ROYAL NAVY SOUTH ATLANTIC COMMAND - ROYAL NAVY I
1)INKPEN (ARM TRAWLER)
Image by A. I.
Completed: 1941
Displacement: 750 tons
Length: 155 ft
Beam: 40 ft
Draught: 12 ft
Propulsion: One 1-SE Cylindrical Boiler
Armament: QF 12 pounder (76-mm) HA/LA main gun, 3 x 20 mm Anti Aircraft guns, 4 x 0.5 in machine guns (2x2)
Complement: 37
During World War II, the Hill-class anti-submarine trawler HMS Inkpen (T225) operated under the British West Africa Command, using Freetown, Sierra Leone, as its primary operational base.
Key Roles and Operations at Freetown
Coastal Escort and Screening: HMS Inkpen's core duty was escorting vulnerable merchant ships along the West African coast between Freetown and Takoradi. It provided crucial seaward anti-submarine "screening" via ASDIC (sonar) while merchant vessels lagged close to the shoreline to evade U-boats.
Convoy Protection: The vessel frequently integrated into larger convoy defense setups. In June 1943, HMS Inkpen served as a defensive escort for the split segments of Convoy OS 49 / KMS 16G, ensuring 16 merchant ships safely reached Freetown.
The Sinking of HMS Birdlip & Survivor Rescue: On the night of 13 June 1944, HMS Inkpen was executing a screening mission alongside sister trawlers Turcoman and Birdlip, escorting the French merchant ship Saint Basile to Freetown. When German submarine U-547 ambushed the group—instantly sinking both Birdlip and Saint Basile—HMS Inkpen immediately executed emergency anti-submarine search procedures through the night and successfully rescued approximately one dozen survivors from the water, safely returning them to Freetown.
HMS Inkpen also rescued the master and 28 survivors from Spanish merchant Castillo Montealegre sunk 08/Apr/43 by U-123 on pos 09º46”N 16º50” W. Twelve survivors had abandoned ship on a raft and were never seen again.
The rescue of survivors from the Spanish cargo ship SS *Castillo Montealegre* by the anti-submarine trawler HMS *Inkpen* (T225) took place in April 1943, following a tragic incident involving diplomatic tensions and a violation of Spain's neutrality during World War II.
The Attack on the SS *Castillo Montealegre*
Identification and Targeting: On April 8, 1943, the Spanish motor ship *Castillo Montealegre* was sailing west of Conakry, French Guinea (approximately 200 miles from Freetown), carrying a cargo of timber. As a vessel from a neutral country, it displayed the Spanish flag prominently painted on both sides of its hull.
The Torpedoing: The German submarine *U-123*, commanded by Horst von Schroeter, sighted the ship and fired three torpedoes. The cargo ship sank in less than a minute.
Abandonment and Failure to Assist: The submarine surfaced, and the commander asked the survivors in the water, "What ship?" Upon confirming that he had mistakenly sunk a neutral vessel, the U-boat commander ordered the submarine to depart without rendering any assistance to the shipwrecked crew. Of the 43 crew members, five went down with the ship.
The Rescue Operation by HMS *Inkpen*
Encounter at Sea: Days after the attack, the survivors were scattered across lifeboats and rafts drifting in the Atlantic. The Royal Navy trawler HMS *Inkpen*, conducting routine patrols and anti-submarine sweeps from its base in Freetown, located one of the lifeboats.
The Rescue: The crew of HMS *Inkpen* took the Spanish ship's captain and the 28 survivors from the lifeboat aboard, providing immediate medical treatment, dry clothing, and food. The Fate of the Others: Unfortunately, a separate group of 12 crew members who had taken refuge on a makeshift raft could not be located by HMS Inkpen and perished at sea. In total, the incident resulted in 14 deaths.
Aftermath and Historical Cover-up
The survivors rescued by HMS Inkpen were safely landed at the port of Freetown. Because the incident involved a serious error that could have strained relations between Nazi Germany and Francisco Franco's Spanish government, the German U-boat High Command (BdU) initially ordered that the U-123's war diary be altered to keep the sinking a closely guarded secret, and the matter was diplomatically hushed up at the time.