HMS Whitehall
HMS Whitehall underway in coastal waters during the Second World War sometime after her pennant number was changed from D94 to I94 in May 1940.
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History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Name | HMS Whitehall |
Namesake | Whitehall |
Ordered | January 1918[1][2] |
Builder | Swan Hunter, Wallsend, Newcastle upon Tyne, and Chatham Dockyard[1] |
Laid down | June 1918[1] |
Launched | 11 September 1919[1] |
Completed | July 1924[1] |
Commissioned | 9 July 1924[2] |
Decommissioned | 1920s/1930s[1] |
Recommissioned | August 1939[1] |
Decommissioned | May 1945[1] |
Motto | Nisi Dominici frustra ("Without my Lords [of the Admiralty] in vain")[1] |
Honours and awards |
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Fate | Sold for scrapping October 1945[1][2][3][4] |
Badge | A gold fouled anchor on an escutcheon held by a silver winged seahorse, all on a blue field[1] |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Admiralty Modified W-class destroyer |
Displacement | 1,140 tons standard, 1,550 tons full |
Length | |
Beam | 29 ft 6 in (8.99 m) |
Draught | 9 ft (2.7 m), 11 ft 3 in (3.43 m) under full load |
Propulsion | steam turbines , 2 shafts, 27,000 shp |
Speed | 34 kn (63 km/h) |
Range | |
Complement | 127 |
Sensors and processing systems |
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Armament |
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HMS Whitehall, pennant number D94, later I94, was a Modified W-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in the Second World War.
Construction and commissioning
Whitehall, the first Royal Navy ship of the name, was ordered in January 1918
Service history
Before the Second World War
After entering service with the fleet in 1924, Whitehall saw limited operational use before being
In August 1939, Whitehall was recommissioned with a reserve crew for the
Second World War
1939
After the United Kingdom entered the Second World War on 3 September 1939, Whitehall took aboard stores and her wartime complement and proceeded to Rosyth for her assignment with the 15th Destroyer Flotilla. Upon arrival, she took up convoy escort and patrol duties in the
1940
In January 1940, Whitehall proceeded to Gibraltar where on 21 January she set out for the United Kingdom as the escort for Liverpool-bound Convoy HG 16F along with Vanoc and the destroyer Active, reinforced the following day by the sloop Aberdeen. The three destroyers detached from the convoy on 28 January and returned to base in the United Kingdom. On 23 March, Whitehall joined the destroyers Wakeful and Winchelsea in relieving two French warships in the Southwestern Approaches as the escort of the Gibraltar-to-Liverpool Convoy HG 23F, remaining with the convoy until its arrival at Liverpool on 26 March. On 5 May 1940, Whitehall, the sloop Rochester, and two French warships joined Convoy OG 28 as it formed in the Southwestern Approaches for its passage to Gibraltar; she and Rochester detached from the convoy later in the day to return to base. Whitehall's pennant number was changed to I94 during May 1940.[1]
The highly successful
After Dynamo, Whitehall was under repair at
Whitehall continued on convoy escort duty in the North Atlantic for the rest of 1940 without major incident.[1]
1941
After spending the first half of 1941 on North Atlantic convoy duty without any significant incidents, Whitehall was selected in June 1941 to carry out trials of a new weapon, the
After completion of the antisubmarine mortar trials, Whitehall returned to North Atlantic convoy duty. On 2 August 1941, she deployed with Winchelsea, Witch, the heavy cruiser London, the destroyers Broadway, Gurkha, Lance, and Legion, the Polish Navy destroyer ORP Piorun, and the Royal Netherlands Navy destroyer HNLMS Isaac Sweers from the River Clyde in Scotland as escort for Convoy WS 9C, all but London detaching from the convoy on 5 August to return to the Clyde. On 9 August she escorted the military convoy WS 8C from the Clyde to Scapa Flow as part of the build-up for a planned occupation of the Azores that later was cancelled, returning to the Clyde on 10 August. She joined Witch and the Royal Netherlands Navy light cruiser HNLMS Jacob van Heemskerck in escorting Convoy WS 10X from Liverpool to the Clyde on 15 August 1941.[1]
From 17 to 24 September 1941, Whitehall, Witch, Isaac Sweers, Piorun, the destroyers
1942
Whitehall remained on North Atlantic convoy duty until February 1942, when she was transferred to the
In April 1942, Whitehall returned to the United Kingdom to rejoin her escort group, and was selected for conversion into a Long-Range Escort. In May 1942, she entered the
During 1942, Whitehall was "adopted" by the civil community of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, in a Warship Week national savings campaign.[1]
1943
Atlantic Convoys
Whitehall continued on Atlantic convoy duty without major incident until April 1943, when she joined Hesperus, Vanessa, corvettes of her escort group, and the 5th Support Group – consisting of the
In October 1943, Whitehall participated in
Arctic Convoys
In November 1943, Whitehall was reassigned to the escort of
1944
Although German submarines of Wolfpack Eisenbart detected Convoy RA 55B and attacked it in early January 1944, all of their attacks were ineffective, and Whitehall and her fellow escorts delivered the convoy's eight merchant ships to Loch Ewe without loss on 8 January 1944.[1]
On 22 January 1944, Whitehall, Oxlip, the destroyer Westcott, the sloop Cygnet, and the minesweeper Seagull departed Loch Ewe escorting Convoy JW 56B to the Soviet Union. Six German submarines of Wolfpack Werewolf attacked on 30 January, sinking the destroyer Hardy but failing to press home attacks against the convoy's merchant ships, and in response Whitehall and the destroyer Meteor depth-charged and sank the German submarine U-314 that day in the Barents Sea southeast of Bear Island at 73°41′00″N 024°30′00″E / 73.68333°N 24.50000°E with the loss of her entire crew of 49. Whitehall detached from the convoy upon arrival at the Kola Inlet on 1 February 1944. On 3 February 1944, she departed the Kola Inlet with Cygnet, Hussar, Oxlip, Rhododendron, and Westcott, the corvettes Dianella and Poppy, and the minesweepers Halcyon and Speedwell as the escort for Convoy RA 56, which made an uneventful passage to Loch Ewe, arriving on 11 February 1944.[1][2][13]
After arriving at Loch Ewe, Whitehall was reassigned to North Atlantic convoy defence, but in March 1944 she once again was selected for Arctic convoy work. On 27 March 1944, she joined Honeysuckle, Westcott, Wrestler, and the corvettes Bluebell and Lotus as the escort for Convoy JW 58, departing Loch Ewe that day. The escort later was reinforced by two escort aircraft carriers, the light cruiser Diadem, and destroyers of the Home Fleet, and aircraft from the escort carrier Tracker and surface ships combined to sink four German submarines after they began attempts to attack the convoy on 29 March. JW 58 arrived at the Kola Inlet on 4 April 1944. On 7 April, Whitehall departed the Kola Inlet with Inconstant, Westcott, Wrestler, the escort aircraft carrier Activity, and the destroyers Beagle, Boadicea, Keppel, Venus, and Walker as the escort of Convoy RA 58, detaching at sea on 12 April before the convoy arrived at Loch Ewe.[1]
On 20 April 1944, Whitehall got underway for the Kola Inlet to take aboard Soviet Navy personnel slated to man warships in the United Kingdom scheduled for transfer to the Soviet Union and to escort empty Allied ships to the United Kingdom. During the passage, she was part of a force of 15 destroyers and Royal Canadian Navy frigates screening Activity, Diadem, and the escort aircraft carrier Fencer. The ships arrived at the Kola Inlet on 23 April, and Whitehall embarked 14 passengers before the force got underway again as the escort for Convoy RA 59 on 28 April. On 3 May, Whitehall, Boadicea, Diadem, Fencer, Walker, and the destroyers Ulysses, Verulam, and Virago detached from the force and proceeded independently to the United Kingdom.[1]
Upon arrival in the United Kingdom, Whitehall was reassigned to North Atlantic convoy duty, but later in May 1944 was selected to participate in
Upon her release from Neptune, Whitehall was assigned to another tour escorting Arctic convoys. On 15 August 1944, she departed the United Kingdom as part of the close escort for
From 15 to 23 September 1944, Whitehall, Cygnet, Keppel, the destroyer Bulldog, and the corvettes Allington Castle and Bamborough Castle escorted Convoy JW 60 from the United Kingdom to the Kola Inlet without interference by German forces. The same ships escorted Convoy RA 60 on its voyage from the Kola Inlet to Loch Ewe between 28 September and 5 October 1944, losing two merchant ships to German submarine attack on 29 September.[1]
Whitehall was transferred to North Atlantic convoy defence operations on 7 October 1944. She carried out these duties through the end of 1944 and into early 1945 without major incident.[1]
1945
After beginning 1945 on North Atlantic convoy duty, Whitehall was selected later in January 1945 to return to the Arctic convoy run. On 2 February 1945, she got underway from the Clyde with Bamborough Castle, Bluebell, Cygnet, Rhododendron, the sloop Lark, and the corvette Alnwick Castle as the close escort for Convoy JW 64. She and Lark repelled a torpedo attack by German aircraft on 10 February, and the convoy arrived at the Kola Inlet on 15 February. On 16 February, Whitehall took part in antisubmarine operations off the Kola Inlet to clear the way for the next departing convoy, Convoy RA 64, then joined the same ships that had escorted JW 64 to escort RA 64 to the United Kingdom. The convoy departed the Kola Inlet on 17 February, and that morning a German acoustic torpedo badly damaged Lark and forced her to return under tow to the Kola Inlet, but the other ships pressed on for the United Kingdom. Whitehall was forced to leave the convoy on 21 February because of boiler problems and proceed independently.[1][15]
After the completion of repairs in March 1945, Whitehall was assigned to escort duty in the waters around
Decommissioning and disposal
Whitehall was decommissioned and placed in reserve in May 1945,[1] and by July 1945 she no longer appeared on the Royal Navy's active list.[2] Placed on the disposal list after the 15 August 1945 surrender of Japan, she was sold in October 1945 to the British Iron & Steel Corporation (BISCO), which allocated her for scrapping to Thos. W. Ward.[1][3] She arrived at Ward's yard at Barrow-in-Furness on 27 October 1945.[1][4]
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j uboat.net HMS Whitehall (D 94)
- ^ ISBN 0-87021-652-X, p. 380, claims that the ship arrived at the shipbreaker's yard on 25 July 1945.
- ISBN 0-905617-64-9, p. 32.
- ISBN 0-7146-5120-6, pp. 90-91.
- ^ convoyweb.org.uk Convoy HX.79
- ^ British Destroyers & Frigates: The Second World War and After, Norman Friedman, P138
- ^ Caption of Imperial War Museum ADMIRALTY OFFICIAL COLLECTION Catalogue No. A 4667
- ISBN 0-87249-984-7, pp. 53-54.
- ISBN 0-87249-984-7, p. 114.
- ^ uboat.net U-306
- ^ uboat.net U-314
- ^ uboat.net U-394
- ^ uboat.net HMS Lark (U 11)
Bibliography
- Campbell, John (1985). Naval Weapons of World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-459-4.
- Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
- ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
- Cocker, Maurice. Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893–1981. Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1075-7.
- Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-081-8.
- Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
- ISBN 1-55750-048-7.
- March, Edgar J. (1966). British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892–1953; Drawn by Admiralty Permission From Official Records & Returns, Ships' Covers & Building Plans. London: Seeley Service. OCLC 164893555.
- Preston, Antony (1971). 'V & W' Class Destroyers 1917–1945. London: Macdonald. OCLC 464542895.
- Raven, Alan & Roberts, John (1979). 'V' and 'W' Class Destroyers. Man o'War. Vol. 2. London: Arms & Armour. ISBN 0-85368-233-X.
- Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
- Whinney, Bob (2000). The U-boat Peril: A Fight for Survival. Cassell. ISBN 0-304-35132-6.
- Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War 2. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-326-1.
- Winser, John de D. (1999). B.E.F. Ships Before, At and After Dunkirk. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-91-6.