Wilton at sea off Bizerte (IWM) | |
History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Name | HMS Wilton |
Ordered | 4 September 1939 |
Builder | Yarrow Shipbuilders |
Laid down | 7 June 1940 |
Launched | 17 October 1941 |
Completed | 18 February 1942 |
Decommissioned | 19 June 1945 |
Identification | Pennant number: L128 |
Honours and awards |
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Fate | Scrapped at Faslane 1959 |
Badge | On a Field White, an eagle's head erased Green gorged with a chain pendant therefrom a bugle horn Gold. |
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 Wilton was a Type 2 Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that served in the Second World War.
Wilton 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 7 June 1940 and was launched on 17 October 1941, commissioning (with the pennant number L128 [1] on 18 February 1942. [2] She was named after "The Wilton Hunt", an annual fox hunt held in Wiltshire. During Warship Week in 1942 she was adopted by the civil community of East Retford in Nottinghamshire.
On completion in 1942 Wilton was sent to Scapa Flow. [3] She took part in escort duties in support of the Russian Convoys. At the end of 1942 she served in the Mediterranean, including support for the Sicily landings in July of the following year.
In 1944 she continued operations in the Mediterranean on convoy duties, and support for operations in the Adriatic, including naval gunfire support. She remained there until February 1945 when she returned to the UK. In June 1945 she was nominated for service in the Far East and travelled to Simonstown for a refit to prepare for deployment.
In 1945 and 1946 Wilton underwent a refit at Simonstown in South Africa, returning to Devonport on 10 February 1946 for transfer to the Reserve Fleet. In December 1949 she recommissioned for service with the 4th Training Flotilla at Rosyth. In 1952 she was again reduced to reserve. She was placed on the disposal list in 1959 and sold for scrapping. She arrived at the breakers yard at Faslane on 30 November 1959. [4]
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 Middleton was a Type II Hunt class destroyer of the Royal Navy and served in the Second World War. Her role was providing support for minelaying operations in the Atlantic and anti-aircraft protection for the North Russian convoys. At the end of the Second World War, Middleton returned to Portsmouth having achieved no less than six battle honours during her brief four years of active service. She remained in reserve until 1955 and was broken up in February 1958.
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 Badsworth(pennant number L03) was an escort destroyer of the Type II Hunt class. The Royal Navy ordered Badsworth's construction three months after the outbreak of the Second World War. Cammell Laird laid down her keel at their Birkenhead yard on 15 May 1940, as Admiralty Job No. J3260. After a successful Warship Week national savings campaign in March 1942, Badsworth was adopted by the civil community of Batley, then in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The ship was named after a fox-hunt in Yorkshire.
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.
HMS Wheatland was a Type 2 Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that served in the Second World War.
HMS Blankney was a Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy and was the first and so far only warship to bear the name. She was laid down on 17 May 1940 at John Brown & Company, Clydebank, Scotland, launched on 19 December 1940 and commissioned on 11 April 1941.
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.
The second HMS Wivern, was a Modified W-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in 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 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 Garth was a Type I Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy built by John Brown & Company on the River Clyde, and launched on 28 December 1939. She was adopted by the Civil Community of Wokingham, Berkshire, as part of the Warship Week campaign in 1942.
HMS Lauderdale was a Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. Ships of this class were designed as cheap, easily built vessels for convoy escort and antisubmarine duties. She was named like her sisters after a fox hunt, in her case one in Berwickshire. War bonds were issued to finance the building of warships. During Warship Week held in 1942 the civil community of Berwickshire adopted the ship. She has been the only Royal Navy warship to carry this name.
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.