HMS Gleaner - Military Genealogy

Dates: 1939 - 1946

HMS GLEANER (J83) was one of four new ships based on the Halcyon design which were to be used for survey work. Of these, two (Franklin and Scott) were designed for surveying and two (Jason and GLEANER) were primarily designed as minesweepers.

GLEANER was to be designed primarily for minesweeping and simply fitted for her survey role. No armament was fitted, though GLEANER was fitted for but not with the standard Halcyon armament of 2 x 4-inch guns and small arms. All wiring and strengthening was built into her to allow for her speedy conversion to full minesweeping configuration on the outbreak of war.

Having been armed at Devonport GLEANER was allocated to the 1st A/S Flotilla in Western Approaches Command in time for the outbreak of war on 3 Sept 1939, based at Belfast. In December she was reassigned to the Home Fleet 2nd Force based at the Clyde. Thereafter she seems to have specialised as a Clyde defender because when U33 bravely sailed into the Firth of Clyde and attempted to lay mines she was caught by GLEANER and destroyed on 12 Feb 1940 (capturing rotors from the sub’s Enigma machine). This was a fine and most important success and Adolph Hitler was subsequently assured by the German C‑in‑C, Navy, Grand Admiral Raeder, that such a dangerous attempt would not be repeated.

In March 1940 GLEANER was sent back to W. Approaches Command in the 3rd A/S Flotilla, and she continued for the time being in her escort role. Thereafter GLEANER gained considerable experience in U‑boat hunting and attacking. Between 14 August and 27 October 1940 she escorted Convoys 0A198, SL42, 0A204, 0A216, OG43 and HG45. She took Convoy OG43 down to Gibraltar in Sept/October, and then went out to escort OG44 on the last leg of its passage, giving four enemy destroyers out of Brest a wide berth. In November she rescued survivors of the HARBOROUGH (from WN21 on the NE coast) who had been bombed, and she then escorted the East Coast convoys EN27, WN40, EN30, EN37 and WN50 before entering refit at Leith on 12 December; this refit lasted until 4 Feb.1941.

Out of refit GLEANER spent 1941 engaged on further east coast escort duties within the Rosyth Escort Force; many of these convoys sailed between Methil and the Clyde . Very high standards of alertness (against enemy aircraft) and navigation (in the swept channel) were reached and maintained. From 9 Feb. GLEANER escorted WN81, EN71 WN84, WN87, EN74, EN77 and WN90 (to 23 Feb.). In early September GLEANER was needed for survey duties off Iceland, but (she) "cannot be spared without relief". A few days later she was escorting FS594F and EC74; EC79 and WN87 followed.

Early in 1942 GLEANER was ordered to be converted into a Fleet Minesweeper during her next refit which commenced on 10 Feb at Leith and ended on 20 May. When she was ready for sea she was attached to the 1st M/S Flotilla based at Scapa, and she sailed up there in July when her trials were completed. After a boiler‑clean at Aberdeen she and HARRIER departed Scapa on 30 August and arrived Hvalfjord, Iceland on 4 September. Following a convoy conference the next day GLEANER sailed to overtake Convoy PQ18 (40 ships) which arrived Archangel on 17 September 1942.

In November 1942 GLEANER operated locally, escorting individual ships from Archangel via the White Sea to the Kola Inlet. In mid‑December GLEANER joined the ocean escort for Convoy RA51 (14 ships), arriving Loch Ewe on 11 Jan.1943. GLEANER sailed to Grimsby for repairs between 14 Jan and 22 Feb 1943, and in early March sailed up to Hvalfjord and operated there locally as a minesweeper until mid June. GLEANER returned to Grimsby for further maintenance for a month in June/July. In September she returned to Iceland for further local duties and then refitted on the Thames between 18 October and 30 November.

Out of refit GLEANER took part in the escorting of JW55B which left Loch Ewe on 20 December 1942 (19 ships) and reached Kola on<