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Remembered Today:

'Foxglove' and 'Mystic'


ph0ebus

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Hi all,

I am slowly making my way through U-85's KTB and am left wondering precisely what a 'Foxglove' and 'Mystic' are. To be more specific, in U-85's KTB, Kplt. Petz refers to encountering a 'Foxglove' and a 'Mystic' when attacking the California; I am thinking one Foxglove he refers to is the HMS Delphinium, an Arabis Class Sloop, who responded immediately after the sinking, and whose account of the sinking I got from Kew. Clearly the the words are indications of some type of allied ships, apparently, but if someone can be more specific, it would be a great help.

Thanks,

-Daniel

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Yes, I've encountered these terms it KTBs too. I assumed (probably wrongly) that a 'Foxglove' was a roving convoy escort, probably a destroyer and a 'mystic' was a suspected decoy. The terms dont appear before 1917 interestingly. Perhaps this is one for M Lowrey....?

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Hello,

FOXGLOVE was commonly used in the german KTB's for the british Sloops, don't know if "Foxglove" really was the first one launched by the British, but that's why the germans used her name to describe the type of vessel (Sloop).

MYSTIC speaks for itself, it's an suspected Q-ship...

Oliver

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Hi all,

Thanks! I am actually surprised I was right about the Foxglove reference. So it would appear Petz was seeing suspected Q-Ships on a few occasions...given his 'alleged' demise at the hands of a Q-Ship, it would appear he was right to be paranoid. :)

Take care,

-Daniel

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Appendix 6 [sloops & Minesweepers built during the war] in Swept Channels by Taffrail lists Foxglove as being the first Flower class sloop delivered [14th May 1915].

There was a destroyer named Mystic, so if Foxglove is a generic term for a Flower sloop then could Mystic be a generic term for an M class destroyer?

David.

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...

There was a destroyer named Mystic, so if Foxglove is a generic term for a Flower sloop then could Mystic be a generic term for an M class destroyer? ...

Hi David,

no, the germans in fact used "M-class" or so as reference for the type of destroyer within their KTB's...

Oliver

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