HMS Sphinx at Kinnaird Head
HMS Sphinx (J69) was a British minesweeper of the Halcyon class, 815 tons, commissioned in 1939. Her mission: to sweep British coastal waters (which since November 1939 had contained hundreds of German magnetic mines). Equipment: magnetic-effect sweep gear (standard equipment fitted from January 1940 onwards on all minesweepers).
On the morning of 3 February 1940 the Sphinx was working off Kinnaird Head (Aberdeenshire) with 2 other minesweepers (Hussar and Speedwell). Bad weather: sea state 4, fog. Around 11:45 a Heinkel He 111 bomber of ("Löwen-Geschwader") commanded by Hauptmann spotted the 3 minesweepers on patrol. Luftwaffe doctrine for naval missions: shallow-dive attacks at 800 metres, high-explosive bombs against light vessels.
Lehwess-Litzmann released 2 250-kilogram bombs on the Sphinx. Only one hit, but directly on the main boiler. Massive explosion. The ship lost all power. Captain , 41, ordered abandon ship.
Taylor had to decide how to evacuate and what to do with the ship.
North Sea, February 1940, you command the stricken minesweeper HMS Sphinx: how do you save ship and crew in the storm?
Taylor attempted a tow by Hussar. HMS Hussar managed to fasten a tow at 13:00. But the fog thickened. By 14:30 the Sphinx broke in 2 under the strain (the damaged boiler collapsed and tore open the hull). The forward part sank in 15 minutes. 54 British sailors died, including Taylor. The after part was brought ashore at Fraserburgh and beached. Bodies recovered: 14 confirmed, 40 missing. The loss of the Sphinx became a textbook case in the Royal Navy: the doctrine of towing seriously damaged ships was revised — a fractured vessel is no longer to be towed. Lehwess-Litzmann survived the war, became a civilian pilot afterwards and died in 1988. The loss of HMS Sphinx was emblematic of the second wave of U-boats and the Luftwaffe striking at British territorial waters in the winter of 1939-1940.
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