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HMS Capetown
If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.
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Those known to have sailed in HMS Capetown during the Second World War 1939-1945. - Leggate John. A/Ldg.Sea.
- Rees Charles Eric Powell. AB.
- Tubman Thomas. Seaman (d.16th November 1939)
- Welsh Albert Edward.
The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed,
please
Add a Name to this List
Records of HMS Capetown from other sources.
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Want to know more about HMS Capetown? There are:0 items tagged HMS Capetown available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War. |
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A/Ldg.Sea. John Leggate HMS Capetown My uncle, John Leggate, served onboard the Capetown from Jan 1941 'till June 41. He had be moved from HMS Carthage to HMS Capetown.
After the torpedo attack on HMS Capetown he was then posted on board the battleship HMS Rodney in Jan 9143 'till May 1945. By this time he was Petty Officer and finished as Commissioned Gunner in 1947 to 1954 having been in the Navy from 1938.
He passed away in Greenock in 1982.
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Albert Edward Welsh HMS Mauritius My father, Albert Welch, served on HMS Mauritius from October
1941 to August 1944. As you might imagine, he had an interesting war
and was present at Sicily, Salerno, Anzio and the Normandy landings on
D-Day. I have many stories and pictures that he passed to me before he died.
I recently compiled these into a book and there are over 70 pages devoted to Mauritius describing where she went and what she did during this period, backed up by numerous pictures, many from his personal photo albums.
If anyone is researching the ship during this period, they may find some useful information in the eBook which can be found on the following link: A Sailor at War 1939-1945.
He also served on the Royal Naval warships HMS Capetown, HMS Widnes and HMS Centurion during World War 2. He shipped out to the Far East on the converted liner RMS Strathmore where he was temporarily attached to HMS Widnes based in Colombo. In October 1940 he joined the cruiser HMS Capetown patrolling the Indian Ocean and the African coast during the East African Campaign.
In 1941 the Capetown was deployed in the Red Sea and in April of that year she was torpedoed by an Italian MTB where Albert was lucky to survive. There followed a brief period in Bombay attached to the old battleship HMS Centurion, secretly disguised with wooden guns to resemble HMS Anson.
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Seaman Thomas Tubman HMS Capetown (d.16th November 1939) My grandfather, Thomas Tubman, served on HMS Capetown and was killed in 1939. He is buried in Gibraltar. Can anyone tell me how he was killed, what battle took place etc. and what happened to the Capetown?
Update
Capetown was a light cruiser, built by Cammel Laird, launched in 1919.
4290 tons, 425ft x 43ft, armed: 5 x 6in.
Between 1934 and 1938 she was based in the Far East and was then laid up in reserve until 1939 when she was recommissioned in September 1939 and was then based at Gibraltar for service with the Med. Fleet. She escorted a couple of convoys to the eastern Med during mid-1940, but in August 1940 she went to the Far East again and was based at Bombay. She there took part in supporting ops in east Africa, being damaged by a torpedo on 8th April 1941 and was under repair at Bombay until August 1941. She remained in Indian waters until she returned to UK in 1943 from when she was used as an accommodation and depot ship for landing craft; in this role Capetown took part in the D-Day landings. She went into reserve 1944 and was scrapped at Preston in 1946. She did not see any action in 1939, so I would presume that your grandfather died either in an accident or from illness.(David H)
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Recomended Reading.Available at discounted prices.
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A Sailor at War 1939-1945Ken Welsh
One man's war as seen through the eyes of a volunteer sailor, Albert Welch, who served on the Royal Naval warships HMS Mauritius, HMS Capetown, HMS Widnes and HMS Centurion during World War 2. The book represents the factual history of the ships that Albert served on during this period in the context of his detailed eye witness accounts of major battles, some of which were to become momentous events in world history.
Albert’s vividly described, eye witness account is fully illustrated with over 100 photographs, many of which are taken from Albert’s wartime photo albums.
This book provides a broad perspective on the war at sea, the home front and visits to exotic foreign ports, contrasting periods of humour, tragedy, danger, boring routine, and the full horror of warfare up close. Above all, it shows the risks these young men took for King and Country and the sacrifices so many of them ultimately made to preserve our freedom today.
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