Roebuck in June 1943 | |
History | |
---|---|
United Kingdom | |
Name | HMS Roebuck |
Ordered | May 1940 |
Builder | Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. |
Laid down | 19 June 1941 |
Launched | 10 December 1942 (premature) |
Commissioned | 10 June 1943 |
Decommissioned | 1962 |
Identification | Pennant number H95/F195 |
Honours and awards |
|
Fate | Scrapped, 1968 |
Badge | On a Field White, a Roebuck guardant proper. |
General characteristics As R-class destroyer | |
Class and type | R-class destroyer |
Displacement |
|
Length | 358.25 ft (109.19 m) o/a |
Beam | 35.75 ft (10.90 m) |
Draught | 9.5 ft (2.9 m) |
Propulsion | 2 x Admiralty 3-drum water-tube boilers, Parsons geared steam turbines, 40,000 shp (30,000 kW) on 2 shafts |
Speed | 36 kn (67 km/h) |
Range | 4,675 nmi (8,658 km) at 20 knots (37 km/h) |
Complement | 176 |
Sensors and processing systems |
|
Armament |
|
General characteristics As Type 15 frigate | |
Displacement |
|
Length | 358 ft (109 m) o/a |
Beam | 37.75 ft (11.51 m) |
Draught | 14.5 ft (4.4 m) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 31 kn (57 km/h) (full load) |
Range | 4,675 nmi (8,658 km) at 20 knots (37 km/h) |
Complement | 174 |
Sensors and processing systems | |
Armament |
|
HMS Roebuck was an R-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service during World War II. She was the fifteenth ship to carry this traditional ship name, after a small deer native to the British Isles, which was used as far back as the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
Ordered in May 1940 from Scotts shipyard in Greenock, construction was delayed and she was not laid down until 19 June 1941. [2] Roebuck then had the dubious honour of being launched prematurely by an air raid[ clarification needed ] on 10 December 1942, her partially complete hulk lying submerged in the dockyard for three months before it was salvaged and completed in May 1943. [3]
After sea trials, Roebuck was accepted into service on 10 June and assigned to the 11th Destroyer Flotilla of the Eastern Fleet, first taking passage to Scapa Flow to work-up with Home Fleet. In August, she was prepared for foreign service and then took passage to Freetown, finally joining the Flotilla in the Indian Ocean in September, which was deployed for convoy defence and patrols. [2]
On 12 March, Roebuck formed part of the escort for the aircraft carrier Battler and the cruisers Suffolk and Newcastle, with the destroyer Quadrant, during the search in the Indian Ocean for the German U-boat supply ship Brake. After being intercepted by aircraft Brake was scuttled by her own crew. [2]
In June Roebuck was deployed with Fleet units off Burma and bombarded Martaban. On 19 June, she formed part of the destroyer screen of Force 60 along with the destroyers Quality, Quickmatch, Rotherham, Racehorse, Relentless and Raider, providing protection for the aircraft carrier Illustrious, the battlecruiser Renown, Richelieu, and cruisers Nigeria, Kenya and Ceylon. [2]
On 25 July, she was deployed with the Flotilla as the screen for Eastern Fleet major units covering operations by the aircraft carriers Victorious and Indomitable against targets at Sabang and Sumatra in "Operation Crimson". [2]
In August Roebuck took passage to Simon's Town for a refit by HM Dockyard, rejoining the Flotilla at Trincomalee in November. [2]
In February Roebuck joined Force 68 for offensive patrols and bombarded the Cocos Islands with destroyers Rocket, Rapid and Rotherham in Operations "Office" and "Training". [2]
On 27 April, she was deployed with Force 63 as the screen for major fleet units providing cover for the landings at Rangoon in "Operation Dracula", and on the 30th was deployed with Force 62, and bombarded Matapan with the destroyers Racehorse and Redoubt in "Operation Gable" which also included the interception of enemy evacuation vessels. On 1 May she took part in bombardments at Car Nicobar with the Flotilla in "Operation Bishop". [2]
On 13 May, Roebuck, Redoubt and Racehorse, escorted Nigeria from Trincomalee as Force 63, during a search for Japanese warships evacuating personnel from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and remained with the Fleet screen during the attacks on Japanese ships. [2]
On 18 June, she was deployed with the flotilla as a screen for the ships of 21st Aircraft Carrier Squadron, which comprised the escort carriers Stalker, Khedive and Ameer, and the cruisers Royalist and Suffolk, which were carrying out photo-reconnaissance flights over southern Malaya in "Operation Balsam". [2]
On 5 July, she was deployed with the cruiser Nigeria, and destroyers Eskimo and Vigilant to cover minesweeping operations off Malaya and the Nicobar Islands. She then took part in bombardment of Nancowry. [2]
In August, Roebuck was preparing for large-scale landings in Malaya in "Operation Zipper", but the surrender of Japan brought hostilities to a close before they could be put into effect. She sailed to Singapore to support the re-occupation until sailing to Simon's Town in October to refit. [2]
Following the successful conversion of her sister ships Rocket and Relentless, Roebuck was selected for conversion to a Type 15 anti-submarine frigate in 1952. [2] She was given the new pennant number F195. [4]
On completion of the conversion in May 1953 she was recommissioned for service in the 5th Frigate Squadron. [2] In 1953, she took part in the Fleet Review to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. [5]
In 1957, she refitted for training duties and joined the Dartmouth Training Squadron, replacing HMS Carron. She went into refit again in 1959. [6] Recommissioned in May 1960, she joined the 17th Escort Squadron and remained on the operational list until returning to pay-off into reserve at Plymouth in 1962. [2]
Before being placed on the Disposal List the ship was de-equipped at HM Dockyard Devonport. Roebuck was sold to the British Iron & Steel Corporation (BISCO) for demolition by Thos. W. Ward. She was towed to the breaker's yard at Inverkeithing on 8 August 1968. [2]
HMS Newcastle was a member of the Southampton subclass of the Town-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy.
HMS Ajax was a Leander-class light cruiser which served with the Royal Navy during World War II. She became famous for her part in the Battle of the River Plate, the Battle of Crete, the Battle of Malta and as a supply escort in the siege of Tobruk. This ship was the eighth in the Royal Navy to bear the name. In February 1942, she was adopted by the civil community of Halifax, West Yorkshire.
HMS Duncan was a D-class destroyer leader built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s. The ship was initially assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet before she was transferred to the China Station in early 1935 where she remained until mid-1939. Duncan returned to the Mediterranean Fleet just after World War II began in September 1939. She was transferred to the Home Fleet in December 1939, although she was badly damaged in a collision the following month, and required repairs that lasted until July 1940. The ship joined Force H at Gibraltar in October, escorting the larger ships and various convoys until March 1941 when she was transferred to West Africa for convoy escort duties for a few months. Duncan rejoined the 13th Destroyer Flotilla at Gibraltar in July and escorted several convoys to Malta during the rest of the year. After a refit, she briefly returned to the 13th Destroyer Flotilla before joining the Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean to participate in Operation Ironclad in May 1942. The ship was recalled home to be converted into an escort destroyer in late 1942.
HMS Euryalus was a Dido-class cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was laid down at Chatham Dockyard on 21 October 1937, launched on 6 June 1939, and commissioned 30 June 1941. Euryalus was the last cruiser built at the dockyard.
HMS Rotherham was an R-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy during the Second World War, named after Captain Edward Rotheram, who commanded HMS Royal Sovereign during at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Rotherham was completed in 1942 and equipped as a flotilla leader, having slightly reduced armament to allow for the increased complement and working space required. Decommissioned in 1945, the ship was sold to India in 1948, serving as INS Rajput (D141) until 1976, when she was scrapped.
HMS Punjabi was a Tribal-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that saw service in the Second World War, being sunk in a collision with the battleship King George V. She has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name "Punjabi" which, in common with the other ships of the Tribal class, was named after various ethnic groups of the world, mainly those of the British Empire.
HMS Tartar was a Tribal-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that saw service in most of the naval theatres of World War II. She had an eventful career, eventually receiving the nickname 'Lucky Tartar' due to her numerous escapes from dangerous situations. She was one of only four from the sixteen Royal Navy-operated Tribal-class destroyers to survive the war.
HMS Ursa was a U-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that saw service during the Second World War. She was later converted into a Type 15 fast anti-submarine frigate, with the new pennant number F200.
HMS Vigilant was a V-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service during World War II.
HMS Wizard was a W-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service during World War II.
HMS Diana was a D-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. Ordered in 1931, the ship was constructed by Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company, and entered naval service in 1932. Diana was initially assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet before she was transferred to the China Station in early 1935. She was temporarily deployed in the Red Sea during late 1935 during the Abyssinia Crisis, before returning to her duty station where she remained until mid-1939. Diana was transferred back to the Mediterranean Fleet just before the Second World War began in September 1939. She served with the Home Fleet during the Norwegian Campaign. The ship was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy in 1940 and renamed HMCS Margaree. She served for just over a month with the Canadians before being sunk in a collision with a large freighter she was escorting on 22 October 1940.
HMS Echo was an E-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in the Atlantic, Arctic and Mediterranean theatres during World War II, before being transferred to the Royal Hellenic Navy in 1944, and renamed Navarinon, until scrapped in 1956.
HMS Eclipse was an E-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that saw service in the Atlantic, Arctic, and Mediterranean theatres during World War II, until sunk by a mine in the Aegean Sea on 24 October 1943.
HMS Opportune was an O-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was ordered from John I. Thornycroft & Company, Woolston on 3 September 1939 for the 1st Emergency Flotilla. She was commissioned on 14 August 1942. She was the second Royal Navy ship borne Opportune.
HMS Kempenfelt was a W-class destroyer flotilla leader of the Royal Navy that served in the Second World War. She was the second destroyer of her name to have served in the war; the first Kempenfelt was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy in October 1939 and renamed HMCS Assiniboine.
HMS Whelp was one of eight W-class destroyers built for the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Completed in 1944, the ship spent most of the war assigned to the Eastern and Pacific Fleets. She screened British aircraft carriers as their aircraft attacked targets in the Japanese-occupied Nicobar Islands, the Dutch East Indies, Formosa and near Okinawa. Whelp was present at the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay in 1945 and later in Hong Kong. She was paid off in January 1946 and went into reserve.
HMS Wishart (D67) was a Modified W-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in World War II. She spent most of her wartime career based at Gibraltar, engaged in convoy defence, but also served in various naval and military operations in the Mediterranean Sea.
The second HMS Wivern, was a Modified W-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in World War II.
The destroyer HNLMS Tjerk Hiddes was a British built, Dutch warship of World War II. She was laid down on 22 May 1940 as a British N-class destroyer and launched on 25 June 1941 as HMS Nonpareil, but on 27 May 1942, she was transferred to the Royal Dutch Navy. The ship was commissioned in 1942 as HNLMS Tjerk Hiddes, named after the 17th century Dutch admiral, Tjerk Hiddes de Vries. Much of her war service was with the Royal Navy and United States Navy in the Indian Ocean and Australia, under the command of W. J. Kruys. Following the war, the destroyer was sold to Indonesia and renamed RI Gadjah Mada. She was scrapped in 1961.
HMS Obedient was an O-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was built by William Denny and Brothers of Dumbarton, between 1940 and 1942. During Warship Week in 1942 she was adopted by the civil community of Lymington, United Kingdom. She was scrapped in 1962.