Stoker 2nd Class P/KX 136558 Harold Brownhill Daine

Family details:
Son of Harry Brownell Daine and Margaret Ann Daine, of St. Helens, Lancashire.

Census details:
1939 Register. Two members of the household are redacted including Harold B. Widowed father Harry B Daine born 02/07/1876 a General Labourer Retired and siblings James Daine born 10/11/1908 a Glass Cutter Process Worker (Heavy Worker), May Daine born 19/11/1910 an Unpaid Domestic, Margaret (A) Maroney (Daine) born 04/01/1912 a Coal Bagger (Heavy Worker) are living at 114 Exeter Street, St Helens.

Notes:
[url=lmem.php?lmem=28]Remembered on St Lukes War Memorial, Knowsley Road.[/url]

HMS Eagle (94) - Aircraft Carrier. Ordered by Chile as the Almirante Latorre Class Battleship [i]Almirante Cochrane[/i], she was laid down before World War 1. In early 1918 she was purchased by Britain for conversion to an aircraft carrier; this work was finished in 1924. [u]WW2 Service.[/u] At the outbreak of World War II, HMS Eagle was at Singapore and in October 1939 she was part of Force I hunting for the German ship pocket battleship [b]Admiral Graf Spee[/b].For the first two months of 1940 she was escorting troop transports in the Indian Ocean but on 14 March 1940 was damaged by an internal explosion in her foreward bomb room, when 13 ratings were killed, and she returned to Singapore for repairs. HMS Eagle joined the Mediterranean fleet in May 1940 after the departure of HMS Glorious, and on 5 July her aircraft attacked enemy shipping in Tobruk. They sank the Italian destroyer [b]Zeffiro[/b], the merchant ships [b]Manzoni[/b] (3,955 tons) and [b]Serenitas[/b] (5,171 tons) besides damaging the [b]Liguria[/b] (15,354 tons) which was later scuttled. After four days she was in action off Calabria when her aircraft attacked the Italian fleet. During her return to Alexandria after this engagement she was heavily bombed and four Italian bombers were shot down during the attacks. On 20 July 1940, on another attack on shipping in Tobruk, her aircraft sank the Italian destroyers [b]Ostro[/b] and [b]Nembo[/b] as well as the merchant ship [b]Sereno[/b] (2,333 tons). On 22 August her aircraft attacked and sank the Italian submarine [b]Iride[/b] in the Gulf of Bomba. At the end of the month she took part in Operation 'Hats' in a reinforcement of the Mediterranean fleet, and her aircraft attacked the airfield at Maritza, Rhodes. For the next six months she provided cover for convoys in the Eastern Mediterranean, her aircraft attacked Italian airfields, laid mines, and attacked shipping. HMS Eagle took part in one of the most memorable Fleet Air Arm events in history. On 11 November 1940, five of her aircraft which were embarked in HMS Illustrious took part in the attack on Italian battleships at Taranto. Subsequently, she was ordered through the Suez canal in March 1941. Her aircraft flew to Port Sudan and assisted in the destruction of the Italian ships at Massawa and in the Red Sea. She arrived at Simonstown, South Africa on 8th May and then proceeded to Freetown, remaining on the South Atlantic station until October 1941. On 6 June 1941 her aircraft sank the German merchant [b]Elbe[/b] (9,179 tons) and on 15 June 1941, in conjunction with the British light cruiser HMS Dunedin, she intercepted the U-boat supply ship [b]Lothringen[/b] (10,746 tons) which surrendered about 1000 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands. [u]The Sinking.[/u] After refitting in the UK she returned back to the Mediterranean early in 1942. In February 1942 she carried aircraft for Malta and took part in Operations "Spotter" and 'Picket". In June 1942, Sea Hurricanes from 801 Squadron on HMS Eagle provided top cover for Harpoon, the essential supply convoy heading for Malta. Upon entering the Mediterranean, the convoy came under almost constant attack from the Germans and Italians. She was later involved in the famous August 1942 convoy (Operation 'Pedestal') when 41 warships fought through just five out of 14 merchantmen to lift the Malta siege. On 11 August 1942 whilst still in the Malta bound convoy HMS Eagle (Capt. [i]Lachlan[/i][i] Donald[/i] Mackintosh, RN) was hit by 4 torpedoes from the German submarine U-73 and sank. Two officers and 158 ratings were lost but 927 of her ship's company including Captain Mackintosh, were picked up by the British destroyers HMS Laforey, HMS Lookout and the British tug HMS Jaunty. The wreck is located in the Mediterranean Sea, 70 nautical miles south of Cape Salinas, Majorca (the Balearic Islands). [center][pic2]tpics/136558_Daine.jpg[/pic2][/center][caption]The name of Stoker 2nd Class Harold Brownhill Daine on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial (Photo courtesy of Jeff Keenan)[/caption]