![]() Wessex at anchor, 10 May 1944 | |
History | |
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Name | Wessex |
Ordered | 3 December 1941 |
Builder | Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan |
Laid down | 25 October 1942 |
Launched | 2 September 1943 |
Commissioned | 11 May 1944 |
Decommissioned | 14 March 1946 |
Fate | Sold to South African Navy, 29 March 1950 |
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Name | SAS Jan van Riebeeck |
Namesake | Jan van Riebeeck |
Acquired | 29 March 1950 |
Commissioned | 29 March 1950 |
Out of service | Late 1975 |
Reclassified | Converted into an anti-submarine frigate, 1964–66 |
Nickname(s) | JVR |
Fate | Sunk as target, 25 March 1980 |
General characteristics (as built) | |
Class and type | W-class destroyer |
Displacement |
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Length | 362 ft 9 in (110.6 m) |
Beam | 35 ft 8 in (10.9 m) |
Draught | 14 ft 6 in (4.4 m) (deep load) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed | 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph) |
Range | 4,675 nmi (8,658 km; 5,380 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
Complement | 179 |
Sensors and processing systems |
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Armament |
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HMS Wessex (pennant number: R78) 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 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 and Okinawa.
Wessex was then reduced to reserve after arriving home in December 1945. She was then transferred to Simon's Town, South Africa in 1947, to form the South Atlantic Reserve Force. The ship was purchased by the South African Navy in 1950 and renamed HMSAS Jan van Riebeeck. She was placed in reserve in 1953 and continuing shortages of manpower kept the ship in reserve for most of the rest of her career even though she was converted into a fast anti-submarine frigate in 1964–66. Jan van Riebeeck was converted to serve as a training ship in 1971–72 and remained in that role until she was decommissioned in 1975. The ship was sunk as a target in 1980.
The W-class ships displaced 1,710 long tons (1,740 t) at standard load and 2,530 long tons (2,570 t) at deep load. They had an overall length of 362 feet 9 inches (110.6 m), a beam of 35 feet 8 inches (10.9 m) and a mean deep draught of 14 feet 6 inches (4.4 m). The ships were powered by a pair of Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by two Admiralty three-drum boilers. The turbines developed a total of 40,000 shaft horsepower (30,000 kW) which gave a maximum speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph). They carried 615 long tons (625 t) of fuel oil that gave them a range of 4,675 nautical miles (8,658 km; 5,380 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph). Their crew numbered 179 officers and ratings. [1]
The W-class destroyers were armed with four single 4.7-inch (120 mm) Mark IX guns, one quadruple mount for 2-pounder (40 mm) Mk II "pom-pom" anti-aircraft (AA) guns and eight Oerlikon 20-millimetre (0.8 in) light AA guns on twin mounts. They also were equipped with two quadruple mounts for 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes. For anti-submarine work, the ships were fitted with ASDIC and two rails and four throwers for 70 depth charges. [2] They were equipped with a Type 272 surface-search radar, Type 282 and 285 gunnery radars and a Type 291 early-warning radar. [1]
To better defend the ship against Japanese kamikaze suicide aircraft, Wessex had her searchlight replaced by a 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors AA gun in mid-1944. [1] As part of her 1964–66 refit, the ship's aft torpedo tubes were removed to make room for a small flight deck and hangar for two Westland Wasp helicopters and a pair of American Mk 32 triple-barrelled anti-submarine torpedo tubes were added, one on each side of the hangar. The guns were replaced by two twin-gun turrets fitted with 4-inch (102 mm) Mk XVI guns, one forward of the bridge and the other aft of the hangar. Her electronics were modernized as well although she retained the existing search radar. The changes increased her crew to 186–210 officers and ratings. [3]
Wessex was ordered from Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company on 3 December 1941 under the name of Zenith and was laid down at their Govan, Scotland, shipyard on 20 October 1942. [1] She was renamed in January 1943 [4] and was launched on 2 October 1943. Completed on 11 May 1944, [1] the ship was assigned to the Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean and escorted the aircraft carriers Indomitable and Victorious while their aircraft attacked Nancowry harbour and other targets in the Nicobar Islands as part of Operation Millet, 15–19 October. During Operation Robson, an aerial attack on the oil refinery complex at Pangkalan Brandan, Sumatra, on 17–22 December, Wessex escorted the main body of the fleet. The ship did much the same during Operation Meridian, multiple aerial attacks on the refineries in Sumatra 16–29 January 1945, although she was held back to pick up radar spare parts and did not rendezvous with the fleet until the 19th. [5]
Now part of the British Pacific Fleet, Wessex continued to escort ships and screen operations during the Battle of Okinawa [6] until she began a refit at Auckland that lasted from 5 July to 27 August. The ship rejoined the fleet in September [7] and ferried Allied prisoners of war back home. [8] She arrived at Devonport on 28 December and was reduced to Category B Reserve on 14 March 1946 after being refitted in January–February. Wessex was recommissioned on 28 August 1947 and was refitted at Portsmouth Royal Dockyard in August–September in preparation for the voyage to South Africa in company with her sister ships, Kempenfelt, Whelp and Wrangler. Upon arrival, they formed the South Atlantic Reserve Force in Simon's Town. [9]
Wessex was sold to the South African Navy on 29 March 1950 for £450,000 and commissioned that day as Jan van Riebeeck. Two years later she participated in Cape Town's celebration of the 300th anniversary of its founding by her namesake in April 1952. Later that year, the ship visited ports in French Madagascar and British East Africa. Jan van Riebeeck was placed in reserve in early 1953 to allow the navy to man her newly purchased sister ship, HMSAS Simon van der Stel. She remained in reserve for nearly 20 years, despite her conversion into a frigate between 1964 and 1966. Jan van Riebeeck began a refit in March 1971 to prepare her to replace her sister as a training ship that was completed on 12 April 1972 when she was recommissioned. The ship was reduced to reserve again in late 1975 and Jan van Riebeeck was sunk as a target on 25 March 1980, 60 nautical miles (110 km; 69 mi) south of Cape Town. The hulk was initially struck by a Skerpioen missile fired by the fast attack craft SAS Jim Fouché from over the horizon, but had to be finished off by gunfire. [10]
HMS Devonshire, pennant number 39, was a County-class heavy cruiser of the London sub-class built for the Royal Navy in the late 1920s. The ship spent most of her pre-World War II career assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet aside from a brief tour with the China Station. She spent the first two months of the Second World War in the Mediterranean until she was transferred to the Home Fleet and became flagship of a cruiser squadron. Devonshire took part in the Norwegian Campaign in mid 1940 and evacuated much of the Norwegian Government in June. Several months later, she participated in the Battle of Dakar, a failed attempt to seize the Vichy French colony of Senegal in September. The ship remained in the South Atlantic afterwards and supported Free French efforts to take control of French Equatorial Africa in addition to searching for German commerce raiders.
HMS Jamaica, a Fiji-class cruiser of the Royal Navy, was named after the island of Jamaica, which was a British Crown Colony when she was built in the late 1930s. The light cruiser spent almost her entire wartime career on Arctic convoy duties, except for a deployment south for the landings in North Africa in November 1942. She participated in the Battle of the Barents Sea in 1942 and the Battle of North Cape in 1943. Jamaica escorted several aircraft carriers in 1944 as they flew off airstrikes that attacked the German battleship Tirpitz in northern Norway. Late in the year she had an extensive refit to prepare her for service with the British Pacific Fleet, but the war ended before she reached the Pacific.
HMS Hotspur was an H-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy during the 1930s. During the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 the ship spent considerable time in Spanish waters, enforcing the arms blockade imposed by Britain and France on both sides of the conflict. During the Norwegian Campaign of the Second World War, she fought in the First Battle of Narvik in April 1940 where she was badly damaged. After her repairs were completed, Hotspur was transferred to Gibraltar where she participated in the Battle of Dakar in September. A month later the ship was badly damaged when she rammed and sank an Italian submarine. She received permanent repairs in Malta and was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet when they were finished in early 1941. Hotspur participated in the Battle of Cape Matapan in March and evacuated British and Australian troops from both Greece and Crete in April–May. In June the ship participated in the Syria-Lebanon Campaign and was escorting convoys and the larger ships of the Mediterranean Fleet until she was transferred to the Eastern Fleet in March 1942.
HMS Kent was a batch-1 County-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She and her sisters were equipped with the Sea Slug Mk-1 medium-range surface-to-air missile SAM system, along with the short-range Sea Cat SAM, two twin 4.5-inch gun turrets, two single 20mm cannon, ASW torpedo tubes, and a platform and hangar that allowed her to operate one Wessex helicopter. The County class were large ships, with good seakeeping abilities and long range, and were ideal blue-water ships for their time.
HMS Kent, pennant number 54, was a County-class heavy cruiser built for the Royal Navy in the late 1920s. She was the lead ship of the Kent subclass. After completion the ship was sent to the China Station where she remained until the beginning of the Second World War, aside from a major refit in 1937–38. Kent hunted the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee in the East Indies in late 1939 and then was reassigned to troop convoy escort duties in the Indian Ocean in early 1940. She was transferred to the Mediterranean in mid-1940, but was torpedoed shortly after arriving. The ship was under repair for a year and was then assigned to Home Fleet where she escorted convoys to and from North Russia for the next several years. In mid-1944 Kent escorted British aircraft carriers as their aircraft made attacks on German shipping and airfields in Norway. A few months later she was flagship of a force that intercepted a German convoy in Norwegian waters and sank two freighters and five escorts. The ship was paid off in early 1945 and placed in reserve until she was used as a target. Kent was sold for scrap in 1948.
HMS Pelorus was an Algerine-class minesweeper built for the Royal Navy (RN) during World War II. Upon completion, the ship became the flotilla leader of the 7th Minesweeper Flotilla, clearing mines off the east coast of England. In June 1944, the flotilla was assigned to sweep one of the beaches during the Normandy landings until she struck a mine the following month. After her repairs were completed, Pelorus was reassigned to the English Channel and the 6th Minesweeping Flotilla. The flotilla was transferred to the Indian Ocean in 1945 and spent some time escorting convoys. They participated in Operation Collie, a bombardment of Japanese positions in the Nicobar Islands, in July and then swept the Strait of Malacca and the approaches to Singapore in August.
HMCS Huron was a Tribal-class destroyer that served in the Royal Canadian Navy in the Second World War and the Korean War. She was the first ship to bear this name, entering service in 1943. She was named for the Huron people. During the Second World War the vessel saw service in Operation Neptune in the Bay of Biscay and along the French coast in support of the invasion of Normandy and escorted convoys to the Soviet Union. Following the war, the ship was placed in reserve. The destroyer was activated in 1950 as a training ship, but with the onset of the Korean War, was modernized and deployed twice to Korea. Following the war, Huron reverted to a training ship and took part in Cold War-era North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) naval exercises until being paid off for the final time in 1963 and broken up for scrap in 1965.
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 Paladin was a P-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that served in the Second World War. She was built by John Brown and Co. Ltd., Clydebank. She saw action in the Mediterranean and Far East. After the war she was converted into a type 16 frigate and was eventually scrapped in 1962.
SAS President Kruger was the first of three President-class Type 12 frigates built in the United Kingdom for the South African Navy (SAN) during the 1960s. The ship spent most of her career training and made visits to foreign ports in Africa, Western Europe and the United States. In the late 1960s, she was modernized and equipped to operate a helicopter. In the mid-1970s, President Kruger played a minor role in the South African Border War, conducting patrol operations off the Angolan coast. The ship was placed in reserve in 1977, but was recommissioned in 1980. She sank in 1982 with the loss of 16 lives after colliding with her replenishment oiler, SAS Tafelberg, in the South Atlantic.
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 Foxhound was one of nine F-class destroyers built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1930s. Although she was assigned to the Home Fleet, the ship was detached as part of the Mediterranean Fleet to enforce the arms blockade imposed by Britain and France on both sides during the Spanish Civil War of 1936–39. Several weeks after the start of the Second World War in September 1939, Foxhound helped to sink a German submarine and participated in the Second Battle of Narvik during the Norwegian Campaign of April–June 1940. The ship was sent to Gibraltar in mid-1940 and formed part of Force H where she participated in the attack on Mers-el-Kébir. Foxhound escorted the aircraft carriers of Force H as they flew off aircraft for Malta and covered convoys resupplying and reinforcing the island until late 1941. During this time the ship helped to sink another German submarine.
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.
SAS Good Hope was one of three Loch-class frigates in the South African Navy (SAN). It was built as HMS Loch Boisdale (K432) for the Royal Navy during World War II, but was transferred to the SAN before completion in 1944 and renamed as HMSAS Good Hope. The ship was assigned to convoy escort duties in 1945, but did not encounter any enemy ships before the end of the war.
HMSAS Protea was a survey ship of the South African Navy. The ship was originally built as a Flower-class corvette for the Royal Navy during World War II named Rockrose and was sold to South Africa after the war. Rockrose was initially assigned to convoy escort duties in the North Atlantic after her completion in 1941, but was later transferred to South African waters and then to the Far East with the same mission. She returned home in 1945 and was paid off.
HMSAS Natal was one of three Loch-class frigates in the South African Navy (SAN). It was built as HMS Loch Cree (K430) for the Royal Navy during World War II, but was transferred to the SAN before completion in 1945 and renamed as HMSAS Natal. Just hours after finishing fitting out, the ship sank a German submarine off the coast of Scotland in early 1945. It was assigned convoy escort duties for the remaining few months of the war in Europe. Natal had her anti-aircraft armament reinforced for service in the Far East after arriving in South Africa in June. In September–October, the ship participated in the reoccupation of British Malaya before returning home the following month.
SAS Transvaal was one of three Loch-class frigates in the South African Navy (SAN). She was built as HMS Loch Ard (K602) for the Royal Navy during World War II, but was transferred to the SAN in 1944 before completion and renamed as HMSAS Transvaal. The ship was completed shortly after the German surrender in May 1945 and did not participate in the war.
HMSAS Bloemfontein was an Algerine-class minesweeper built for the Royal Navy in Canada during World War II. The ship was originally named Rosamund and spent several years clearing minefields in Europe after she was completed in 1945 before she was placed in reserve. Rosamund was purchased by South Africa in 1947 and later renamed HMSAS Bloemfontein.
HMS Fleetwood was a Grimsby-class sloop of the Royal Navy. Built at Devonport Dockyard in the 1930s, Fleetwood was launched in March 1936 and commissioned in November that year. She served in the Red Sea until the outbreak of the Second World War. Fleetwood served as a convoy escort during the war, which she survived, and sank the German submarines U-528 and U-340. Post-war, the ship served as a radar training ship, remaining in use until 1959, when she was scrapped.
HMS Talybont was a Type III Hunt-class escort destroyer who served in the Royal Navy. She was launched in February 1943 and completed in May that year, serving for the rest of the Second World War. She took part in the Normandy Landings in June 1944, supporting the landings at Omaha Beach and the Pointe du Hoc. Post war she served in the Mediterranean before being reduced to reserve at the end of 1947. She was sold for scrap in 1961, with disposal completed by 1962.