HMS Witch (D89)
History | |
---|---|
United Kingdom | |
Name | HMS Witch |
Ordered | January 1918[1] |
Builder |
|
Laid down | 13 June 1918[1] |
Launched | 11 November 1919[1] |
Completed | March 1924[1] |
Commissioned | March 1924[2] |
Decommissioned | 1920s[1] |
Recommissioned | 1939[1] |
Decommissioned | soon after 15 August 1945[1] |
Motto | I'll do and I'll do[1] |
Honours and awards |
|
Fate | Sold for scrapping 12 July 1946[1] |
Badge | A black cat affronte cantant before a silver crescent moon on a blue field[1] |
General characteristics | |
Displacement | 1,140 tons standard, 1,550 tons full |
Length | 300 ft o/a, 312 ft p/p |
Beam | 30 ft |
Draught | 10 ft 11 in |
Propulsion | 3 Yarrow type Water-tube boilers, Brown-Curtis steam turbines, 2 shafts, 27,000 shp |
Speed |
|
Range |
|
Complement | 134 |
Sensors and processing systems | Type 271 surface warning radar fitted 1942 |
Armament |
|
Notes | Pennant number D89 |
HMS Witch (D89) was a
.Construction and commissioning
Witch, the first Royal Navy ship of the name, was ordered in January 1918 as part of the 13th Order of the 1918–1919 Naval Programme, and was
Service history
Interwar
Upon completion, Witch was
In 1939, Witch was recommissioned for the
World War II
1939-1940
Witch remained in commission after the United Kingdom entered
On 8 April 1940, Witch, the destroyers
1941
In August 1941, Witch was transferred to the
From 17 to 26 September 1941, Witch, Whitehall, Issac Sweers, Piorun, the destroyers
Witch repeated this pattern as 1941 wore on. From 1 to 4 October 1941 she formed part of the local escort of Convoy WS 12 during its passage through the Western Approaches along with Cairo, Blankney, Whitehall, the destroyers Badsworth, Bradford, Brighton, Lancaster, Newark, Stanley, and Verity, and the Royal Canadian Navy destroyers Assiniboine and Saguenay, returning to the Clyde with those ships after detaching from the convoy. From 13 to 16 November 1941, Witch, Badsworth, Verity, Whitehall, and the destroyers Exmoor, Maori, and Vanquisher were the local escort for Convoy WS 12Z as it transited the Western Approaches, the ships returning to the Clyde after detaching from the convoy. From 13 to 15 December 1941, Witch, Badsworth, Vanquisher and the destroyers Beaufort and Volunteer provided the local escort for Convoy WS 14 in the Western Approaches, as usual returning to the Clyde upon completion of this duty.[1]
1942-1945
Witch continued her convoy escort duties in the North Atlantic into 1942 and was "adopted" by the civil community of
In early February 1943, Witch was part of the escort of
Later in February 1943, the Royal Navy selected Witch for transfer to Freetown, Sierra Leone, for service with local escort forces there. Accordingly, she and the destroyer leader Malcolm, and the destroyers Quadrant and Wolverine escorted Convoy WS 28 from 16 to 27 March 1943 during its voyage from the United Kingdom to Freetown, detaching on the latter date when the convoy arrived there and remaining there in her new role.[1] In April 1943, she and Wolverine rescued 53 survivors of the British merchant ship Empire Whimbrel, which the German submarine U-181 had sunk on 11 April 1943 420 nautical miles (778 km) southwest of Freetown at position 02°31′00″N 015°55′00″W / 2.51667°N 15.91667°W.[2] From 26 to 28 April 1943, she joined Malcolm and Wolverine in serving as local escort for Convoy WS 29 during the final leg of its voyage to Freetown. Witch, Malcolm, Wolverine, and the destroyers Boreas and Rapid departed Freetown on 6 May 1943 as local escort for Convoy WS 29, detaching on 8 May 1943 to return to Freetown, and on 3 June 1943 Witch, Rapid, Wolverine, and the destroyer Boadicea departed Freetown as the local escort for Convoy WS 30, remaining with it until 9 June 1943, when Quadrant, the destroyer Redoubt, and the Royal Australian Navy destroyer Norman relieved them and they detached to return to Freetown. From 10 to 12 July 1943, Witch and the corvette Armeria escorted Convoy WS 31 during a leg of its voyage from Freetown to the Cape of Good Hope, detaching to return to Freetown when relieved by Rapid.[1]
Witch continued her duties at Freetown through December 1943, when she was selected for transfer to convoy escort duties in the North Sea. During the early months of 1944, she steamed back to the United Kingdom, and by May 1944 she had begun operations in the North Sea, which she continued – taking no part in operations related to the Allied
Decommissioning and disposal
Selected for reduction to reserve status during the summer of 1945, Witch was decommissioned and placed in reserve after the 15 August 1945 armistice with Japan. She was sold to BISCO on 12 July 1946 for scrapping by G. Brunton, and later was scrapped in Scotland at Granton on the River Forth.[1]
Notes
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.