Greek evacuation convoy complexity and the Scottish Prince rescue

David A. Thomas's study of Crete opens here with the severe judgment that both sides handled the battle badly enough to deserve defeat. The selected passage then shifts to the bewildering shipping movements of 26-27 April during the evacuation from Greece, as escorted tankers and transport convoys converge on Suda Bay and the Aegean. Convoys AG-14 and AG-15 require destinations and protection while individual destroyers move independently or detach for emergencies. Vampire leaves its convoy to assist the bomb-damaged merchant ship Scottish Prince, relieving another destroyer and helping persuade some of the abandoned crew to return aboard. A trawler joins the effort, the merchantman raises steam, and the small rescue group screens it into Suda Bay. The episode shows that a commander directing the evacuation from Greece had to revise a large movement plan whenever one damaged ship generated a new rescue and escort problem.