HMS Contest (R12)

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HMS Contest 1945 IWM FL 8441.jpg
HMS Contest on the Solent, 8 November 1945
History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
NameHMS Contest
Builder White, Cowes
Laid down1 November 1943
Launched16 December 1944
Commissioned9 November 1945
Identification Pennant number: R12 (later D48)
FateArrived for breaking up at Thos. W. Ward Grays, Essex on 2 February 1960
General characteristics
Class and type C-class destroyer
Displacement
  • 1,885 tons (1,915 tonnes)
  • 2,545 tons full (2,585 tonnes)
Length362.75 ft (110.57 m) o/a
Beam35.75 ft (10.90 m)
Draught11.75 ft (3.58 m)
Propulsion
  • 2 Admiralty 3-drum boilers,
  • Parsons single-reduction geared steam turbines,
  • 40,000 shp (29.8 MW), 2 shafts
Speed36 knots (67 km/h) / 32 knots (59 km/h) full
Range
  • 4,675 nmi (8,658 km) at 20 knots (37 km/h)
  • 1,400 nmi (2,600 km) at 32 knots (59 km/h)
Complement186
Sensors and
processing systems
Radar Type 275 fire control on director Mk.VI
Armament

HMS Contest was a C-class destroyer of the Royal Navy, built by J. Samuel White, Cowes. Laid down on 1 November 1943 and commissioned on 9 November 1945, she was the Royal Navy's first all-welded warship. [1] [2] [3] [4] She was scrapped in 1960.

Contents

Operational service

On commissioning Contest served as part of the 8th Destroyer Squadron in the Far East.

In 1947, Contest was ordered to the Solomon Islands as a deterrence against feared violence when the leaders of the Maasina Ruru independence movement were arrested. [5] While on passage back to the UK from the Far East in December 1947, Contest and sister ship Cockade were diverted to Aden in response to anti-Jewish rioting, with men from the two destroyers and the survey ship Challenger being landed to try to restore order. [5] She returned to the UK for a refit in 1948. [6] She was given an interim modernization and was fitted for minelaying. [7] In 1951 she was the Torpedo training ship at Portsmouth. She then served as part of the 6th Destroyer Squadron in the Home Fleet. [8] In 1953 she took part in the Coronation Review of the Fleet to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. [9]

Decommissioning and disposal

Contest was paid off in the late 1950s. Following her sale she arrived at the breakers yard for scrapping at Thos. W. Ward Grays, Essex on 2 February 1960.

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References

  1. Johnstone-Bryden, Richard (2015). HMS Cavalier. Seaforth Publishing.
  2. "HMS CONTEST (R 12) - Co-class Destroyer". SERVICE HISTORIES of ROYAL NAVY WARSHIPS in WORLD WAR 2. 2005.
  3. "Ch/Co/Cr class destroyers (1944-45)". WW2 British Destroyers 1917-1945. 2001.
  4. "builders of the first all-welded destroyer for the Navy, H.M.S. Contest (1944)". Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. 1 June 1955.
  5. 1 2 Thursfield 1948 , p. 510
  6. Marriott, Leo (1989). Royal Navy Destroyers Since 1945. Ian Allan Ltd. p. 65.
  7. Marriott, 1989. p.66
  8. Critchley, Mike (1982). British Warships Since 1945: Part 3: Destroyers. Liskeard, UK: Maritime Books. p. 102. ISBN   0-9506323-9-2.
  9. Souvenir Programme, Coronation Review of the Fleet, Spithead, 15 June 1953, HMSO, Gale and Polden

Bibliography