![]() Wheatland during the Second World War | |
History | |
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Name | HMS Wheatland |
Ordered | 4 September 1939 |
Builder | Yarrow Shipbuilders |
Laid down | 30 May 1940 |
Launched | 7 June 1941 |
Commissioned | 3 November 1941 |
Decommissioned | 19 June 1945 |
Identification | Pennant number: L122 |
Honours and awards | Arctic 1942, North Africa 1942–43, Sicily 1943, Mediterranean 1943, Salerno 1943, Adriatic 1944 |
Fate | Scrapped at Bo'ness on 20 September 1957 |
General characteristics Type II | |
Class and type | Hunt-class destroyer |
Displacement |
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Length | 85.3 m (279 ft 10 in) o/a |
Beam | 9.6 m (31 ft 6 in) |
Draught | 2.51 m (8 ft 3 in) |
Propulsion |
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Speed |
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Range | 3,600 nmi (6,700 km) at 14 kn (26 km/h) |
Complement | 164 |
Armament |
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HMS Wheatland was a Type 2 Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that served in the Second World War.
Wheatland was ordered from Yarrow Shipbuilders, Scotstoun on 4 September 1939, one of 17 Hunt-class destroyers ordered on that day as part of the 1939 Emergency War Programme. The ship was laid down on 30 May 1940 and was launched on 7 June 1941, commissioning (with the pennant number L122 [1] ) on 3 November 1941. [2] She was named after "The Wheatland Hunt", an annual fox hunt held in Shropshire. [3] During Warship Week in 1942 she was adopted by the town of Uttoxeter.
On completion in 1941 Wheatland was sent to Scapa Flow as part of the Naval Force to undertake the Commando raid on the Lofoten Islands. [4] The following year she took part in escort duties in support of the Russian Convoys. In 1943 she served in the Mediterranean, including support for the Sicily landings in July of that year. This included shore bombardment of Taormina on Sicily.
In 1944 she continued operations in the Mediterranean on convoy duties, including in July 1944 being nominated for escort duties in the planned landings in the south of France.
While being deployed with HMS Avon Vale, on 1 November 1944, Wheatland engaged German surface craft south of the island of Lussino, sinking the torpedo boat TA20, and the corvettes UJ202 and UJ208, and rescuing some of the survivors in Action of 1 November 1944. [5]
After the war Wheatland returned to Devonport and transferred to the Reserve Fleet. She stayed there until 1953 when she was towed to Gibraltar where she remained in reserve. In 1955 she was brought back to Harwich before being placed on the disposal list. She remained there until September 1957 when she was sold to BISCO for scrapping by McLennan. She arrived at their breakers yard in Bo'ness on 20 September 1957. [4]
HMS Whaddon (L45) was a Type I Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy built by Alexander Stephen & Sons of Linthouse, Govan and launched on 16 July 1940. She was laid down on 27 July 1939 and commissioned 28 February 1941. She was adopted by the civil community of Newport Pagnell in Buckinghamshire, as part of the Warship Week campaign in 1942.
HMS Beaufort was a Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was laid down on 17 July 1940 at Cammell Laird, Birkenhead. She was launched on 9 June 1941 and commissioned on 3 November 1941. During the Second World War the ship served in the Mediterranean Sea, escorting convoys and covering landings. She was transferred to the Royal Norwegian Navy in 1952 and scrapped in 1965.
HMS Tetcott was a Type II British Hunt-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy during World War II. She was the only Royal Navy ship to be named after the Tetcott fox hunt.
HMS Avon Vale(pennant number L06) was an escort destroyer of the Hunt Type II class. The Royal Navy ordered Avon Vale's construction three days after the outbreak of the Second World War. John Brown Shipbuilding & Engineering Company Ltd laid down her keel at their Clydebank yard on 12 February 1940, as Admiralty Job Number J1569. After a successful Warship Week national savings campaign in February 1942, Avon Vale was adopted by the civil community of Trowbridge, Wiltshire.
HMS Bicester(pennant number L34) was an escort destroyer of the Type II Hunt class. The Royal Navy ordered Bicester's construction three months after the outbreak of the Second World War. Hawthorn Leslie & Co. laid down her keel at their Tyne yard on 29 May 1940, as Admiralty Job Number J4210. The ship was named after a fox hunt in Oxfordshire.
HMS Blackmore(pennant number L43) was an escort destroyer of the Type II Hunt class. The Royal Navy ordered Blackmore's construction three months after the outbreak of the Second World War. A. Stephen & Sons laid down her keel at their Glasgow yard on 10 February 1941, as Admiralty Job Number J1479. The ship was adopted by the civil community of Langport, Somerset after a successful Warship Week campaign. The ship was sold to the Royal Danish Navy and renamed HDMS Esbern Snare.
HMS Mendip (L60) was a Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was a member of the first subgroup of the class. The ship is notable for seeing service in the navies of three other nations after her use by the Royal Navy. She saw service in the Second World War and later as an Egyptian Navy ship in the Suez Crisis. She was captured in battle on 31 October 1956 by the Israeli Navy and re-commissioned as INS Haifa (K-38).
HMS Brecon was a Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that saw service in World War II, one of two ships in the fourth subgroup of the class, built to a radically different design from other ships in the Hunt class.
The second HMS Hambledon was a Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy in commission from 1940 to 1945. She was a member of the first subgroup of the class, and saw service throughout World War II.
HMS Blencathra (L24) was a Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy in commission from 1940 to 1948. She was a member of the first subgroup of the class, and saw service through most of World War II.
The second HMS Exmoor (L08), ex-HMS Burton, was a Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy in commission from 1941 to 1945. She was a member of the second subgroup of the class, and saw service during much of World War II. She later served in the Royal Danish Navy as HDMS Valdemar Sejr.
HMS Vivacious (D36) was a V-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in World War I and World War II.
HMS Atherstone was a Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was launched in late 1939 as the first of her class but was found to be unstable, and had to undergo significant modifications before entering service in March 1940.
HMS Brocklesby was a Type I Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She served during the Second World War, spending much of the time in the English Channel and Mediterranean, taking part in the Dieppe Raid in 1942, and the Allied landings in Sicily and at Salerno in 1943. After the war, she was used as a sonar trials ship until 1963, and was sold for scrap in 1968.
HMS Cattistock (L35) was a Type I Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was a member of the first subgroup of the Hunt class and served throughout World War II before being scrapped in 1957.
HMS Oakley was a Type II Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was originally to have been named Tickham, however she was renamed after her sister ship Oakley was transferred to Poland and was renamed ORP Kujawiak (L72). She entered service in May 1943, carrying out convoy escort, patrol and anti-shipping attacks for most of the rest of the Second World War. She was adopted by the Civil community of Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire as part of Warship Week in 1942. In 1957, she was sold to the West German Navy, serving as a training ship for the German Naval Gunnery school until scrapped in 1972.
HMS Wilton was a Type 2 Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that served in the Second World War.
HMS Belvoir was a Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was a member of the third subgroup of the class, and saw service in the Second World War. She was adopted by the civil community of Sutton in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire during Warship Week in 1942.
HMS Haydon was a Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was a member of the third subgroup of the class, and saw service in the Second World War. Most of the ships of this class were named after British fox hunts. She was the first Royal Navy warship to bear this name, after the Haydon hunt in Northumberland. In 1942 she was adopted by the civil community of Wallsend in Northumberland, as part of Warship Week.
HMS Easton was a Type III Hunt-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy. Easton was built by the shipbuilder J Samuel White in 1941–1942, being launched on 11 July 1942 and completed on 7 December 1942.