Operation Glencoe

'Glencoe' was the British maritime movement of troops from Egypt to Cyprus and thence Palestine (2/8 November 1941).

The fast minelayer Abdiel and several destroyers of Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham’s Mediterranean Fleet made a number of sorties, under the tactical command of Rear Admiral I. G. Glennie, to deliver an eventual 11,000 Indian and 3,400 British troops of Major General H. R. Briggs’s Indian 5th Division, together with 286 tons of stores, from Alexandria in Egypt to Famagusta in Cyprus, and then a total of 15,000 men of Major General W. H. Ramsden’s 50th Division, together with 265 tons of stores, from Famagusta to Haifa in Palestine.

In the first lift by Group 'A', comprising the cruiser minelayer Abdiel and the destroyers Hasty and Jaguar, the cruiser minelayer carried 300 men and 70 tons of equipment, and each of the destroyers carried 250 men. On the same date, Group 'B' comprised the destroyers Jervis, Kandahar, Kimberley and Kingston, and Group 'C' comprised the destroyers Jackal, Kipling, Napier and Nizam. On passage to Famagusta, Kipling suffered a mechanical failure and her troops were transferred to Jackal, which took Kipling in tow toward Alexandria. Another destroyer, Decoy, departed Alexandria and took over the tow at daylight on 3 November, and the destroyer Jupiter departed Alexandria to replace Kipling in Group 'C'.

This process continued to 8 November, when the whole 'Glencoe' force departed for Haifa with Abdiel, Hasty, Jaguar, Jackal, Jervis, Jupiter, Kandahar, Kimberley, Kingston, Napier and Nizam. The ships carried out an anti-submarine sweep as they returned to Alexandria, which they reached on 9 November.