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Notes on the Cable Ship "Alert"
EXTRACTS FROM VARIOUS DOCUMENTS AND INFORMATION GIVEN
List of Casualties
Mar 13 1945.Dover reports:
Alert left Plymouth for repair work on the Broadstairs-La Panne
cable. She left anchorage off Ramsgate at 7am Feb 24 and was
last seen by HM ship at 10.5 am between Elbow Buoy and South
Falls Buoy. At 11.5 am this HM ship found a wreck which 30 hours
later was identified as the Alert. No explosion was heard by HM
ship and the weather at 1.45 was wind W by N force 2, visibility
one mile. Master of Alert is stated to have been in touch with
Canterbury GPO and at about 1030 am Feb 24 said he would ring
again shortly but did not do so. It can only be resumed that she
was torpedoed by a U boat or midget submarine or possibly fouled
an old mine in her own or the telegraph cable (Adm n LL
14/3/45)
A raft marked Alert washed
ashore on Mar 6 1945 near De Haan between Ostend and
Blankenbughe. The bodies showed no sign of wounding, death
evidently due to exposure having occurred about a week
previously and clothing was that of naval ratings (adm) see LL
and SG June 19 1945 p 2
*
Three
bodies, with death possibly caused by exposure, were later discovered
from a raft which drifted ashore at De Haan, Belgium. They may have been
2nd Officer James Dixon, Chief Engineer Herbert Charles, from Dover, and
John Crosby
Taws, the 4th Officer. All are now buried at Oye-Place, France. One body, that of Norman MacLeod,
Radio Officer, was recovered
from the sea and now lies at Calais There were also two bodies washed
up at Harwich
Two crew members of the Alert, who had been off
duty when she was sunk, became two of the only three casualties out of
69 men when the sister ship, Monarch, was sunk two months later off Orford Ness.
Information received
*
A lifebuoy also marked Alert,
was washed up on the Belgian coast Unsourced document
received
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I very much regret to have
to inform you that the enquiry has shown that certain Naval
Officers failed to keep themselves and others properly informed
of the movements of the Alert, which resulted in delay in
recognising that she had been lost and in searching for any
survivors. I can only say that the Board of Admiralty are deeply
distressed by the findings of the enquiry, and they have taken
disciplinary action against the officers who failed in their
duty. Extract from letter dated July 1945 from Admiralty,
Whitehall to the Postmaster General
*
Close escort was not provided
for the Alert as she was working within seven miles of Ramsgate, it
was daylight, and a motor launch was on patrol in the vicinity.
Shortly after the sinking is presumed to have taken place a new
wreck was sighted by one of HM Ships but it was not reported until
later in the day. The Commanding Officer of HM Ship concerned did
not connect the wreck with HMTS Alert as visibility was low and no
explosion had been heard. Extract from letter March 15 1945 to
Postmaster General from Admiralty, Whitehall
The letter concludes, "Will you
please accept my very deep regret that so many valuable lives
should have been lost"
*
The cause of the loss is not
definitely known but the evidence points to it having been an
explosion of such force as to prevent distress signals
being sent and to account for the absence of any survivors.
Extract from letter dated July 1945 from Admiralty, Whitehall to
the Postmaster General
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Chief Officer Evans of the Alert, who
named himself the only survivor of the Alert, and later became
captain of the Aerial, had been on leave sick when
she was sunk, had later flown over the wreck, discovering that she was
split in two, with the two sections at an angle to each other, the bow
pointing north and the stern half to the east. At around 10.30 to 11.00
on the fatal morning, the official report stated that the Alert may have
been torpedoed, or may have struck a mine unretrieved by the
minesweepers. All 59 hands, officers and men were lost. "Seehunds" were operative off Ramsgate that
morning. Information received
*
The Alert was the second
of that name. She was launched in 1918, constructed by
Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson . Fowey was on place where she
attended refits. Information received
with thanks to Malcolm Ellis
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