Official Records
ADM 239/261: The Fighting Instructions
Section XVIII- Protection of a Damaged Ship
Updated 28-Aug-2006
This document is a modern transcription of Admiralty file ADM 239/261, "The Fighting Instructions," published 1939. This particular portion deals with pages 105 & 106. The original document is held at the The National Archives at Kew, London. This Crown Copyrighted material is reproduced here by kind permission of The National Archives.
(Pages 105-106)
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Clause
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Subject
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605 |
GENERAL
605. If a battleship has suffered underwater damage,
which necessitates her stopping and the Admiral has ordered her to be
taken into tow (see Clause 28), the following measures may be required
to protect her. They also apply to other classes of ships.
REPORTING DAMAGE TO
ADJACENT SHIPS
606. The battleship should signal immediately to
ships in company whether she has been damaged by air attack, a mine or
a submarine torpedo, although it will often be difficult to differentiate
between mine and torpedo damage.
PROTECTION AGAINST AIR ATTACK
607. If the battleship has been damaged by air attack,
destroyers should be stationed in the most suitable positions to counter
air attack while the tow is being passed. Any anti-submarine measures,
which may also be possible, should be taken at the same time.
PROTECTION AGAINST MINES
608. If the ship has been mined, the Captain of
the ship detailed for towing should instruct the Senior Officer, destroyers
present, the sweep ahead of him as he approaches the damaged ship. Subsequently,
the destroyers should:-
(a) Sweep an area towards which the damaged ship is drifting, as a safeguard against further mines while the tow is being passed.
(b) Sweep ahead of the towing ship, after the battleship has been taken in tow, until danger from mines is passed.
PROTECTION AGAINST SUBMARINE
ATTACK
609. Destroyers should sweep as wide an area as
possible round the battleship and on completion of the sweep, they should
adopt an endless A/S patrol round her. The Senior Officer of destroyers
should be guided generally by the instructions in the Manual of A/S Warfare
(C.B. 3024). After the initial A/S sweep the towing ship should close
the battleship and take her in tow.
ACTION WHEN THE BATTLESHIP
IS IN TOW
610. After the battleship has been taken in tow
in any of the three circumstances mentioned above, the Senior Officer
of the force should order the destroyers to take up the appropriate screen
against the form of attack he considers most probable.
611. (Blank)
612-614. (Blank)
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