How did Churchill cross Atlantic in December 1941?

[Alk8944]

You are correct the IOWA on time The IOWA has a bath tub for Roosevelt's trips to Cairo and Tehran.

No, he isn't! Iowa wasn't even launched until 8/27/1942 and commissioned 2/22/1943. OP asked about December 1941, not Yalta in 1945!

 

[KLNFrame]

U-Boats were a real menace.

How did Churchill cross Atlantic to meet with Roosevelt and return?

Pitty Churchill didn't fall overboard and drown.

 

[vigil617]

Pitty Churchill didn't fall overboard and drown.

Pitty Churchill, the Prime Minister's favorite long-haired cat, accompanied him everywhere but famously detested water, and it is true, did not fall overboard and drown.

--from the Wikipedia article

 

[Coldshooter]

As an aside I read the Queen Mary was so fast it was considered safe as U-boats would have to be in perfect position and then would only get one shot.

 

[MOONDAWG]

...I understand that it was Stalin's first and only flight.

It was a rough one where he was sick and "white knuckled" the entire flight. I believe that he never flew again.

Bob

Judging Russian aircraft of that era, it's understandable.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Judging Russian aircraft of that era, it's understandable.

We gave the Ruskies a bunch of airplanes, including brand new B-17s.
They could have 'VIP-ed' old Joe a B-17.
I think he was most likely afraid of flying.
And he was most definitely afraid of getting too far and staying too long away from the Kermlin.

 

[LVSteve]

In mid-December 1941, Duke of York embarked Prime Minister Winston Churchill for a trip to the United States to confer with President Franklin D. Roosevelt. She arrived at Annapolis, Maryland, on 22 December 1941, made a shakedown cruise to Bermuda in January 1942, and departed for Scapa Flow on 17 January with Churchill returning home by air instead of on Duke of York.

Aha! That's what I get for not reading the question properly.

 

[LTC]

Not Churchill or FDR, but my father got to cross the Atlantic on the Queen Mary during December 1942 along with about 15,000 of his closest friends. The Queen was hit with a rouge wave and came close to capsizing in the mid-Atlantic.

Ocean travel at this time wasn't a sure thing either.

LTC

 

[arjay]

My pop emigrated to the US on the Queen Mary in '47.

 

[k22fan]

Before the war Roosevelt used the heavy cruiser USS Houston for his personal yacht. Multiple times he took her out for no reason other than his own vacation. The Houston would hang around while Sailors took Roosevelt fishing in one of her boats. Once, to the chagrin of the captain, Roosevelt told a sailor (bosun?) that he could take the boat out again for his own private evening of fishing. The captain had to bite his tongue because Roosevelt was CIC.

Early in the war a U boat fired torpedoes at a battleship that had Churchill aboard. They exploded short of the ship due to faulty magnetic detonators. Anyone remember which battleship Churchill was on?

It isn't often mentioned but the US Merchant Marine had a higher percentage of men killed than the Army, Navy or Marines.

 

[CCantu357]

How much Vermouth did Churchill like in his Martini?

Realistically, probably a splash. Though I read somewhere that he preferred to give a nod to the Continent and drink straight London Dry Gin. When he wasn't drinking Scotch.

 

[InigoMontoya]

Early in the war a U boat fired torpedoes at a battleship that had Churchill aboard. They exploded short of the ship due to faulty magnetic detonators. Anyone remember which battleship Churchill was on?

During FDR's trip to the Cairo and Tehran Conferences on the USS Iowa, a torpedo was fired towards the Iowa by one of the escorts. It was not well received.

"USS William D. Porter (DD-579)" on @Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_William_D._Porter_(DD-579)

"On 14 November, at Roosevelt's request, Iowa conducted an anti-aircraft drill to demonstrate her ability to defend herself. The drill began with the release of a number of balloons for use as targets. While most of these were shot by gunners aboard Iowa, a few of them drifted toward William D. Porter which shot down balloons as well. Porter, along with the other escort ships, also demonstrated a torpedo drill by simulating a launch at Iowa. This drill suddenly went awry when the #4 torpedo aboard Porter discharged from its tube and headed toward Iowa.[2]

William D. Porter attempted to signal Iowa about the incoming torpedo but, owing to orders to maintain radio silence, used a signal lamp instead. However, the destroyer first misidentified the direction of the torpedo and then relayed the wrong message, informing Iowa that Porter was backing up, rather than that a torpedo was in the water.[2] In desperation the destroyer finally broke radio silence, using codewords that relayed a warning message to Iowa regarding the incoming torpedo. After confirming the identity of the destroyer, Iowa turned hard to avoid being hit by the torpedo. Roosevelt, meanwhile, had learned of the incoming torpedo threat and asked his Secret Service attendee to move his wheelchair to the side of the battleship, so he could see.[2] Not long afterward, the torpedo detonated in the ship's wake, some 3,000 yards astern of the Iowa. Iowa was unhurt, but trained her main guns on William D. Porter out of concern that the smaller ship might have been involved in some sort of assassination plot.[3]"

Sent from my Galaxy Note II

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

Churchill came to the Newfoundland Conference in August 1941 on the Prince of Wales.

 

[Abbynormal]

Churchill used a RAF PBY Catalina . Winnie was an early licensed pilot and
would take a turn flying the flying boat. If I had a scanner, I'd post a photo.

 

[Mickey D]

Pitty Churchill didn't fall overboard and drown.

You folks down under just need to cut ties with the Queen once and for all.