The Bristol Channel Squids (1943-1949)

 In a previous post I wrote about the 'Hedgehog' anti-submarine weapon which was conceived and developed by the Department of Miscellaneous Weapons Development (DMWD) - known as the 'Wheezers and Dodgers'. The project (No. 20 in the DMWD log) was undertaken on Birnbeck Pier which, from 1941-45, was requisitioned by the Admiralty and designated as HMS Birnbeck. This highly successful weapon was something of a game changer and readers might find it helpful to read about it here, before tackling this latest post, which covers the development of a similiar weapon, known as 'the Squid'. 

Squid anti-submarine mortar - Canadian War Museum

Designed by the Department of Miscellaneous Weapons Development in conjunction with HMS Vernon the Squid (see picture above) was a development from the 'Hedgehog' system. It was a three barrelled depth-charge firing device which linked into the host ship's sonar system. Once a target U-boat was determined to be in an optimal location the Squid would launch three 390lb explosives in a triangular pattern - bracketing an enemy submarine. Immediately after firing, the launcher could be rotated onto its side for fast reloading through an integrated rail system. 

In the image below, HMS Barrosa is sailing through the turbulence caused by a Squid firing from moments before. The big advantages of the Squid vs the Hedgehog were the size of the explosion, the link with sonar and the sophistication of the timers. Incredibly, the Squid remained in service until the early 1980s.

Imperial War Museum - Image (A 33111)

Partially uncovered Squid projectile on the Birnbeck 'Cassey' - Peter Lander Collection

We know from the diary of M.J. Smith, an engineer working for Admiralty contractors Crowe and Green in Weston-super-Mare that Squids were being tested on Birnbeck Pier in 1943. For example in a diary entry for 21 Nov 1943, Smith writes that he was engaged with building a hoist on the pier for Squids. 

Interestingly, in 1992, a strange looking 'bomb' was reported as having been found on the foreshore to the south of Birnbeck Pier. It was spotted by local man, Stephen Lander, as he guided a group of volunteers, Councillors and journalists across 'the Cassey', a naturally formed gravel spit that allows access to Birnbeck Island at low tide.  The discovery caused quite a stir at the time, and the piece of ordnance that was found has since been identified as an early Squid projectile - discharged from the pier and for some reason, never recovered - see picture above. It is now in the safe custody of the Birnbeck Regeneration Trust.

As I've documented elsewhere, after the DMWD ceased operations on Birnbeck Pier, then the weapons development team from HMS Vernon retained the testing site at nearby St Thomas's Head until 1949 - just a few miles up the coastline. Indeed the site remained active until decommissioned in 1992 by the Ministry of Defence. 

Squid Testing, St Thomas's Head, Nov 1948 (Jean Sugar Collection)

Many of the experiments undertaken by the DMWD and other Royal Naval departments involved dropping ordnance and other objects from aircraft and for this reason in 1941, HMS Vernon were given a corner of RAF Locking as a base for operations. Aircraft would sometimes need modifications to carry particular objects and, of course, material needed to be stored and loaded. I will cover this in more detail in a future post.

In the year 2000 when RAF Locking was taken out of service, a unique and precious object was retrieved from a skip by a local resident. It is an official HMS Vernon (Sea Trials Department) photograph album documenting naval activities on Birnbeck Pier, Brean Down and St Thomas's Head. Each photo is accompanied by a unique number and explanatory text. The photos reproduced here, are shown with the kind permission of Jean Sugar. It was Jean's mother who had the foresight to retrieve the album from the skip.

The Clear Area - Nov 1949 (Jean Sugar Collection) 

Squid bombs - recovery 1949 (Jean Sugar Collection)

Within the album two Squid tests at St Thomas's Head were documented in some detail. The first picture dated 17 November 1948 is one of a series showing the delivery and setting up of a Squid firing. The two immediately above are from a series taken a year later. In this latter sequence there are images of the projectiles being unpacked and loaded. But, of particular interest, there are images of the test projectiles being recovered from Middle Hope Bay at low tide. 

As I mentioned earlier, the first tests were conducted from the pier and projectiles would be recovered by hand with the aid of a temporary rail track and trolley. Later at St Thomas's Head, as can be see in the bottom picture, recovery at low tide was undetaken with the aid of a landing craft. As an aside, in his diary, M.J. Smith mentions that a total of twelve vessels were requisitioned by the Royal Navy at HMS Birnbeck.

For the story of the Hedgehog - which is essentially Part 1 of this post, click here.

With thanks to Peter Lander of the Birnbeck Pier Regeneration Trust for his help in researching this topic, and for introducing me to others who were able to assist.

North Somerset Council's Birnbeck Pier Restoration Project has been made possible thanks to over £44m in external funding secured from the UK Government, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, National Heritage Memorial Fund and Historic England.

 

The research that I’m carrying out for the project, which is covering Birnbeck Pier's Second World War history, has been made possible thanks to funding from the council’s social value agreement with its contractor, Mackley.

The Hedgehogs of Birnbeck Pier (1941-45)

Of the one hundred and twenty five projects undertaken by the Department of Miscellaneous Weapons Development (DMWD) during the course of the Second World War, one in five were adopted by the Admiralty. Three of the twenty five were developed at Birnbeck Pier in Weston-super-Mare, a site which had been requisitioned by the Royal Navy from 1941-45. Of these the most significant was the 'Hedgehog' anti-submarine system. 

The problem that needed to be solved, was that convoy escort ships needed to intercept German U-boats quickly so as to attack them before they could dive to a safer depth. 35% of U-boats were visible at the time of the intercept and a further 15% had disappeared no more than thirty seconds before. So, the question arose as to how could intercepting U-boats be made more effective? Royal Navy ships lost precious seconds as they had to get beyond the target to discharge traditional depth-charges from the stern. They also lost sonar contact when the ship was directly above the U-boat.

The Hedgehog, DMWD project (No. 20) was developed and trialled at HMS Birnbeck (as the pier was designated during the Second World War), was a multi-spigot mortar which threw contact fused projectiles in a circular pattern 250 yards ahead of the attacking vessel. Two would be mounted onboard - one on each side of the bow. 

Hedgehog style mortars - USS Charette, Thessaloniki

As an aside, Hedgehog style weapons were used for many years after the Second World War. The above photo taken during a trip to the First World War Salonika battlefields shows one of a pair of Hedgehogs onboard what was the USS Charette, an American destroyer which served in thw WW2 Pacific Campaign. The Hedgehogs were still deployed when the ship was decommissioned in 1992, having served with the Hellenic Navy.

Of the 41 Kreigsmarine U-boats sunk in May 1943, fourteen were sunk by convoy escorts using Hedgehog. Such losses contributed to a temporary withdrawal of German U-boats to what Admiral Doenitz described as 'less hazardous areas'.  

The effectiveness of the Hedgehog can be seen by comparing the 'kill rate' of this new weapon, with the effect of traditional depth charges. During the second half of 1944, 35 Hedgehog salvos were fired, of which 10 resulted in the destruction of a U-boat. A 28% success rate compared with a 5% success rate for traditional depth charging. 

So to what extent were the Wheezers and Dodgers of the DMWD responsible for the development of this highly effective weapon and why was Birnbeck Pier such a big part of the story? The latter question is straightforward, in that the massive tidal reach on the North Somerset coast was ideal for weapons testing. A projectile could be fired from the deck of Birnbeck Pier and, once the tide had receded, the discharged ordnance could be picked up from the muddy foreshore.

Rails for ordnance retrieval at Birnbeck

A female Civil Service Scientific Officer recalled, in an unpublished memoir, how early methods of retrieval worked.

I visited Birnbeck Pier many times and carried out or helped others to carry out tests of such things as the Hedgehog, firing the spigot mortar fixed on one side of the pier. On account of my sex I was excused the cold, wet, and muddy job of getting the Hedgehogs out of the mud at low tide. I remember being told by Jim Close of an occasion when he was grovelling in the mud and the admiral in charge arrived on an unexpected visit. Close was eventually called out of the mud to greet his official commanding officer. He told me later that he was slightly embarrassed at standing to attention and saluting when dressed in nothing but mud – apart from an entirely invisible loin cloth which was the normal dress for mudlarking!

Later, as can be seen in the photograph above, a trolly and rail system was used. Later still, the testing was carried out on St Thomas's Head where landing craft were used for retrieval. Judging by entries in the diary of civilian contractor, M.J.Smith of Crowe and Green - held in Weston-super-Mare Library - the tests were a major activity from 1942 onwards.

Hedgehog Pattern  St Thomas's Head - National Archive

The first part of the question I posed above demands a fuller response. Happily, the answer can be found in the records of a lively debate which was conducted in the early 1960s following the publication of 'The Prof in Two Worlds' a biography of Professor F. A. Lindemann (Lord Cherwell). In his work, the author, Lord Birkenhead', stated that 'The Prof' had to fight hard for the Hedgehog against the Admiralty, who eventually made it into a successful anti-submarine weapon with at least thirty-two kills to its credit.

This bold 'accusation' attracted the attention of the official Royal Navy historian, Captain Stephen Roskill, who decided to investigate the claim so that the historical record could be corrected. Early in 1962 Roskill wrote a letter (on Cabinet Office paper) to Sir Charles Goodeve expressing surprise at Lord Birkenhead's assertion that the DMWD had been laggards in developing the Hedgehog (Goodeve, who set up and commanded the DMWD, led the development of Hedgehog).

Goodeve's fulsome response, along with a detailed history of Hedgehog's history, was sent to the Cabinet Office on 21 Feb 1962. The claim that the weapon was developed in the face of resistance from the Admiralty was completely untrue. The Admiralty accepted the scheme from the very beginning, and with no hesitation. Furthermore the DMWD remained in charge of the weapon until it was finally handed over for operational deployment.

Birth of an idea - the first Hedgehog meeting - Churchill Archive

In his letter to Roskill, Goodeve said that if anyone could claim ownership of the initial idea, it was Millis Jefferis of the Military Intelligence Research branch. Whilsy many others contributed ideas it was Jefferis, working as DMWD Chief Designer, who was most invested. 

In corroboration of this, there is a definitive record of 'the birth' of Hedgehog amongst Goodeve's papers at the Churchill Archive in Cambridge. The description of a spigot mortar with the hand drawn diagram is the work of Jefferis. It was appended to a memo from the Director of Anti-Submarine Warfare to Commander Goodeve of the DMWD. The memo, dated 22 Dec 1940, references a meeting to discuss the use of 'spigot-guns' for anti-submarine purposes. It is interesting to see that Goodeve (or his Secretary) scribbled the name 'Norway' on the memo. It was to be Neville Shute Norway (yes, the well known author) who would take the project forward for the DMWD.

In a talk which I occasionally deliver on behalf of North Somerset Council's Birnbeck Pier Regeneration Project, I use the rather tongue in cheek title 'Wheezers and Dodgers: How the Boffins at Birnbeck Pier helped to Defeat Hitler (1941-45)'. With the phenomonal success of the Hedgehog anti-submarine weapon, I rest my case!

The story of the Squid - another ant-submarine weapon developed at HMS Birnbeck, can be found here.

North Somerset Council's Birnbeck Pier Restoration Project has been made possible thanks to over £44m in external funding secured from the UK Government, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, National Heritage Memorial Fund and Historic England.

 

The research that I’m carrying out for the project, which is covering Birnbeck Pier's Second World War history, has been made possible thanks to funding from the council’s social value agreement with its contractor, Mackley.