HMS Vigilant (R93)

Last updated

HMS Vigilant 1943 IWM FL 9580.jpg
Vigilant on the River Tyne, September 1943
History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
NameHMS Vigilant
Ordered1 September 1941
Builder Swan Hunter, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom
Laid down31 January 1942
Launched22 December 1942
Commissioned10 September 1943
Decommissioned1963
Identification Pennant number R93/F93
Honours and
awards
  • Arctic 1943-44
  • Normandy 1944
  • Malaya 1945
  • Burma 1945
FateScrapped 6 June 1965
General characteristics V-class destroyer
Class and type V-class destroyer
Displacement
  • 1,777 long tons (1,806 t) standard
  • 2,058 long tons (2,091 t) full load
Length363 ft (111 m)
Beam35 ft 8 in (10.87 m)
Draught10 ft (3.0 m)
Propulsion
  • 2 × Admiralty 3-drum water-tube boilers
  • Geared steam turbines, 40,000 shp (29,828 kW)
  • 2 shafts
Speed37 knots (43 mph; 69 km/h)
Range4,860  nmi (9,000 km) at 29 kn (54 km/h)
Complement180 (225 in flotilla leader)
Armament
General characteristics Type 15 frigate
Class and type Type 15 frigate
Displacement2,300 long tons (2,337 t) standard
Length358 ft (109 m) o/a
Beam37 ft 9 in (11.51 m)
Draught14 ft 6 in (4.42 m)
Propulsion
Speed31 knots (36 mph; 57 km/h) (full load)
Complement174
Sensors and
processing systems
  • Radar
  • Type 293Q target indication (later Type 993)
  • Type 277Q surface search
  • Type 974 navigation
  • Type 262 fire control on director CRBF
  • Type 1010 Cossor Mark 10 IFF
  • Sonar:
  • Type 174 search
  • Type 162 target classification
  • Type 170 attack
Armament

HMS Vigilant was a V-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service during World War II.

Contents

Second World War service

On 26 March 1945 she, along with the destroyers Saumarez, Volage, and Virago, intercepted a Japanese supply convoy east of Khota Andaman, Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean. She and Virago sank CH-63. Also part of the escorting destroyers of the 21st Aircraft Carrier Squadron involved in Operation Dracula from April to May 1945. She participated in the Battle of the Malacca Strait with the destroyers Saumarez, Verulam, Venus, and Virago which culminated in the sinking of the Japanese cruiser Haguro on 16 May 1945.

Post-War service

In January 1946 Vigilant was part of the Londonderry Flotilla and in September 1946 went to the Mediterranean. Between 1947 and 1951 she was held in reserve at Portsmouth.

In 1951 she began conversion into a Type 15 fast anti-submarine frigate, by Thornycroft at Woolston. She was also allocated the new pennant number F93. Between 1953 and 1955 she was part of the 6th Frigate Squadron as part of the Home Fleet. In October 1954 she collided with another Type 15 Frigate HMS Relentless and was repaired at Devonport Dockyard. [1]

In 1955 she had been converted for use as a training frigate and became leader of the Dartmouth Training Squadron. In 1956 this consisted of Vigilant, Venus, Carron and the minesweepers Jewel and Acute.

Decommissioning and disposal

Vigilant was paid off in 1963 and arrived at Faslane for breaking up on 4 June 1965. [2]

Notes

  1. Critchley, Mike (1982). British Warships Since 1945: Part 3: Destroyers. Liskeard, UK: Maritime Books. p. 70. ISBN   0-9506323-9-2.
  2. Mason, Geoffrey B. (2004). Gordon Smith (ed.). "HMS Vigilant (R 93) - V-class Destroyer". naval-history.net. Retrieved 2 May 2015.

Publications


Related Research Articles

U and V-class destroyer Class of destroyers of the Royal Navy

The U and V class was a class of sixteen destroyers of the Royal Navy launched in 1942–1943. They were constructed in two flotillas, each with names beginning with "U-" or "V-". The hull was nearly identical to the preceding ships of the S and T classes, but the U and V class ships had different bridge and armament fits. The flotillas constituted the 7th Emergency Flotilla and 8th Emergency Flotilla, built under the War Emergency Programme. These ships used the Fuze Keeping Clock HA Fire Control Computer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of the Malacca Strait</span>

The Battle of the Malacca Strait, sometimes called the Sinking of Haguro, and in Japanese sources as the Battle off Penang (ペナン沖海戦), was a naval battle that resulted from the British search-and-destroy operation in May 1945, called Operation Dukedom, that resulted in the sinking of the Japanese cruiser Haguro. Haguro had been operating as a supply ship for Japanese garrisons in the Dutch East Indies and the Bay of Bengal since 9 April 1945.

HMS <i>Rotherham</i> Destroyer of the Royal Navy

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 <i>Saumarez</i> (G12) 1943 S-class destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Saumarez was an S-class destroyer of the Royal Navy, completed on 1 July 1943. As a flotilla leader, her standard displacement was 20 tons heavier than other ships of her class. She continued the tradition of flotilla leaders being named after prominent British seamen, in her case Vice-Admiral James Saumarez, 1st Baron de Saumarez of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

HMS <i>Roebuck</i> (H95) R-class destroyer converted to Type 15 frigate of the Royal Navy

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.

HMS <i>Rocket</i> (H92) R-class destroyer converted to Type 15 frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Rocket was an R-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that saw service during Second World War. Built by Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in Greenock, Scotland, she was launched in October 1942 and commissioned in August 1943.

HMS <i>Relentless</i> (H85) R-class destroyer converted to Type 15 frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Relentless was an R-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that saw service during World War II. She was later converted into a Type 15 fast anti-submarine frigate, with the new pennant number F185.

HMS <i>Ulster</i> (R83) U-class destroyer converted to Type 15 frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Ulster was a U-class destroyer of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom that saw service during World War II. She was later converted into a Type 15 fast anti-submarine frigate, with the new pennant number F83. Ulster was the second vessel in Royal Navy history to have that name.

HMS <i>Ulysses</i> (R69) U-class destroyer converted to Type 15 frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Ulysses was a U-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service during World War II. She was later converted into a Type 15 fast anti-submarine frigate, with the new pennant number F17.

HMS <i>Undaunted</i> (R53) U-class destroyer converted to Type 15 frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Undaunted was a U-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service during World War II. She was later converted into a Type 15 fast anti-submarine frigate, with the new pennant number F53.

HMS <i>Venus</i> (R50) V-class destroyer converted to Type 15 frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Venus was a V-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that saw service during the Second World War. She was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, of Govan, Scotland and launched on 23 February 1943.

HMS <i>Verulam</i> (R28) V-class destroyer converted to Type 15 frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Verulam was a V-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service during the Second World War.

HMS <i>Virago</i> (R75) V-class destroyer converted to Type 15 frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Virago was a V-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that served in World War II. She was later converted into a Type 15 fast anti-submarine frigate, with the new pennant number F76.

HMS <i>Volage</i> (R41) V-class destroyer converted to Type 15 frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Volage was a V-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy, commissioned on 26 May 1944, that served in the Arctic and the Indian Oceans during World War II. She was the fifth Royal Naval ship to bear the name.

HMS <i>Wrangler</i> (R48) W-class destroyer converted to Type 15 frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Wrangler was one of eight W-class destroyers built for the Royal Navy during World War II. Completed in 1944, the ship spent most of the war in the Far East and escorted British aircraft carriers as their aircraft attacked targets in the occupied Dutch East Indies and in Japan itself. Wrangler was present in Tokyo Bay when the Japanese formally surrendered on 2 September 1945.

HMS <i>Wizard</i> (R72) W-class destroyer converted to Type 15 frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Wizard was a W-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service during World War II.

HMS <i>Teazer</i> (R23) T-class destroyer converted to Type 16 frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Teazer was a T-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that saw service during the Second World War. She was later converted to a Type 16 fast anti-submarine frigate, with the new pennant number F23.

HMS <i>Tenacious</i> (R45) T-class destroyer converted to Type 16 frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Tenacious was a T-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that saw service during the Second World War. She was built by Cammell Laird, of Birkenhead and launched on 24 March 1943.

HMS <i>Statesman</i> Submarine of the Royal Navy

HMS Statesman was an S-class submarine of the Royal Navy, and part of the Third Group built of that class. She was built by Cammell Laird and launched on 14 September 1943. So far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name Statesman.

The British 3rd Destroyer Flotilla, also styled as Third Destroyer Flotilla, was a naval formation of the Royal Navy from 1909 to 1939 and again from 1945 to 1951.