Q-ships, also known as Q-boats, decoy vessels, special service ships, or mystery ships, were heavily armed merchant ships with concealed weaponry, designed to lure submarines into making surface attacks. This gave Q-ships the chance to open fire and sink them. The use of Q-ships contributed to the abandonment of cruiser rules restricting attacks on unarmed merchant ships and to the shift to unrestricted submarine warfare in the 20th century.
HMS Janus, named after the Roman god, was a Javelin or J-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was ordered from the Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson Limited at Wallsend-on-Tyne as part of the 1936 Build Programme and laid down on 29 September 1937, launched on 10 November 1938 and commissioned on 5 August 1939.
Lieutenant Commander Malcolm David Wanklyn VC, DSO & Two Bars was a Second World War British Royal Navy commander and one of the most successful submariners in the Western Allied navies. Wanklyn and his crew sank 16 enemy vessels.
Lieutenant-Commander Gerard Broadmead Roope was a posthumous British recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
Captain Richard Been Stannard, was a British sailor, officer in the Royal Naval Reserve (RNR), and a recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Stannard was awarded the first VC to the RNR in the Second World War.
The Namsos campaign, in Namsos, Norway, and its surrounding area involved heavy fighting between Anglo-French and Norwegian naval and military forces on the one hand, and German military, naval and air forces on the other in April and early May 1940. It was one of the first significant occasions during the Second World War when British and French land forces fought the German Army.
HMT Warwick Deeping (H136) was a naval trawler of the British Royal Naval Patrol Service during World War II, sunk off the Isle of Wight in October 1940.
Seven vessels of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Arab:
German submarine U-51 was a Type VIIB U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine that operated during World War II. She was ordered in November 1936 and laid down in February 1937 in Kiel. She was launched in August 1939 and commissioned in November.
HMS Sportsman was a third-batch S-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during World War II. Completed in 1942, she spent most of the war serving in the Mediterranean Sea. After an initial patrol off Norway, she sank the heavy transport Général Bonaparte in the Mediterranean in 1943 and missed a French oil tanker. She was heavily damaged after a mistaken attack by an Allied bomber, and was sent east after repairs to participate in operations in the Black Sea. After the operation was cancelled, Sportsman patrolled the Aegean Sea, sending several Greek and German ships to the bottom. She sank the German transport SS Petrella in early 1944 despite it being clearly marked as a prisoner-of-war ship, killing 2,670 out of 3,173 Italians aboard. Sportsman sank several more ships, and suffered minor damage when she was detected and sighted while attempting to attack a convoy.
Vice Admiral Sir Arthur Richard Hezlet, nicknamed Baldy Hezlet, was a decorated Royal Navy submariner. He became the Royal Navy's youngest captain at the time – aged 36 – and its youngest admiral, aged 45. In retirement he became a military historian.
HMS Doon was a Hawthorn Leslie type River-class destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1903 – 1904 Naval Estimates. Named after the River Doon in western Scotland, she was the first ship to carry this name in the Royal Navy.
The Royal Naval Patrol Service (RNPS) was a branch of the Royal Navy active during both the First and Second World Wars. The RNPS operated many small auxiliary vessels such as naval trawlers for anti-submarine and minesweeping operations to protect coastal Britain and convoys.
Naval trawlers are vessels built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes; they were widely used during the First and Second World Wars. Some—known in the Royal Navy as "Admiralty trawlers"— were purpose-built to naval specifications, others adapted from civilian use. Fishing trawlers were particularly suited for many naval requirements because they were robust vessels designed to work heavy trawls in all types of weather, and had large clear working decks. A minesweeper could be created by replacing the trawl with a mine sweep. Adding depth charge racks on the deck, ASDIC below, and a 3-inch (76 mm) or 4-inch (102 mm) gun in the bow equipped the trawler for anti-submarine duties.
Naval trawlers were purpose-built or requisitioned and operated by the Royal Navy (RN), mainly during World Wars I and II. Vessels built to Admiralty specifications for RN use were known as Admiralty trawlers. All trawlers operated by the RN, regardless of origin, were typically given the prefix HMT, for "His Majesty's Trawler".
HMS Vancouver was a British V-class destroyer. She was launched on 28 December 1917; in July 1922 she accidentally rammed the submarine H24. She was renamed HMS Vimy in April 1928. She served with distinction during World War II, earning two battle honours and damaging or sinking three enemy submarines. The Royal Navy retired her in 1945 and she was scrapped in 1948.
The Viola is a steam trawler built in 1906 at Hull. She is the oldest surviving steam trawler in the world. During her long career, she was known as HMTViola, Kapduen, and Dias. She is currently beached at Grytviken in South Georgia, though there are currently plans afoot to return her to Hull.
HMS Lady Shirley (T464), also known as HMT Lady Shirley, was a fishing trawler requisitioned by the Royal Navy in 1940 and converted for anti-submarine warfare duties. She sank U-111 on 4 October 1941, capturing 44 of her crew. Lady Shirley was sunk herself on 11 December 1941, by a single torpedo from U-374
HM Trawler Alvis was a British trawler that was taken up from trade and used by the Royal Navy during the Second World War. She was returned to the fishing industry at the end of hostilities in 1945.
HMS Alisma was a Flower-class corvette that served in the Royal Navy.
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