Remembering HMS Redmill & The Potomac Submarine U-1105 (FREE Online Presentation)

This Veteran’s Day, we will be honouring all those who served and this year we have scheduled a special guest from the United Kingdom, John Griffiths-Colby, to speak to us about the Royal Navy ship HMS REDMILL – a US-built Destroyer Escort that was torpedoed by U-1105 (experimental German submarine) off the coast of Ireland in the last moments of WW2. Tragically, 28 of the REDMILL’s crew were lost on 27 April 1945. As we know, the final resting place of U-1105 is right here in the Potomac near Piney Point, Maryland.

John Griffiths-Colby’s Uncle Walter Colby was a Stoker aboard the REDMILL. We will hear how he survived the attack – and how he had come to be part of the REDMILL’s crew. Having been torpedoed during the invasion of Sicily in 1943, his ship had limped to Norfolk, Virginia, for repair – where he was sent to Boston, Massachusetts, to join the REDMILL - freshly built at the Bethlehem-Hingham Yards.

We will follow his journey through anti-submarine patrols, supporting the D-Day landings and the dreaded Arctic Convoys to Russia – before the fateful encounter with U-1105. We will also come face to face with the two men who torpedoed Walter Colby’s ships – one of whom ended up serving with the Allies - and making the ultimate sacrifice to help liberate Europe.

For those wanting to learn more, you can visit the U-1105 submarine exhibit at Piney Point Lighthouse Museum & Historic Park in St. Mary's County, Maryland. A planned HMS Redmill exhibit will be forthcoming to further illuminate this fascinating story.

This free online presentation will be via Zoom (see link). Meeting ID: 815 1786 9115 and passcode: 525031

You may also like the following events from Piney Point Lighthouse Museum and Historic Park:

• Next month, 8th November, 10:00 am, Deck the Halls: DIY Ornament Workshop for Families (Second Saturdays) in Piney Point
• Next month, 22nd November, 10:00 am, Interlocking Building Bricks Lighthouse Challenge 2025 in Piney Point
• Next month, 29th November, 05:00 pm, Evening Tides: Candlelight Christmas at Piney Point Lighthouse Museum in Piney Point