Airdrie Academy War Heroes

In late 1943, the British authorities were aware of the approach of the German blockade runner Münsterland, which was carrying an important cargo of latex and strategic metals. The Germans had a well-rehearsed procedure for escorting such vessels. The British reacted by executing "Operation Tunnel", a standard operation whereby available ships would attempt to intercept. Of the planning of this operation Lieutenant-Commander Roger Hill voiced his reservations to senior staff, but his advice was not heeded.

 

HMS Charybdis (Capt. George Arthur Wallis Voelcker, RN) was assigned to the operation on the 20th of October and on 22nd of October the British force put to sea. With Charybdis were the fleet destroyers HMS Grenville and Rocket, and four Hunt-class destroyers: Limbourne, Wensleydale, Talybont and Stevenstone.

 

Münsterland's escorts consisted of five Type 39 torpedo boats of the 4th Torpedo Boat Flotilla, commanded by Franz Kohlauf. Charybdis picked up the convoy on her radar at a range of 7 nautical miles (13 km; 8.1 mi), but did not intercept radio transmissions, Limbourne heard radio transmissions but could not pick up the ships on radar as Charybdis was blocking her view.

 

At 1:38am the German torpedo boat T23, under the command of Friedrich-Karl Paul, spotted Charybdis, which was hit on the port side by two torpedoes out of a salvo of six fired by T23 and T27. She sank within 30 minutes. 426 men died, (38 Royal Marines) including the Commanding Officer and our FP George Milln, and 107 survived. The wreck of Charybdis have been located, Charybdis was found in 1993, lying in 83 metres of water.