HMS Saumarez (G12)
History | |
---|---|
United Kingdom | |
Name | HMS Saumarez |
Namesake | James Saumarez, 1st Baron de Saumarez |
Ordered | January 1941 |
Builder | Hawthorn Leslie, Hebburn, Newcastle upon Tyne |
Launched | 20 November 1942 |
Commissioned | 1 July 1943 |
Identification | Pennant number: G12 |
Honours and awards |
|
Fate |
|
Badge | On a Field White, within a crescent Red a leopard's face black |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | S-class destroyer |
Displacement | 1,730 tons (standard) |
Length | 363 ft (111 m) |
Beam | 35 ft (11 m) |
Draught | 14 ft (4.3 m) |
Propulsion | |
Speed | 36.75 knots (68.06 km/h; 42.29 mph) |
Complement | 225 |
Armament |
|
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.
Arctic convoys
After working up, the Saumarez was allocated to the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla,
Battle of North Cape
On 22 December
Enigma intelligence alerted the Admiralty to the fact that Scharnhorst was being deployed, and early on 25 December allied ships were so informed. She was detected by the cruisers and after some hours trying to evade them and strike at the convoy, headed for home. The German vessel was intercepted and hit by Duke of York and a long chase followed. In the
Saumarez steamed to Murmansk on one engine and after temporary repairs by the Soviets left for the UK. Following a refit, completed in March 1944, she was again part of the escort of a pair of Arctic convoys, JW 58 and RA 58, both of which reached their destinations unscathed. The successful Fleet Air Arm attack on the German battleship Tirpitz, which took place on 3 April, was synchronised with the passage of JW 58.
Normandy
In
In September Saumarez was part of the escort of another Arctic convoy. She was refitted at
Far East
Early in January 1945, Saumarez left from the
She was part of the escorting destroyers of the
in a second, were diverted to intercept. The destroyers attacked both ships early on 16 May. Haguro, overwhelmed by their torpedoes, went to the bottom at 0209 in a position some forty-five miles southwest of Penang, although she had straddled Saumarez twice prior. Kamikaze was damaged but managed to escape.Post-war
Saumarez was refitted at Durban from June to August. Although Japan had formally surrendered on 2 September, the occupation of Western Malaya (Operation Zipper) was carried out almost as planned originally. Saumarez was one of the fifteen destroyers screening the operation. The 26th Destroyer Flotilla left the East Indies Headquarters at Colombo on 17 November and arrived in the UK early in December. Saumarez went to Plymouth for refit and preparation for service in the Mediterranean.
Early in March 1946 Saumarez sailed for the Mediterranean, for service in the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla. In June she intercepted a caïque carrying 382 illegal immigrants bound for Palestine and towed the caique to Haifa. A boarding party from Saumarez also arrested SS Hochelaga off Haifa on 31 July, carrying 500 immigrants.
Corfu Channel incident
On 26 September 1946, she sailed on a Mediterranean cruise with twenty-four other ships. Orders were given for a part of the 1st Cruiser Squadron to pass through the Corfu Strait, from south to north. On 22 October the Saumarez, preceded by the cruisers Mauritius and the New Zealand Leander, followed by the destroyer Volage, proceeded through the swept Medri channel. Saumarez struck a mine at 14:53, which caused severe damage and 30 deaths among her crew. Damage control parties led by the ship's second-in-command, Teddy Gueritz, helped to minimise the casualty numbers.[1][2] Volage closed her to take her in tow and after some difficulty, passed the tow and began to tow Saumarez stern first. Although his jaw had been broken by the explosion, Saumarez's signal officer, John Edmondson assisted in securing the tow.[3] At 16:06 however, a mine exploded near Volage, wrecking the ship forward. She was able to re-connect the tow to Saumarez, and the two destroyers, both stern-first, reached the Corfu Roads at 03:10 on 23 October.
Saumarez was then moved to Malta, where she remained until September 1950. In February 1948 approval to scrap Saumarez was given. On 23 August 1950 the hulk arrived at Gibraltar.[4] She was then towed back to the UK and broken up at Rosyth.
References
- ^ "Rear-Admiral Teddy Gueritz—D-Day beachmaster who cleared the way for 30,000 troops and endured 19 days under fire". The Daily Telegraph. 7 January 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
- ^ "Royal Navy casualties, killed and died, 1946". www.naval-history.net. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
- ^ "Commander the Rev Lord Sandford—Commander the Reverend 2nd Lord Sandford, who has died aged 88, had an impressive apprenticeship as a decorated naval officer and a Hertfordshire curate before becoming a Conservative whip and junior minister in the House of Lords". The Daily Telegraph. 9 February 2009. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
- ^ Critchley, p. 56
Publications
- ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
- Critchley, Mike (1982). British Warships Since 1945: Part 3: Destroyers. Liskeard, UK: Maritime Books. ISBN 0-9506323-9-2.
- Raven, Alan; Roberts, John (1978). War Built Destroyers O to Z Classes. London: Bivouac Books. ISBN 0-85680-010-4.
- Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War 2. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-326-1.