Postby David Carter » Tue Aug 07, 2018 10:56 am
Geoffrey
Our database says:
ML 916
Fairmile 112' B-Type Motor Launch
Builder's Yard: William Weatherhead, Cockenzie, UK
Completion: 16th September 1944 Loss or Disposal: 8th November 1944
Notes: ML 916 was mined off the Dutch coast on 8 November 1944. ML 916 was part of the 19th Minesweeping ML Flotilla, and was taking part in Operation Calendar, which along with the invasion of Walcheren, was part of the effort to clear the Scheldt Estuary, to free up the port of Antwerp for use by the Allies. Lieutenant Don Claydon, CO of ML 906, companion boat to ML 916, recounted the flotilla sailing from Antwerp to Terneuzen on the day in question, and commencing to sweep when ML 916, who was next but one ahead of him in formation, blew up on an acoustic mine. He remember seeing the whole ship being blown up into the air, then immediately disintegrating. He managed to recover its skipper, Lieutenant G. G. MacPherson, together with his wardroom steward from the water, but all other hands were lost. Source: Correspondence from Don Claydon to Captain Humphrey Hopper on the Coastal Forces Veterans web site.