 1897 |
| Ranks
Retired: 10 Jul 1922 Decorations
|
Warship Commands listed for Henry Gerard Laurence Oliphant, RN
| Ship | Rank | Type | From | To |
| HMS Circassia (F 91) | Capt. (Retd.) | Armed Merchant Cruiser | 18 Oct 1939 | 11 Nov 1940 |
Career information
We currently have no career / biographical information on this officer.
Events related to this officer
Armed Merchant Cruiser HMS Circassia (F 91)
19 Dec 1939 (position 0.00, 0.00)
Around 1600Z/19, HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) is commissioned at Glasgow. (1)
21 Dec 1939 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) proceeded from Glasgow to Greenock. (1)
23 Dec 1939 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) conducted gunnery trials in the Clyde area. (1)
24 Dec 1939 (position 0.00, 0.00)
Around 1600Z/24, HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) departed Greenock for Portsmouth. (1)
26 Dec 1939 (position 0.00, 0.00)
Around 0930Z/26, HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) arrived at Portsmouth from Greenock. (1)
8 Jan 1940
HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) proceeded from Portsmouth to Portland. (2)
10 Jan 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) conducted gunnery exercises off Portland. (2)
12 Jan 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
Around 2120Z/12, HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) departed Portland for the Clyde. (2)
14 Jan 1940
Around 1030Z/14, HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) arrived at Greenock from Portland.
She departed Greenock for the Northern Patrol around 1700Z/14. She was ordered to patrol to the south of Iceland / west of the Faeroer Islands. (2)
3 Feb 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
Around 1415B/3, HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) arrived at Greenock from patrol. (3)
7 Feb 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
Around 1400Z/7, HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) departed Greenock for the Northern Patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Iceland / Faeroer gap. (3)
8 Feb 1940
Around 2150Z/8, the armed merchant cruiser HMS Circassia sighted a light and altered course to close. It was then seen to be a merchant vessel and this was ordered to stop but refused to do so and only did so at 2240Z/8 after three warning shots had been fired.
The merchant vessel identified herself as the Norwegian Solferino (2580 GRT, built 1919). She was to be sent to Kirkwall but as an enemy submarine was reported to be in the area she could not be boarded. HMS Circassia sent a signal for a destroyer to be sent over for this duty and at 0900Z/9, the Solferino was handed over to HMS Gurkha (Cdr. A.W. Buzzard, RN).
HMS Circassia then continued her patrol. (3)
28 Feb 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
Around 1920A/28, HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) arrived at Greenock from patrol. (3)
29 Feb 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) proceeded from Greenock to Glasgow. (3)
3 Mar 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) proceeded from Glasgow to Greenock. (4)
4 Mar 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
Around 1600A/4, HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) departed Greenock for the Northern Patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Iceland / Faeroer gap. (4)
23 Mar 1940
Around 1045A/23, HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) arrived at Greenock from patrol. She proceeded to Glasgow later the same day. (4)
3 Apr 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) proceeded from Glasgow to Greenock. She departed for the Northern Patrol around 2000A/3. She was ordered to patrol in the Iceland / Faeroer gap. (5)
10 Apr 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
Around 0700A/10, HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) arrived at Greenock from patrol. (5)
12 Apr 1940
Around 1930A/12, HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) departed Greenock for the Northern Patrol. She was ordered to patrol to the south of Iceland / west of the Faeroer Islands. (5)
3 May 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
Around 1130A/3, HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) arrived at Greenock from patrol. (6)
7 May 1940
Around 1430A/7, HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) departed Greenock for the Northern Patrol. She was ordered to patrol to the south and east of Iceland. (6)
28 May 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
Around 1200A/28, HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) arrived at Greenock from patrol. (6)
1 Jun 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
Around 1415A/1, HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) departed Greenock for the Northern Patrol. She was ordered to patrol to the south of Iceland. (7)
9 Jun 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
Around 1410A/9, HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) arrived at Reykjavik, Iceland from patrol. (7)
10 Jun 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
Around 0115A/10, HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) departed Reykjavik, Iceland to resume her patrol. (7)
18 Jun 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
Around 0800A/18, HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) arrived at Belfast from patrol.
She was now taken in hand for refit at the Harland & Wolff shipyard. (7)
20 Jun 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) is docked in the Thompson Graving Dock at Belfast. (7)
27 Jun 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) is undocked. (7)
19 Jul 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
Around 0900A/19, HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) departed Belfast for Greenock where she arrived around 1640A/19. (8)
20 Jul 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
Around 2130A/20, HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) departed Greenock for the Northern Patrol. She was ordered to patrol well to the south of Iceland. (8)
10 Aug 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
Around 1030A/10, HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) arrived at Greenock from patrol. (9)
14 Aug 1940
Around 1530A/14, HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) departed Greenock for patrol. She was ordered to patrol near Madeira / Canary Islands. (9)
18 Aug 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
At 1908A/18, HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN), in position 39°23'N, 21°33'W [position according to Italian sources], sighted a periscope and fired one round of 6" and two rounds of 3" at it causing some minor damage to the submarine which was the Italian Alessandro Malaspina. Also HMS Circassia dropped three depth charges. At 2004A/18, the submarine was seen on the surface and HMS Circassia turned towards and fired a round at it at 2009A/18 after which the submarine submerged. (9)
19 Aug 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
At 0145A/19, HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) sighted a darkened ship proceeding northwards. Circassia altered course towards and went to action stations. The ship was ordered to identify itself but no reply was received. Two warning shots were then fired which resulted in the unknown ship opening fire. At 0203A/19, Circassia opened fire and fired 36 rounds before fire was ceased and the unknown ship was again challenged and ordered to identify herself. The ship now replied and identified herself as the Rowallan Castle (British, 7801 GRT, built 1939). The transport had sustained some damage in the action but was able to continue to the U.K. (9)
4 Sep 1940
Around 1100A/4, HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) arrived at Greenock from patrol.
She proceeded up river to Glasgow later the same day. (10)
6 Sep 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) proceeded from Glasgow to Greenock. (10)
11 Sep 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
Around 1235A/11, HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) departed Greenock for the Northern Patrol. She was ordered to patrol to the south-west of Iceland and in the Denmark Strait. (10)
4 Oct 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
Around 1115A/4, HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) returned to Greenock from patrol. (11)
9 Oct 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
Around 1530A/9, HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) departed Greenock for the Northern Patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the North Atlantic. (11)
31 Oct 1940 (position 0.00, 0.00)
Around 1230A/31, HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) returned to Greenock from patrol. (11)
2 Nov 1940
HMS Circassia (Capt.(Retd.) H.G.L. Oliphant, DSO, RN) proceeded from Greenock to Glasgow where she was taken in hand for repairs / piston cleaning. (12)
Sources
- ADM 53/108019
- ADM 53/111799
- ADM 53/111800
- ADM 53/111801
- ADM 53/111802
- ADM 53/111803
- ADM 53/111804
- ADM 53/111805
- ADM 53/111806
- ADM 53/111807
- ADM 53/111808
- ADM 53/111808 + ADM 199/390
ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.
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