Royal Naval Patrol Service

Magnus Johnson Cogle R.N. - Wireless Telegraphist
A brief chronicle of Magnus Johnson Cogle’s service history during World War by his son Derek Cogle.

Magnus enlisted in the Royal Navy in January 1940 and he was sent to the naval training camp HMS Royal Arthur in Yorkshire, where he was to train as a telegraphist . He was to be drafted to the Mediterranean. He was given inoculations and sent on fourteen days home leave, but this draft was cancelled and Magnus was sent to join H.M.S. Wastwater in Aberdeen where she had just returned from Narvik, where she was involved in the evacuations of British troops.

He was to be drafted to the Mediterranean. He was given inoculations and sent on fourteen days home leave, but this draft was cancelled and Magnus was sent to join H.M.S. Wastwater in Aberdeen where she had just returned from Narvik, where she was involved in the evacuations of British troops.

Whilst in Narvik the crew had raided the NAFFI and on return to Aberdeen the ship was put in debt which meant that they were on meagre rations, until they reached the USA.

H.M.S. Wastwater, a newly built 560-ton armed whaler Lake Class.
Displacement 560 tons
Length 138 ft.
Armament 1x12 pdr.AA, 1x20mm AA, 2x5inch AA.
Speed 14 knots.

The ship had a crew of fifteen, the ratings were attached to the Patrol Service Royal Navy Reserve and were all ex-Trawler men or ex-Merchant Navy.

Magnus’s first trip was to sail to Scapa Flow, which was to be their base station, he was sick for most of the trip.

From Scapa they patrolled the Pentland Firth to Cape Wrath. Whilst at Scapa Magnus spent fourteen days on board the submarine supply ship H.M.S. Maidestone learning about the Marconi wireless set and the Patrol Service routines. Learning more in those fourteen days than he ever did at Royal Arthur.


HMS Royal Arthur - M J Cogle D/JX179265 circled bottom left	HMT Wastwater - Armed trawler of the Lake Class

They continued patrolling these waters until April 1941, when they sailed for Iceland where they saw HMS Hood at anchor in the Val Fjord, this was the Sunday before the Bismark sank her with the loss of over a thousand Men.

U-Boat captured.

27th August 1941. U-570 was blown to the surface by Iceland based 269 Squadrons Hudsons depth bombs. The U-boat was intercepted and boarded by HMCS Niagara and HMS Burwell, HMS Wastwater assisted with other trawlers HMS Northern Chief, HMS Kingston Agathe, and HMS Windermere. The U-boat was towed to Iceland where it was repaired and commissioned into the RN as HMS Graph.

Whilst based at Iceland they travelled as far North as Spittsbergen where the Cruisers from the Home Fleet ‘A’ bombarded the coal mines and captured a Norwegian merchant ship. Escorting this ship back to Iceland, they were attacked by a German plane, the plane dropped a bomb sinking the merchant ship, it then turned its attention to the Wastwater, on returning fire the plane flew off and the Wastwater picked up the survivors, Magnus had never been so scared in his life as he was then.

On another occasion they picked up survivors from an American merchant ship. Before they left Iceland they witnessed the arrival of the Americans; it was quite a spectacle.


HMS Hood - at anchor in the Val Fjord. (Picture taken from HMT Wastwater).	U-570 - Picture taken from HMT Wastwater shortly after her capture in Iceland 1941. Later commisioned as HMS Graph

Contniue story ....