John George Kail
- Family History
- Military history
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Son of Alfred Henry and Elsie Kail, of Arnold, Nottinghamshire
Portsmouth Naval Memorial Panel 53, Column 1
HMS Fleur de Lys
Launched as La Dieppoise for the French Navy, this vessel was completed as HMS Fleur de Lys for the Royal Navy after France was invaded by Germany. At 03.36 hours on 14 October 1941, U-206 fired a spread of three torpedoes at HMS Fleur de Lys (K 122) (Lt A. Collins, RNR) about 55 miles west of Gibraltar. The corvette had escorted convoy OG-75 to port the day before and was ordered to patrol in the Straits of Gibraltar to search for U-boats that had chased convoy. One of the torpedoes struck her on port side under the bridge after a running time of 92 seconds, causing the magazine to explode. The ship broke in two and both parts disappeared within a few minutes. The commander, four officers and 65 ratings, including Coder John Kail from Arnold, Nottinghamshire, were lost. Only three ratings, two of them injured, survived the sinking and were picked up after a few hours by the Spanish motor merchant Castillo Villafranca. David Nunn
Unknown
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