The Psilander affair of 1940 (Sweden versus the United Kingdom)

[lordroel]

The Psilander affair of 1940 (Sweden versus the United Kingdom)

YouTube (Psilander affair)



The Psilander affair was an incident that occurred in Skálafjørður near Tórshavn in the Faroe Islands on 20 June 1940 in World War II. The British Royal Navy captured the four Swedish destroyers HSwMS Psilander, Puke, Romulus and Remus, together with the Swedish Lloyd passenger ship Patricia and the Trelleborgs Ångfartygs tanker Castor, despite the fact that Sweden was neutral.

The incident is said to have been triggered by the British concern that the German navy would otherwise capture the ships and take them into German service when they left the North Sea, citing right of angary. The four destroyers were recently bought in Italy and were on their way from La Spezia to Gothenburg when they were captured. On 2 July 1940, after diplomatic negotiations, the vessels were returned to the Swedish crews, and the vessels reached Gothenburg on 10 July 1940.

Photo: Patricia in March 1940 on her way from Sweden to La Spezia



The Swedish Navy had chartered Patricia to take the crews for the destroyers from Sweden to Italy, and accompanied them on their return voyage. After the crew did work to adopt them, they left La Spezia on 14 April.

Due to a collision caused by a machine breakdown they needed repair in Cartagena, Spain. The Italian Chief of Navy called the Swedish attaché at the Swedish embassy and advised the ships to go home as soon as possible, which later has been interpreted as proof that he knew about Hitler's planned attack on France, which began on 10 May.

Photo: The tanker Castor before the Second World War



The destroyers did not have fuel bunkers large enough to go from Italy to Sweden. The Swedish Navy had a confirmed order on bunker fuel in Lisbon, but did not get any. A Swedish civilian tanker, Castor, was transporting oil and diesel from Mexico to Sweden. The Swedish Navy chartered her, made her a naval ship and diverted her to Lisbon, where she refuelled the destroyers.

All six ships headed for Cobh, Ireland, where Swedish citizens who had been living in Great Britain and Ireland boarded Patricia. They continued to the Faroe Islands, as the English Channel was a war zone. Castor had fairly low speed which would make the destroyers consume more fuel, so a decision was made to let Castor proceed independently.

Map: the route of Patricia and the four destroyers from La Spezia to Gothenburg (red), the route of the tanker Castor (green)



At the Faroe Islands, which the UK had occupied, the Royal Navy on order from its government seized the destroyers. The Commander of the Swedish ships, Torsten Hagman, surrendered, as they did not have fuel to go to Sweden, Castor was already seized, and the Royal Navy force in the Faroes was stronger than the four Swedish destroyers. The commander was unable to contact his Swedish Navy superiors for orders on how to proceed, and decided to negotiate instead. The Royal Navy demanded the ships submit and follow them to British controlled ports for internment. Since Sweden was not at war with the UK and had little hope of prevailing in a battle, the commander acquiesced to British demands. Later, Hagman was heavily criticised by others in the Swedish Navy for surrendering without firing a shot.

Photo: Remus, Romulus, Psilander and Puke in Gothenburg harbour after the British Royal Navy released them



All ships were released to Sweden on 2 July. Germany guaranteed Swedish neutrality and allowed the ships to go to Sweden. On 5 July they left heading for Sweden and arrived on 10 July 1940.

After arriving at Gothenburg held at Commands initiative, preliminary hearing with Hagman in field court martial at West Coast marine district . On a question from the interrogator if Hagman felt that he protected "Swedish Navy's reputation and Swedish flag honor," he replied, that he found himself in this position to have acted properly, regardless of the regulations and instructions.

At the hearing, the prosecutor asked if it might have been appropriate to let Englishmen shoot one or another shot, and only then decide if the destroyers were surrendered. That said Hagman, he inevitably had to return fire, thus would any claims would be compromised. It was as Hagman extremely important that not a single shot fell. Hagman was found neither guilty nor innocent. The Media and politicians, including then Prime Minister Per Albin Hansson supported Hagman's decision, but officers across the Swedish armed forces saw him as a coward in battle

The day after the court-martialled completed his preliminary investigation, 22 August 1940 the head of the fleet, Rear Admiral Gosta Ehrensvärd issued , a secret order:

' I forbid any officer under my command to surrender their vessels to foreign powers, whatever the reason may be. Allegiance to the flag is the most important of all. ' - Rear Admiral Gosta Ehrensvärd "

[stevep]

Oct 16, 2021 18:14:27 GMT lordroel said:

The Psilander affair of 1940 (Sweden versus the United Kingdom)

YouTube (Psilander affair)



The Psilander affair was an incident that occurred in Skálafjørður near Tórshavn in the Faroe Islands on 20 June 1940 in World War II. The British Royal Navy captured the four Swedish destroyers HSwMS Psilander, Puke, Romulus and Remus, together with the Swedish Lloyd passenger ship Patricia and the Trelleborgs Ångfartygs tanker Castor, despite the fact that Sweden was neutral.

The incident is said to have been triggered by the British concern that the German navy would otherwise capture the ships and take them into German service when they left the North Sea, citing right of angary. The four destroyers were recently bought in Italy and were on their way from La Spezia to Gothenburg when they were captured. On 2 July 1940, after diplomatic negotiations, the vessels were returned to the Swedish crews, and the vessels reached Gothenburg on 10 July 1940.

Photo: Patricia in March 1940 on her way from Sweden to La Spezia



The Swedish Navy had chartered Patricia to take the crews for the destroyers from Sweden to Italy, and accompanied them on their return voyage. After the crew did work to adopt them, they left La Spezia on 14 April.

Due to a collision caused by a machine breakdown they needed repair in Cartagena, Spain. The Italian Chief of Navy called the Swedish attaché at the Swedish embassy and advised the ships to go home as soon as possible, which later has been interpreted as proof that he knew about Hitler's planned attack on France, which began on 10 May.

Photo: The tanker Castor before the Second World War



The destroyers did not have fuel bunkers large enough to go from Italy to Sweden. The Swedish Navy had a confirmed order on bunker fuel in Lisbon, but did not get any. A Swedish civilian tanker, Castor, was transporting oil and diesel from Mexico to Sweden. The Swedish Navy chartered her, made her a naval ship and diverted her to Lisbon, where she refuelled the destroyers.

All six ships headed for Cobh, Ireland, where Swedish citizens who had been living in Great Britain and Ireland boarded Patricia. They continued to the Faroe Islands, as the English Channel was a war zone. Castor had fairly low speed which would make the destroyers consume more fuel, so a decision was made to let Castor proceed independently.

Map: the route of Patricia and the four destroyers from La Spezia to Gothenburg (red), the route of the tanker Castor (green)



At the Faroe Islands, which the UK had occupied, the Royal Navy on order from its government seized the destroyers. The Commander of the Swedish ships, Torsten Hagman, surrendered, as they did not have fuel to go to Sweden, Castor was already seized, and the Royal Navy force in the Faroes was stronger than the four Swedish destroyers. The commander was unable to contact his Swedish Navy superiors for orders on how to proceed, and decided to negotiate instead. The Royal Navy demanded the ships submit and follow them to British controlled ports for internment. Since Sweden was not at war with the UK and had little hope of prevailing in a battle, the commander acquiesced to British demands. Later, Hagman was heavily criticised by others in the Swedish Navy for surrendering without firing a shot.

Photo: Remus, Romulus, Psilander and Puke in Gothenburg harbour after the British Royal Navy released them



All ships were released to Sweden on 2 July. Germany guaranteed Swedish neutrality and allowed the ships to go to Sweden. On 5 July they left heading for Sweden and arrived on 10 July 1940.

After arriving at Gothenburg held at Commands initiative, preliminary hearing with Hagman in field court martial at West Coast marine district . On a question from the interrogator if Hagman felt that he protected "Swedish Navy's reputation and Swedish flag honor," he replied, that he found himself in this position to have acted properly, regardless of the regulations and instructions.


At the hearing, the prosecutor asked if it might have been appropriate to let Englishmen shoot one or another shot, and only then decide if the destroyers were surrendered. That said Hagman, he inevitably had to return fire, thus would any claims would be compromised. It was as Hagman extremely important that not a single shot fell.

The day after the court-martialled completed his preliminary investigation, 22 August 1940 the head of the fleet, Rear Admiral Gosta Ehrensvärd issued , a secret order:



' I forbid any officer under my command to surrender their vessels to foreign powers, whatever the reason may be. Allegiance to the flag is the most important of all. '



- Rear Admiral Gosta Ehrensvärd "

  lordroel,

  Well that was a mess and glad it ended peacefully.  Think that Hagman was right not to try and fight as it would simply have caused a lot of deaths as well as lasting ill-feeling.  It doesn't actually say what the result of the court marshal was?

  Interesting names for the ships.  Since two were named after Romulus and Remaus - possibly the initial Italian names? - were the others related to Roman mythology?  I find it funny one is called Puke but no doubt it means something else in Swedish or Italian.

  Steve

[lordroel]

Oct 16, 2021 18:32:19 GMT stevep said:

Oct 16, 2021 18:14:27 GMT lordroel said:

The Psilander affair of 1940 (Sweden versus the United Kingdom)

YouTube (Psilander affair)



The Psilander affair was an incident that occurred in Skálafjørður near Tórshavn in the Faroe Islands on 20 June 1940 in World War II. The British Royal Navy captured the four Swedish destroyers HSwMS Psilander, Puke, Romulus and Remus, together with the Swedish Lloyd passenger ship Patricia and the Trelleborgs Ångfartygs tanker Castor, despite the fact that Sweden was neutral.

The incident is said to have been triggered by the British concern that the German navy would otherwise capture the ships and take them into German service when they left the North Sea, citing right of angary. The four destroyers were recently bought in Italy and were on their way from La Spezia to Gothenburg when they were captured. On 2 July 1940, after diplomatic negotiations, the vessels were returned to the Swedish crews, and the vessels reached Gothenburg on 10 July 1940.

Photo: Patricia in March 1940 on her way from Sweden to La Spezia



The Swedish Navy had chartered Patricia to take the crews for the destroyers from Sweden to Italy, and accompanied them on their return voyage. After the crew did work to adopt them, they left La Spezia on 14 April.

Due to a collision caused by a machine breakdown they needed repair in Cartagena, Spain. The Italian Chief of Navy called the Swedish attaché at the Swedish embassy and advised the ships to go home as soon as possible, which later has been interpreted as proof that he knew about Hitler's planned attack on France, which began on 10 May.

Photo: The tanker Castor before the Second World War



The destroyers did not have fuel bunkers large enough to go from Italy to Sweden. The Swedish Navy had a confirmed order on bunker fuel in Lisbon, but did not get any. A Swedish civilian tanker, Castor, was transporting oil and diesel from Mexico to Sweden. The Swedish Navy chartered her, made her a naval ship and diverted her to Lisbon, where she refuelled the destroyers.

All six ships headed for Cobh, Ireland, where Swedish citizens who had been living in Great Britain and Ireland boarded Patricia. They continued to the Faroe Islands, as the English Channel was a war zone. Castor had fairly low speed which would make the destroyers consume more fuel, so a decision was made to let Castor proceed independently.

Map: the route of Patricia and the four destroyers from La Spezia to Gothenburg (red), the route of the tanker Castor (green)



At the Faroe Islands, which the UK had occupied, the Royal Navy on order from its government seized the destroyers. The Commander of the Swedish ships, Torsten Hagman, surrendered, as they did not have fuel to go to Sweden, Castor was already seized, and the Royal Navy force in the Faroes was stronger than the four Swedish destroyers. The commander was unable to contact his Swedish Navy superiors for orders on how to proceed, and decided to negotiate instead. The Royal Navy demanded the ships submit and follow them to British controlled ports for internment. Since Sweden was not at war with the UK and had little hope of prevailing in a battle, the commander acquiesced to British demands. Later, Hagman was heavily criticised by others in the Swedish Navy for surrendering without firing a shot.

Photo: Remus, Romulus, Psilander and Puke in Gothenburg harbour after the British Royal Navy released them



All ships were released to Sweden on 2 July. Germany guaranteed Swedish neutrality and allowed the ships to go to Sweden. On 5 July they left heading for Sweden and arrived on 10 July 1940.

After arriving at Gothenburg held at Commands initiative, preliminary hearing with Hagman in field court martial at West Coast marine district . On a question from the interrogator if Hagman felt that he protected "Swedish Navy's reputation and Swedish flag honor," he replied, that he found himself in this position to have acted properly, regardless of the regulations and instructions.


At the hearing, the prosecutor asked if it might have been appropriate to let Englishmen shoot one or another shot, and only then decide if the destroyers were surrendered. That said Hagman, he inevitably had to return fire, thus would any claims would be compromised. It was as Hagman extremely important that not a single shot fell.

The day after the court-martialled completed his preliminary investigation, 22 August 1940 the head of the fleet, Rear Admiral Gosta Ehrensvärd issued , a secret order:



' I forbid any officer under my command to surrender their vessels to foreign powers, whatever the reason may be. Allegiance to the flag is the most important of all. '



- Rear Admiral Gosta Ehrensvärd "

  lordroel ,

  Well that was a mess and glad it ended peacefully.  Think that Hagman was right not to try and fight as it would simply have caused a lot of deaths as well as lasting ill-feeling.  It doesn't actually say what the result of the court marshal was?

  Interesting names for the ships.  Since two were named after Romulus and Remaus - possibly the initial Italian names? - were the others related to Roman mythology?  I find it funny one is called Puke but no doubt it means something else in Swedish or Italian.

  Steve

A sorry, will add the verdict, it was Hagman was court-martialed, but was found neither guilty nor innocent. The Media and politicians, including then Prime Minister Per Albin Hansson supported Hagman's decision, but officers across the Swedish armed forces saw him as a coward in battle

[575]

Think Hagmann was right not to fight and preserve his force eventually fulfilling his orders of taking it to Swedish port adding 4 needed destroyer to the Navy total at a perilous time.

[lordroel]

Oct 22, 2021 13:17:51 GMT 575 said:

Think Hagmann was right not to fight and preserve his force eventually fulfilling his orders of taking it to Swedish port adding 4 needed destroyer to the Navy total at a perilous time.

But it could have turned out complete differently with the British seizing the 4 destroyers and using them for their own needs.

[stevep]

Oct 22, 2021 13:54:57 GMT lordroel said:

Oct 22, 2021 13:17:51 GMT 575 said:

Think Hagmann was right not to fight and preserve his force eventually fulfilling his orders of taking it to Swedish port adding 4 needed destroyer to the Navy total at a perilous time.

But it could have turned out complete differently with the British seizing the 4 destroyers and using them for their own needs.

  Well they would have been a useful addition to the RN but not a significant one.  Plus being a foreign design there would be problems converting and maintaining them.  Definitely not worth alienating opinion in Sweden.  Especially given the value of trade with the country.

[lordroel]

Oct 22, 2021 13:57:56 GMT stevep said:

Oct 22, 2021 13:54:57 GMT lordroel said:

But it could have turned out complete differently with the British seizing the 4 destroyers and using them for their own needs.

  Well they would have been a useful addition to the RN but not a significant one.  Plus being a foreign design there would be problems converting and maintaining them.  Definitely not worth alienating opinion in Sweden.  Especially given the value of trade with the country.

Well then we can also say it from Germany, had they tried to seize the 4 destroyers and force them to go to a German occupied French port.

But if you look at the route the 4 destroyers took, they stayed clear of any German occupied French port as much as possible and if the Germans had wanted to seize them, they would have to assemble a large force to do so as i doubt they would be able to do it without the Royal Navy getting wind of it.

[micael]

Puke and Psilander are Swedish naval heroes.

Johan af Puke commanded the fleet during the Battle at Viborg Bay in 1790. During it the Swedish fleet managed to break out from an extremely bad position and he was hailed as a hero afterwards.
He’s also remembered in particular for the exchange he had with the King when he was given his orders:

”Dear Puke, you are the commander of my fleet, your father did not refuse to bow for me, spare not your life and courage for me, I won’t forget it!”
Puke replied: ”Yes Your Majesty, I’ll break the hell out, but as for the rest of it we’ll see.”

Gustaf Psilander commanded the ship of the line Öland at the Battle of Orford Ness in 1704. Öland was escorting a convoy and came upon a British fleet unit consisting of eight ships of the line and a frigate. The British demanded that he lower his flag in subjugation, and Psilander refused per standing orders. After a heated exchange, a four hour long battle ensued. It ended, with several ships damaged and a number of dead, when Psilander ordered the flag tied up, a recognized sign of distress at the time. The Brits ended the engagement but the Swedish honor was considered preserved, per the thinking of the time.

That one of destroyers was named for Psilander, famed for refusing to bow to the Brits, was something Hagman was acutely aware of and which weighed heavily on him when he decided to not attempt battle.

The background to why the Brits decided to seize the destroyers was a report by MI5 to the war cabinet that said that Sweden intended to hand them over to the Germans, an incorrect report I should add. The destroyers suffered both intentional and unintentional damage during their time in British hands. Royal Marines aboard thrashed the interior, and since the steam plants were unusually complicated (it had taken a serious effort on the part of the Swedish crews to get used to them even with Italian instructors), the RN engineers were unable to operate them properly, causing damage. The UK later paid out compensation to Sweden for the damage caused. The court martial was supposedly dropped when the First Sea Lord in the UK was informed of it by the naval attaché to Sweden. Already considering what had happened an embarassing debacle, he wrote to the court and stated that he considered Hagman’s actions in line with the finest naval traditions.





[Edited to add] The other two destroyers were named Romulus and Remus because the Italians hinted that it would move things along if the Swedes would consider giving two of them names with an Italian connection.

[Second edit (long day today)] The Swedish navy Chief of Staff went absolutely ballistic when word arrived what had happened, and he started issuing order for a naval task force to head out and retrieve the seized ships by force. When cabinet found out that he had done so, the orders were countermanded. So there could potentially had been some significant consequnces there.

[lordroel]

Nov 5, 2021 20:43:56 GMT micael said:

Puke and Psilander are Swedish naval heroes.

Johan af Puke commanded the fleet during the Battle at Viborg Bay in 1790. During it the Swedish fleet managed to break out from an extremely bad position and he was hailed as a hero afterwards.
He’s also remembered in particular for the exchange he had with the King when he was given his orders:

”Dear Puke, you are the commander of my fleet, your father did not refuse to bow for me, spare not your life and courage for me, I won’t forget it!”
Puke replied: ”Yes Your Majesty, I’ll break the hell out, but as for the rest of it we’ll see.”

Gustaf Psilander commanded the ship of the line Öland at the Battle of Orford Ness in 1704. Öland was escorting a convoy and came upon a British fleet unit consisting of eight ships of the line and a frigate. The British demanded that he lower his flag in subjugation, and Psilander refused per standing orders. After a heated exchange, a four hour long battle ensued. It ended, with several ships damaged and a number of dead, when Psilander ordered the flag tied up, a recognized sign of distress at the time. The Brits ended the engagement but the Swedish honor was considered preserved, per the thinking of the time.

That one of destroyers was named for Psilander, famed for refusing to bow to the Brits, was something Hagman was acutely aware of and which weighed heavily on him when he decided to not attempt battle.

The background to why the Brits decided to seize the destroyers was a report by MI5 to the war cabinet that said that Sweden intended to hand them over to the Germans, an incorrect report I should add. The destroyers suffered both intentional and unintentional damage during their time in British hands. Royal Marines aboard thrashed the interior, and since the steam plants were unusually complicated (it had taken a serious effort on the part of the Swedish crews to get used to them even with Italian instructors), the RN engineers were unable to operate them properly, causing damage. The UK later paid out compensation to Sweden for the damage caused. The court martial was supposedly dropped when the First Sea Lord in the UK was informed of it by the naval attaché to Sweden. Already considering what had happened an embarassing debacle, he wrote to the court and stated that he considered Hagman’s actions in line with the finest naval traditions.





[Edited to add] The other two destroyers were named Romulus and Remus because the Italians hinted that it would move things along if the Swedes would consider giving two of them names with an Italian connection.

Seems they only served for 3 years before being put into reserve before in 1949 they where scrapped.

[micael]

Nov 5, 2021 20:55:40 GMT lordroel said:

Nov 5, 2021 20:43:56 GMT micael said:

Puke and Psilander are Swedish naval heroes.

Johan af Puke commanded the fleet during the Battle at Viborg Bay in 1790. During it the Swedish fleet managed to break out from an extremely bad position and he was hailed as a hero afterwards.
He’s also remembered in particular for the exchange he had with the King when he was given his orders:

”Dear Puke, you are the commander of my fleet, your father did not refuse to bow for me, spare not your life and courage for me, I won’t forget it!”
Puke replied: ”Yes Your Majesty, I’ll break the hell out, but as for the rest of it we’ll see.”

Gustaf Psilander commanded the ship of the line Öland at the Battle of Orford Ness in 1704. Öland was escorting a convoy and came upon a British fleet unit consisting of eight ships of the line and a frigate. The British demanded that he lower his flag in subjugation, and Psilander refused per standing orders. After a heated exchange, a four hour long battle ensued. It ended, with several ships damaged and a number of dead, when Psilander ordered the flag tied up, a recognized sign of distress at the time. The Brits ended the engagement but the Swedish honor was considered preserved, per the thinking of the time.

That one of destroyers was named for Psilander, famed for refusing to bow to the Brits, was something Hagman was acutely aware of and which weighed heavily on him when he decided to not attempt battle.

The background to why the Brits decided to seize the destroyers was a report by MI5 to the war cabinet that said that Sweden intended to hand them over to the Germans, an incorrect report I should add. The destroyers suffered both intentional and unintentional damage during their time in British hands. Royal Marines aboard thrashed the interior, and since the steam plants were unusually complicated (it had taken a serious effort on the part of the Swedish crews to get used to them even with Italian instructors), the RN engineers were unable to operate them properly, causing damage. The UK later paid out compensation to Sweden for the damage caused. The court martial was supposedly dropped when the First Sea Lord in the UK was informed of it by the naval attaché to Sweden. Already considering what had happened an embarassing debacle, he wrote to the court and stated that he considered Hagman’s actions in line with the finest naval traditions.





[Edited to add] The other two destroyers were named Romulus and Remus because the Italians hinted that it would move things along if the Swedes would consider giving two of them names with an Italian connection.

Seems they only served for 3 years before being put into reserve before in 1949 they where scrapped.

Yes, but they did good service in the role they were intended for. Basically we needed more hulls fast in order to patrol the territorial waters against incursions. We were running old ships hard, and couldn’t build new ones fast enough so these Italian buys helped a lot to fill a short term gap.

[lordroel]

Nov 5, 2021 21:01:57 GMT micael said:

We were running old ships hard, and couldn’t build new ones fast enough so these Italian buys helped a lot to fill a short term gap.

Until they where replaced by the more capable Visby-class destroyer i assume.

[micael]

Nov 5, 2021 21:06:09 GMT lordroel said:

Nov 5, 2021 21:01:57 GMT micael said:

We were running old ships hard, and couldn’t build new ones fast enough so these Italian buys helped a lot to fill a short term gap.

Until they where replaced by the more capable Visby-class destroyer i assume.

Yeah pretty much. The war was over, the Italian destroyers were now old and had logged a lot of hours at sea during the war, and with new destroyers entering service there wasn’t much reason to keep them around. They’d done what they were supposed to do.

[lordroel]

Nov 6, 2021 22:20:31 GMT micael said:

Nov 5, 2021 21:06:09 GMT lordroel said:

Until they where replaced by the more capable Visby-class destroyer i assume.

Yeah pretty much. The war was over, the Italian destroyers were now old and had logged a lot of hours at sea during the war, and with new destroyers entering service there wasn’t much reason to keep them around. They’d done what they were supposed to do.

Filling the gap until more and better Swedish design destroyers entered service.