Construction
HMS Veteran's keel was laid on 30 August 1918 at the James Brown & Company Shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland. She was launched on 26 April 1919. She was 312 feet overall in length with a beam of 29.5 feet. Her mean draught was 9 feet, and would reach 11.25 feet under full load. She had a displacement of 1,140 tons standard and up to 1,550 full load. [2]
She was propelled by three Yarrow type water tube boilers powering Brown-Curtis geared steam turbines developing 27,000 shp driving twin propellers for a maximum designed speed of 34 knots. She was oil-fired and had a bunkerage of 320 to 350 tons. This gave a range of between 3500 nautical miles at 15 knots to 900 nautical miles at 32 knots. [2]
She shipped four BL 4.7 in Mk.I guns, mount P Mk.I naval guns in four single centre-line mounts. The turrets were disposed as two forward and two aft in super imposed firing positions. She also carried two QF 2 pdr Mk.II "pom-pom" (40 mm L/39) mounted abeam between funnels. Abaft of the 2nd funnel, she carried six 21-inch torpedo tubes in two triple mounts on the centre-line. [2]
World War II
In 1939, HMS Veteran was in dockyard hands for a major refit. As with most elderly destroyers allocated to escort duties, the after bank of torpedo tubes was removed and replaced with a single QF 12 pounder 12 cwt naval gun. 'Y' gun was also landed to make additional space for depth charge gear and stowage. She was recommissioned into service in November 1939, commanded by Lieut. Cdr J E Broome, a veteran of the First World War. [1]
In December, upon completion of post refit trials, HMS Veteran joined the 18th Destroyer Flotilla based at Plymouth in the Western Approaches Command for Channel escort and anti-submarine patrols. In February she collided with HMS H46 and in March with the SS Horn Shell, which required HMS Veteran to put in for repairs. [1]
Following an application by Lt Cdr Broome, HMS Veteran was made a life member of the Company of Veteran Motors in early 1940. The ship was presented with a king-size Veteran Motorist insignia that was subsequently mounted on the front of the ship's bridge. Members of CVM also supplied the crew with welfare supplies including knitted clothing. [3]
In April HMS Veteran was transferred to Scapa Flow after the German invasion of Norway. She escorted convoys for the Norwegian Campaign, including the withdrawal, until damaged in a collision with the mercantile Ngkoa on 29 May. At this time her pennant number was changed to I72 for visual signalling purposes. [1] Upon release from the Home Fleet HMS Veteran was transferred to Harwich for convoy defence in the North Sea. From July to September employed in anti-invasion patrols and convoy defence. During a patrol off Ostend with HMS Wild Swan and HMS Malcolm they sank several invasion barges. HMS Veteran was damaged by an acoustic mine and required repair. At this time she had her weaponry upgraded with the fitting of 20mm Oerlikon cannons for short range anti-air defence. [1]
At the end of September, HMS Veteran was transferred to the Western Approaches Command and based out of Londonderry for Atlantic convoy defence. She escorted several convoys outbound and inbound until involved in a collision with HMS Verity in January 1941. [1]
February saw HMS Veteran at Barrow-in Furness undergoing repair and refit. A Medium Frequency Direction Finder Outfit FM7 was fitted for navigation, but was not useful against U-boats as they used a higher frequency for radio communications. Her refit and trials complete on 13 March. She resumed her duties in Atlantic convoy defence out of Londonderry. [1]
On 20 March she participated in the search for the German warships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau [1] In September 1941, she dropped depth charges on German U-boat U-207 at position 63°59'N, 34°48'W, [4] which had attacked convoy SC 42. U-207 was sunk, and HMS Veteran shared credit for her sinking with HMS Leamington. This was given after a post-war analysis of the attack. [5] In January 1942, she underwent conversion to a short-range escort (SRE) at a commercial shipyard in London. To augment the earlier changes, the replacement of the after bank of torpedo tubes with a single QF 12-pounder 12 cwt naval gun and the landing of 'Y' gun for additional space for depth charge gear and stowage, the 2 pdr "pompoms" were replaced with two Oerlikon 20 mm cannons amidships, and the 'A' gun was replaced by a Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar. A Type 271 centimetric target indication radar was added on the bridge and a Type 286M air warning radar was installed on the main mast. [1]
By March with her workups following conversion complete she was detached for service off the East Coast of the US and Canada. From May to August she was deployed for convoy defence between US and Canadian Ports to Newfoundland. [1]
In September she was nominated for a special convoy RB1. On the 16th she sailed with HMS Vanoc. [1]
Loss
On 23 September 1942, Convoy RB1 was sighted by U-380 and U-boat Group Blitz was ordered to attack. Groups Vorwarts and Pfiel were also directed against RB1. On the 25th SS Boston and SS New York were sunk and the convoy scattered. On 26 September the convoy was ordered to reform and HMS Veteran came across the survivors of SS New York. While she was picking up some of the survivors HMS Veteran was hit by two torpedoes from U-404, and sank quickly at position 54°51′N023°04′W / 54.850°N 23.067°W / 54.850; -23.067 (HMS Veteran (D72)) south of Iceland after an explosion. All hands, and a number of survivors from SS New York, were lost; [6] other survivors from SS New York were later rescued. [1]
HMS Hesperus was an H-class destroyer that had originally been ordered by the Brazilian Navy with the name Juruena in the late 1930s, but was purchased by the Royal Navy after the beginning of World War II in September 1939, commissioned in 1940 as HMS Hearty and then quickly renamed as Hesperus.
HMS Wolverine was an Admiralty modified W-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy. She was one of four destroyers ordered in April 1918 from James Samuel White & Co Ltd under the 14th Order for Destroyers of the Emergency War Programme of 1917–18. She was the seventh Royal Navy Ship to carry the name. It had been introduced in 1798 for a gun brig and last borne by a destroyer sunk after a collision in 1917.
HMS Whitshed (D77/I77) was an Admiralty modified W-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was ordered from Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd under the 14th Order for Destroyers in the Emergency War Program of 1918–19. She was the first ship to carry the name.
HMS Vansittart was an Admiralty modified W-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy. She was ordered in January 1918 from William Beardmore & Company with the 13th Order for Destroyers of the Emergency War Program of 1918–19. She was the second Royal Navy ship to carry the name which was first used in 1821 for a hired packet.
HMS Faulknor was the flotilla leader for the F-class destroyers built for the Royal Navy during the 1930s. The ship had a particularly active operational role during World War II, being awarded 11 battle honours, and was known as "The hardest worked destroyer in the Fleet". She was the first ship to sink a German U-boat, took part in the Norwegian Campaign, served with Force H in the Mediterranean on the Malta Convoys, escorted convoys to Russia and across the Atlantic, and saw action during the invasions of Sicily, Italy and Normandy, and was at the liberation of the Channel Islands. She was then decommissioned and sold for scrap in late 1945.
HMS Escapade was an E-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s. Although assigned to the Home Fleet upon completion in 1934, the ship was attached to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1935–1936 during the Abyssinia Crisis. During the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 she spent considerable time in Spanish waters, enforcing the arms blockade imposed by Britain and France on both sides of the conflict. Escapade was assigned to convoy escort and anti-submarine patrol duties in the Western Approaches when World War II began in September 1939, but transferred back to the Home Fleet at the end of the year.
HMS Firedrake was an F-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy during the early 1930s. Although assigned to the Home Fleet upon completion, the ship was attached to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1935–36 during the Abyssinia Crisis. During the Spanish Civil War of 1936–39, she spent much time in Spanish waters, enforcing the arms blockade imposed by Britain and France on both sides of the conflict.
HMS Daring was a D-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s. The ship spent the bulk of her career on the China Station. She was briefly commanded by Louis Mountbatten before World War II. Daring escorted convoys in the Red Sea in October–November 1939 and then returned to the UK in January 1940 for the first time in five years. While escorting a convoy from Norway, she was sunk by the German submarine U-23 in February 1940.
HMS Dainty was a D-class destroyer 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. She was temporarily deployed in the Red Sea during late 1935 during the Abyssinia Crisis, before returning to her assigned station where she remained until mid-1939. Dainty was transferred back to the Mediterranean Fleet just before World War II began in September 1939. She briefly was assigned to West Africa for convoy escort duties in 1940 before returning to the Mediterranean. The ship participated in the Battle of Calabria in July 1940 and was assigned to convoy escort and patrol duties until she was sunk by German bombers off Tobruk on 24 February 1941.
HMS Fowey was a Shoreham-class sloop of the Royal Navy. She served during the Second World War.
HMS Leith was a Grimsby-class sloop of the Royal Navy that served in the Second World War.
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 Verity was an Admiralty modified W-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy. She was the first ship to carry the name Verity. She was ordered in January 1918 from John Brown & Company of Clydebank with the 13th Order for Destroyers of the Emergency War Program of 1918–19.
HMS Vortigern was a V-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She served in both World Wars, and was sunk in 1942.
HMS Crusader was a C-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s. She saw service in the Home and Mediterranean Fleets and spent six months during the Spanish Civil War in late 1936 in Spanish waters, enforcing the arms blockade imposed by Britain and France on both sides of the conflict. Crusader was sold to the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) in 1938 and renamed HMCS Ottawa. She was initially deployed on the Canadian Pacific Coast before World War II, but was transferred to the Atlantic three months after the war began. She served as a convoy escort during the battle of the Atlantic until sunk by the German submarine U-91 on 14 September 1942. Together with a British destroyer, she sank an Italian submarine in the North Atlantic in November 1941.
HMS Cygnet was a C-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s. The ship was initially assigned to the Home Fleet, although she was temporarily deployed in the Red Sea during the Abyssinia Crisis of 1935–36. Cygnet was sold to the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) in late 1937 and renamed HMCS St. Laurent. She was stationed on the west coast of Canada when World War II began in September 1939, and had to be transferred to the Atlantic coast for convoy escort duties. She served as a convoy escort in the Battle of the Atlantic and participated in the sinking of two German submarines. The ship was on anti-submarine patrols during the invasion of Normandy, and was employed as a troop transport after VE Day for returning Canadian servicemen. St. Laurent was decommissioned in late 1945 and scrapped in 1947.
HMS Witherington was an Admiralty modified W-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy. She was one of four destroyers ordered in April 1918 from James Samuel White & Co Ltd. under the 14th Order for Destroyers of the Emergency War Program of 1917–18. She was the first Royal Navy ship to carry this name.
HMS Viscount was a V-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in the final months of World War I and in World War II.
HMS Wolsey (D98) was a W-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in the final months of World War I, in the Nanking incident of 1927, and in World War II.
The second HMS Wivern, was a Modified W-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in World War II.
This page is based on this
Wikipedia article Text is available under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
United Kingdom
