Attack on Portland Harbour 4th July 1940

[kimberlin]

On the 4 July 1940, 26 JU87's attack Portland Harbour.
H.M.S. Foylebank sunk.
H.M.S. Himalaya sunk.
In sinking the Himalaya, it was thought at the time by the Luftwaffe that they had indeed sunk H.M.S. Ark Royal.
Would Luftwaffe pilots have made records on possible target hits on return to base, if so who sunk the Foylebank and Himalaya ?
Any help would be appreciated.

[Chris Goss]

III/StG 51 took of at 0900 hrs to attack shipping in Portland. They reported sinking an 'old warship' of 8-10000 tons with 6 bombs, a 10000 T freighter and a 5000 T freighter; one Stuka crashed on the return trip. Nowhere does it say they thought it was the Ark Royal and in any case how could one mistake Himalaya for a carrier-are you thinking about the attack on Rosyth in Oct 39 when German propaganda claimed to have sunk the Ark?

[Stig Jarlevik]

Guys

Out of curiosity I looked at what Christer Bergström says in his new book (in Swedish only so far)
"The hour in Portland was 08.40H local time when 33 Stukas spread out and attacked. One tanker was almost immediately set on fire by a 500kgs bomb. After that the attacks were concentrated against the Flak-ship Foyle Bank. Two Stukas were hit by the vessels guns, and one of them crashed into the water. At the time bombs hit the deck of Foyle Bank. The attack was over in four minutes and the vessel keeled over and sank."

No mentioning of any other vessels sunk by III./St.G 51. Also note the different number of aircraft taking part in the attack...

Cheers
Stig

[Chris Goss]

I got the number of aircraft from the Einzelmeldung

[Stig Jarlevik]

I read you Chris

Problem is you don't state any numbers...
Does your source agree with Kimberlin, ie 26? Is the "old war ship" given by you the same as the flak ship? What could the tanker be? Were any of the freighters listed by you actually sunk in the harbour?

Cheers
Stig

[kimberlin]

Thanks to all for replies.
The question of the Ark Royal sinking, is the fact that H.M.S. Himalaya looked like a flat top aircraft carrier from above, due to the fact she had little or no superstructure.