cover for the day 11 May HMS Curacao

[Tony Walker]

A bit foolhardy perhaps, venturing into the realms of WWII, but this cover is one I showed during our VE Day celebrations the other day and it attracted some interest.

The requisitioned liner Queen Elizabeth was used primarily to carry troops from America across the Atlantic to the UK, usually unescorted, relying on her speed to avoid any U Boat attacks.

On 2 October 1942, with 20,000 US troops on board she was nearing the end of her journey and was some 200 miles off the Irish coast and had been met by the light cruiser HMS Curacao to act as escort.  Both ships were zig-zagging to make life difficult for the U Boats, and found themselves on a collision course, and had been warned so.  However each of the captains assumed the other ship would give way (a misinterpretation of the etiquette), and the huge liner cut the small cruiser in half.  She was ordered to continue and not to pick up survivors. 337 men lost their lives.

The cover below addressed to James William Crouch of HMS Curacao, posted a week after the tragedy has an Admiralty label attached :

                  Return to Sender on Admiralty Instructions
                      It is with the deepest regret that you
                      are informed that the addressee has
                                died on Active Service

Due to the nature of the loss the Admiralty imposed a blanket censorship on reporting the event

[Frank Schofield]

Tony

Surly HMS Curacoa was sunk by the Queen Mary??

FRank

[Tony Walker]

Oops!  You're quite right Frank, thanks for spotting it

Tony

[Frank Schofield]

Tony

Nothing clever, watched a documentary on the incident on TV about two weeks ago

Frank

[Colin Tabeart]

I always wanted to join the Royal Navy. As a lad I built several RN warship models including the Curacoa. When I went for my Admiralty interview board one of the questions was "what hobbies do you have?" I said something like building model warships, & was then asked what ships? So I told them one was Curacoa, and was asked what happened to her? When I replied "She was cut in two by the Queen Mary Sir" I was in! One of the Captains on the Board had been an officer in Curacoa when she was sunk - a lucky survivor! If you can possibly spare that cover Tony - please name your price! Best wishes
Colin