HMS Walker (D27)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

HMS Walker underway in choppy conditions
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Walker
Ordered9 December 1916[2]
BuilderWilliam Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton[2]
Laid down26 March 1917[2]
Launched29 November 1917[2]
Completed12 February 1918[2]
Commissioned12 February 1918[3]
Decommissioned1932
Identification
RecommissionedAugust 1939 [2]
Decommissioned1945[2]
MottoReady and faithful[2]
Honours and
awards
FateSold 15 March 1946 for scrapping[1]
BadgeA
stag's head proper issuant from an Eastern Crown on a blue field[2]
General characteristics
Class and typeAdmiralty W-class destroyer
Displacement1,100 tons
Length300 ft (91 m) o/a, 312 ft (95 m) p/p
Beam26 ft 9 in (8.15 m)
Draught9 ft (2.7 m) standard, 11 ft 3 in (3.43 m) in deep
Propulsion
  • 3 Yarrow type Water-tube boilers
  • Brown-Curtis steam turbines
  • 2 shafts
  • 27,000 shp (20 MW)
Speed34 knots (63 km/h)
Range320-370 tons oil, 3,500 nmi (6,500 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h), 900 nmi (1,700 km) at 32 knots (59 km/h)
Complement110
Armament
  • 4 ×
    QF 4-inch (102 mm) Mk.V guns
    , mount P Mk.I
  • 2 ×
    QF 2-pounder Mk.II "pom-pom" (40 mm L/39)
    or;
    • 1 ×
      QF 3 inch 20 cwt
      (76 mm), mount HA Mk.II
  • 6 (2x3) tubes for
    21-inch (533 mm) torpedoes

HMS Walker (D27) was a W-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in the final months of World War I, in the Russian Civil War and in World War II.

Construction and commissioning

Walker was ordered on 9 December 1916;

launched on 29 November,[2] completed on 12 February 1918[2] – fitted to lay mines[2] and commissioned on the same day.[3] She was assigned the pennant number G22 in January 1918;[1] it was changed to G09 in April 1918,[1] and to D27 during the interwar period.[2]

Service history

World War I

All of the V- and W-class destroyers, Walker among them, were assigned to the

armistice with Germany
on 11 November 1918.

Interwar

Walker took part in the

decommissioned in 1932, transferred to the Reserve Fleet, and placed in reserve at Rosyth, Scotland.[2]

In August 1939, Walker was recommissioned with a reserve crew to participate in the

King George VI. She remained in commission after the review as the fleet mobilised in the face of rising tensions between the United Kingdom and Nazi Germany; proceeding to Plymouth to prepare for wartime service.[2]

World War II

1939

When the United Kingdom entered World War II in early September 1939, Walker was assigned to the

Convoy OB 2. While returning to Plymouth after detaching from the convoy, Walker and Vanquisher collided,[2] killing 14 men[4] about 200 nautical miles (370 km) southwest of Cape Clear Island, Ireland,[3] on 10[2] or 11[5] September 1939 (sources differ) with both ships suffering serious damage. Walker's First Lieutenant was compelled to shoot some of the injured who were trapped in the wreckage.[6] She was able to proceed under her own power, but Vanquisher required a tow, so Walker embarked injured personnel from Vanquisher, proceeded to Plymouth and entered Devonport Dockyard for repairs on 14 September 1939.[2] Her repairs were not complete until mid-November, when she rejoined her flotilla, while Vanquisher was not fully repaired until early January 1940.[2][3]

1940

On 11 January 1940, Walker rescued 32 survivors of the British

Convoy HG 23 on the final leg of her voyage from Gibraltar to Liverpool, where she arrived on 30 March 1940.[2]

Norway

On 8 April 1940, Walker was transferred to the

Andalsnes and Molde, where she ferried troops from shore to the light cruiser Sheffield and destroyer Westcott for passage to the United Kingdom. On 1 May 1940, she covered the final evacuation from Andalsnes, also under heavy German air attack.[2]

During May 1940, Walker's pennant number was changed to I27. On 28 May, she and the destroyers Beagle, Fame, and Havelock deployed in Norway's Rombaksfjord to provide gunfire support during an Allied ground operation to capture Narvik. As the Norwegian Campaign ended in an Allied failure to halt the German conquest of that country, Walker became the last Allied ship to leave the Narvik area as she escorted the final Allied evacuation convoy from Norway, departing Harstad on 8 June 1940.[2]

Walker made an unsuccessful counterattack against the German submarine

acceptance trials and returned to convoy escort duties in the Western Approaches.[2]

1941

On 5 February 1941, Walker became part of the

Convoy OB 293
, was a major early blow to the German submarine force.

Walker remained on convoy escort duty in the Western Approaches for the remainder of 1941 and into 1942.[2]

1942

From 12 to 15 January 1942, Walker joined Vanoc, Volunteer, and the destroyer

Convoy WS 16 – 21 troopships headed for Suez and Bombay – in the Clyde to serve along with Witherington, the destroyer Verity, and a large Home Fleet force consisting of the battleship Malaya, the aircraft carriers Eagle and Formidable, the light cruiser Hermione, and the destroyers Active, Anthony, Blankney, Croome, Duncan, Firedrake, Laforey, and Lightning, as escort. On 21 February, the Home Fleet force detached to proceed independently to Gibraltar, but Walker, Verity and Witherington remained with WS 16 until 22 February, when the light cruiser Newcastle and destroyer Paladin relieved them as escort and they detached.[2]

Walker remained on convoy duty in the Western Approaches for the rest of 1942. Near the end of the year, the Royal Navy selected her for conversion into a Long-Range Escort.[2]

1943

Walker was taken into dockyard hands on the River Thames in January 1943 for her conversion. Upon completion, she underwent post-conversion acceptance trials in May and having passed them, spent June in work-ups in preparation for her return to combat service. In July 1943, she was assigned to the 4th Escort Group for convoy defence duties in the Northwestern Approaches and North Atlantic, which she continued until the end of the year.[2]

1944

In January 1944, Walker was transferred to the Home Fleet to escort

Convoy RA 57, which came under attack by German submarines on 4 March and arrived at Loch Ewe, Scotland, on 10 March 1944.[2]

On 29 March 1944, Walker joined Beagle, Boadicea, Keppel, and the sloops of the 2nd Escort Group –

Convoy RA 59 on its voyage to the United Kingdom. After experiencing very bad weather and two days of German submarine attacks, she detached from RA 59 on 3 May 1944.[2]

Selected for participation in

Convoy E2B2Z – 32 troop transports carrying United States Army troops and equipment to reinforce the beachhead – on 4 June 1944. The convoy arrived at the invasion beaches on 8 June, two days after the initial assault. On 10 June, Walker began escorting convoys to the beachhead during the initial build-up period in Normandy.[2]

Released from supporting the beachhead later in June, Walker returned to escort work in the North Atlantic. She continued this until October, when she was reassigned to the 8th Escort Group for another tour of duty escorting Arctic convoys. On 20 October, she joined the sloops

Convoy JW 63 during its voyage to the Soviet Union.[2]

1945

Convoy JW 63 arrived at the Kola Inlet on 8 January 1945 after an uneventful passage from the United Kingdom. From 11 to 23 January, Walker, Keppel, and Westcott provided the close escort for

Convoy RA 63 during its voyage from the Kola Inlet to the Clyde, a passage made in very bad weather that allowed only slow progress.[2]

Walker returned to Atlantic convoy duty in February 1945. In March, she was assigned to

German surrender in early May.[2]

Decommissioning and disposal

Walker did not deploy operationally after Germany's capitulation; the Royal Navy soon decommissioned her and placed her in reserve. She was sold on 15 March 1946 for scrap[2][1] and was disposed of at Troon in Scotland.[2]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g SHIPS OF THE ROYAL NAVY, 1914-1919 - in ALPHABETICAL ORDER (Part 2 of 2)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap HMS WALKER (D 27) - V & W-class Destroyer
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h uboat.net HMS Walker (D 27)
  4. ISBN 9780563534297
  5. ^ HMS VANQUISHER (D 54) - V & W-class Destroyer
  6. ^ Williams p. 46
  7. ^ a b uboat.net U-99

Bibliography

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=HMS_Walker_(D27)&oldid=1193751192"