| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | ASW Trawler |
| Class | [No specific class] |
| Pennant | FY 151 |
| Built by | Smiths Dock Co., Ltd. (South Bank-on-Tees, U.K.) |
| Ordered | |
| Laid down | |
| Launched | 22 Oct 1934 |
| Commissioned | Oct 1939 |
| End service | |
| History | Completed in November 1934. Sold in February 1946. |
Commands listed for HMS Loch Melfort (FY 151)
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 | Cdr. (retired) Maurice Arthur Brind, RN | 9 Oct 1939 | 1 Apr 1940 |
| 2 | Lt.Cdr. Francis Mervyn Wynter Harris, RNR | 13 Apr 1940 | May 1940 |
| 3 | T/Lt. Frederick Graham-Brown, RNR | May 1940 | mid 1941 |
| 4 | T/Lt. William Fleming McAusland, RNVR | mid 1941 | 14 Jun 1942 |
| 5 | T/Lt. Leslie Kerr Smith, RANVR | 14 Jun 1942 | 16 Feb 1943 |
| 6 | T/Lt. Frank Bloor, RNVR | 16 Feb 1943 | May 1944 |
| 7 | Lt. Charles Russell Dunlop, RNVR | May 1944 | 1 Jul 1944 |
| 8 | T/Lt. Herbert George Gabriel, RNVR | 1 Jul 1944 |
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Notable events involving Loch Melfort include:
22 Aug 1940
A/S trawler HMS Loch Melfort (T/Lt. F. Graham-Brown, RNR), which was on local A/S patrol reported a submarine contact 13 miles 320° from Ras el Tin.
To assist in the A/S hunt the destroyers HMS Juno (Cdr. W.E. Wilson, RN), HMAS Voyager (Cdr. J.C. Morrow, RAN) and HMAS Waterhen (Lt.Cdr. J.H. Swain, RN) departed Alexandria to assist, but no further contact was made.
[File ADM 199/386, gives that the destroyer HMS Ilex (Lt.Cdr. P.L. Saumarez, DSC, RN) was also involved but from several ships logs which were present at Alexandria it is obvious that it was HMAS Waterhen which sailed in company with HMS Juno. HMAS Voyager had departed a little earlier to escort a local convoy to Port Said but most likely the sailing of this convoy was then postponed and she joined the A/S hunt.]
After the A/S hunt had been completed / cancelled, HMAS Voyager proceeded towards Port Said with the local convoy. [No details available on which ships were in this convoy.] (1)
3 Dec 1940
Convoy AS 6.
This convoy departed Piraeus on 3 December 1940 for Port Said where it arrived on 7 December 1940.
The convoy was made up of the merchant vessels; Adinda (Dutch (tanker), 3359 GRT, built 1939), Artemis Pitta (Greek, 1363 GRT, built 1906), British Sergeant (British (tanker), 5868 GRT, built 1922), Cleanthis (Greek, 4153 GRT, built 1911), Eocene (British, 4216 GRT, built 1922), Guido (British, 3921 GRT, built 1920), Hannah Moller (British, 2931 GRT, built 1911), Helka (British, 3471 GRT, built 1912) and Tanais (Greek, 1545 GRT, built 1907).
On departure escort was provided by the A/S trawler HMS Loch Melfort (T/Lt. F. Graham-Brown, RNR). A second A/S trawler was to have sailed as escort for the convoy but was unable to do so due to defects, this was HMS Kingston Coral (Skr. W. Kirman, RNR).
From about south of the Kaso Strait AA protection was given by the AA cruiser HMS Calcutta (Capt. D.M. Lees, DSO, RN). The cruiser had departed Alexandria on 3 December 1940 and joined the convoy around 1300/4 in approximate position 34°12'N 28°24'E.
The destroyer HMS Wryneck (Lt.Cdr. R.H.D. Lane, RN) departed Alexandria on 5 December 1940 and joined the convoy around 1130/6.
HMS Calcutta parted company with the convoy at 1800/6 and set course for Alexandria where she arrived the next morning.
The convoy arrived at Port Said on the 7th following which HMS Wryneck returned to Alexandria arriving on the 8th.
Sources
- ADM 199/386 + Report of proceedings of HMAS Voyager for August 1940 + Report of proceedings of HMAS Waterhen for August 1940
ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.