SCOTT-Class Destroyer Flotilla Leader ordered from Cammell Laird at Birkenhead
in the 1916-17 Build Programme in December 1916. The
ship was laid down on 30th June 1917 and was launched on 8th June 1918 as the lst
RN ship to carry the name, Her build was completed on 30th August 1918 and after
acceptance she served briefly during WW1. By 1921 this ship had been placed in Reserve
at Rosyth and she was brought forward in 1939 manned by
Reservists to attend the Royal Review of the Reserve Fleet at Weymouth and remained in
commission. Her allocated War Station was with the 13th Destroyer Flotilla at
Gibraltar. After a successful WARSHIP WEEK National Savings campaign in May 1942 she was
adopted by the civil community of the county of Dumfries in Scotland.
B a t t l e H o n o u r s
ATLANTIC 1940-42
- ARCTIC
1942
H e r a l d i c D a t a
Badge : On a Field White, a Heart Red framed and crowned Gold
M o t t o
Vente favente: ‘With favouring
wind.'
.... in 1943 (NavyPhotos)
D e t a
i l s o f W a r
S e r v i c e
1 9 3 9
August Commissioned
and took passage to Portland.
Attended Royal Review.
Passage
to Gibraltar to take up War Station
September Joined
13th Destroyer Flotilla and deployed for convoy defence and Contraband
Control
in Western
Mediterranean.
October Flotilla
duties at Gibraltar in continuation.
to
November
December
18th Joined outward Convoy HG11 as escort for
initial stage of passage to Liverpool
with HM
Sloop SANDWICH and two French Navy destroyers
19th Detached from HG11with escort and
returned to Gibraltar
1 9 4 0
January Deployed
with Flotilla at Gibraltar for Atlantic convoy escort and patrol
Flotilla
deployment in continuation
February
18th Deployed as escort for inward Convoy
OG15F during passage in Atlantic to
Gibraltar with HM
Sloop ABERDEEN.
22nd Detached from OG15F ob arrival at Gibraltar
March Gibraltar
Flotilla deployment in continuation.
to
April
May Gibraltar deployment with Flotilla in continuation
Pennant
Number for visual signalling purposes changed to I90
June Nominated for duty
with Force "H" as required after formation.
July Deployed for reconnaissance of French naval
activities at Oran after
French surrender.
(Note : This
deployment was made before the attempt to negotiate
the future role of the French warships at Oran.. For details
see
RELUCTANT ENEMIES by W Tute and
ENGAGE
THE ENEMY MORE
CLOSELY by C Barnett).
Transferred to Home Fleet and took
passage to Scapa Flow.
August Deployed at Scapa Flow for Fleet screening and patrol duties.
to November
December Escorted ships of 1st Minelaying
Squadron with HM Destroyer
BATH, ST
ALBANS and KEPPEL during
minelay in NW
Approaches with cover from Home Fleet
(Operation SN10A)
(For details of all minelaying
operations see Naval Staff History (Mining).
1 9 4 1
January Escorted ships of 1st
Minelaying Squadron with HM Destroyers
BEAGLE, KEPPEL and Free French
destroyer OURAGON for
minelaying
operations north and south of Faeroes covered by Home
Fleet ships (Operation SN6).
February Transferred to Western
Approaches Command for service with 2nd
to Escort
Group for Atlantic convoy escort with HM Destroyers
March VETERAN, LEAMINGTON, SKATE, SALADIN, HM Corvettes
ABELIA, ANEMONE and
VERONICA.
April; Part of escort for Convoy OB314 and detached
with HM Destroyers
LEAMINGTON and ROXBOROUGH to reinforce escort for
Convoy HX121 by HM Destroyers MAORI
and INGLEFIELD.
(Note :
HX121 was under attack by group of U-Boats.)
(For details of U-BOAT deployments
see U-BOAT WAR IN THE
ATLANTIC (HMSO) and for current
tactics and weapons used in
defence of
convoys THE BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC by D.
MacIntyre.)
28th Carried
out depth charge attacks which sank U65
(Note :
Credit for sinking of U 65 was originally credited to HM
Corvette GLADIOLUS
but subsequently to this ship.
(Note : See
U-BOATS DESTROYED by P Kemp and HITLER’S
U-BOAT WAR, Volume 1 by C Blair.)
May Atlantic convoy defence with Group in
continuation.
to August
September
10th Deployed in Iceland area.
11th Despatched
with HM Destroyers LEAMINGTON, VETERAN,
HM Corvettes GLADIOLUS, WETASKUIN (RCN), HM
Trawlers BUTTERMERE and WINDERMERE to
reinforce
escort of
Convoy SC42 which was under sustained and heavy
attacks by
U-Boat Group MARKGRAF.
(Note : The
Trawlers were Whalers requisition in 1939 for use as
minesweeping
escorts.)
Air cover was also provided by
CATALINA aircraft of
209 Squadron RAF
based in Iceland.)
Directed anti-submarine operations in
defence of SC42 with
ships of
Group during which U207 was sunk
(Note : This
sinking was not recognised until after the end of
WW2 and then credited to HMS
LEAMINGTON and
HMS VETERAN.
See HITLER’S U-BOAT WAR.) 1.)
October Deployed with Group for escort
of Convoys ONS25 and HX154.
November Atlantic convoy defence with Group
in continuation.
to December
1 9 4 2
January Escorted Convoy ON55 with US destroyer MAYO and sustained
damage when
these two ships collided in extreme weather
conditions.
See HITLER’S U-BOAT WAR.
Detached from ON55
and rook passage to Iceland for repair.
Nominated for
conversion to Short Range Escort. See V & W
DESTROYERS by A Preston and BRITISH DESTROYERS
by E March.
February Passage to UK for repair and refit
Taken in hand for
refit and conversion.
March Under refit.
to (Note
: Escorts were being fitted with Surface warning radar
April Type 271 by this period, Fit during refit to
be confirmed)
May On completion of post refit trials took
passage to Scapa Flow for
deployment
with Home Fleet.
June Nominated
for support of passage to Convoys PQ17 and QP13
during
passage in Arctic Ocean.
(For details of all Russian Convoy
operations see CONVOYS
TO RUSSIA by RA Ruegg, CONVOY ! by P Kemp. ARCTIC
CONVOYS by R Woodman, THE RUSSIAN
CONVOYS by
B Schoefield and Naval Staff History.)
Passage to Iceland to join Convoy PQ17.
27th Sailed
from Reykjavik with PQ17 as escort for RFA GREY
RANGER.
July
2nd Detached
from PQ17 with RFA GREY RANGER on completion
of fuelling
for escorts and took passage to join QP13 for fuelling.
4th Remained
with QP13 when PQ17 was scattered on orders from
Admiralty because of perceived threat
of attack by German
major
warships.
(For details see above references and
THE CONVOY IS TO
SCATTER by J
Broome.)
7th Detached
from QP13 on arrival in Icelandic waters.
8th Resumed
Atlantic convoy defence duties in Western Approaches
Command.
August Atlantic convoy
defence in continuation.
to
December
1 9 4 3
January Western Approached deployment
in continuation.
to
June
July Deployed with HM Canadian Destroyer IROQUOIS
and HM
Frigate MOYOLA for escort of military
convoy during Atlantic
passage to Gibraltar.
11th Under
attack 300 miles west of Portuguese coast by He177
aircraft
using radio controlled Glider Bomb Hs293 during which
troopships
DUCHESS OF YORK and CALIFORNIA were hit
and sunk
with PORT FAIRY damaged.
Took part in rescue
operations.
(Note : This
was first successful attack by German aircraft using
these
weapons and received little publicity. 694
passengers
were rescued and 57 perished.)
August Convoy escort in continuation.
to (Note
: A significant increase of military convoys took place in 1943
September due to the military operations in the
Mediterranean area.)
October Deployed for defence of UK – Gibraltar route convoys.
31st Shared
credit for sinking U732 with HM Trawler IMPERIALIST in
position
35.54N 05.53W west of Gibraltar. Rescued eight survivors.
(Note : This
submarine had been attacked by HMS IMPERIALIST
and forced
to submerge. After resurfacing U752 was
detected on
radar by an aircraft and abandoned. See
HITLER’S U-BOAT WAR and U-BOATS
DESTROYED,)
November Convoy defence in continuation.
to December
1 9 4 4
January Deployed in Home waters for
convoy defence
to (Note
: This ship was not deployed for escort of assault or build-up
December convoys during allied landings in Normandy. See
LANDINGS IN NORMANDY. June 1944 (HMSO).
1 9 4 5
January Home waters deployment in
continuation.
February Withdrawn from operational
service, Paid-off and reduced to
Reserve status.
March Placed on Disposal List
20th Sold to BISCO for demolition. by
T W Ward.
P o s t W a r
N o t e s
HMS DOUGLAS was taken in tow
to the breaker’s yard at Inverkeithing near Rosyth and arrived in May 1945. This WW1 built
destroyer had a particularly active service until 1943 and received little publicity. Her primary
contribution was the safe and timely arrival of convoys with the 2nd Escort
Group.
Addendum
CONVOY ESCORT MOVEMENTS of
HMS
DOUGLAS
by Don Kindell
Date convoy
Joined convoy
Convoy
No. Left convoy Date convoy
Sailed as escort arrived
02/09/39 02/09/39 AB 001/1 unknown unknown
07/09/39 07/09/39 GREEN 1 10/09/39 18/09/39
07/09/39 07/09/39 AB 002/1 unknown unknown
05/10/39 05/10/39 HG 002 unknown 13/10/39
29/10/39 29/10/39 HG 005 unknown 06/11/39
16/12/39 16/12/39 HG 011 19/12/39 24/12/39
18/01/40 18/01/40 OG 015F 22/01/40 23/01/40
25/02/40 unknown OG
019 29/02/40 29/02/40
05/03/40 09/03/40 OG 021F 11/03/40 11/03/40
25/03/40 unknown OG
023 31/03/40 31/03/40
02/04/40 02/04/40 HG 025F 05/04/40 11/04/40
13/04/40 13/04/40 HG 026 unknown 23/04/40
29/05/40 31/05/40 OG 031 03/06/40 04/06/40
05/06/40 05/06/40 HG 033F 06/06/40 14/06/40
02/06/40 06/06/40 OG 032F 07/06/40 07/06/40
08/06/40 08/06/40 HG 033 10/06/40 18/06/40
05/06/40 10/06/40 OG 032 11/06/40 10/06/40
13/06/40 13/06/40 HG 034F 13/06/40 19/06/40
09/06/40 13/06/40 OG 033F 14/06/40 14/06/40
28/06/40 28/06/40 HG 036 02/07/40 08/07/40
07/10/40 07/10/40 WS 003B 12/10/40 28/10/40
20/02/41 20/02/41 OB 289 24/02/41 24/02/41
13/02/41 26/02/41 HX 109 02/03/41 04/03/41
17/03/41 18/03/41 OG 056 21/03/41 02/04/41
01/03/41 22/03/41 SL 067 24/03/41 26/03/41
02/04/41 03/04/41 OB 305 06/04/41 06/04/41
24/03/41 06/04/41 HG 057 09/04/41 11/04/41
23/04/41 24/04/41 OB 314 28/04/41 30/04/41
16/04/41 28/04/41 HX 121 30/04/41 03/05/41
26/06/41 07/07/41 HX 135 11/07/41 12/07/41
17/07/41 17/07/41 OB 348 22/07/41 31/07/41
12/07/41 24/07/41 SC 037 27/07/41 28/07/41
31/07/41 01/08/41 ON 003 05/08/41 14/08/41
27/07/41 06/08/41 HX 141 09/08/41 11/08/41
16/08/41 18/08/41 ON 008 21/08/41 25/08/41
10/08/41 22/08/41 SC 040 29/08/41 29/08/41
05/09/41 06/09/41 ON 013 09/09/41 11/09/41
30/08/41 11/09/41 SC 042 20/09/41 20/09/41
10/10/41 10/10/41 ON 025 16/10/41 24/10/41
10/10/41 19/10/41 HX 154 22/10/41 23/10/41
01/11/41 02/11/41 ON 032 06/11/41 16/11/41
28/10/41 09/11/41 HX 157 12/11/41 13/11/41
21/11/41 22/11/41 ON 039 27/11/41 04/12/41
21/11/41 03/12/41 HX 161 06/12/41 06/12/41
13/12/41 15/12/41 ON 046 18/12/41 21/12/41
10/12/41 21/12/41 SC 059 25/12/41 27/12/41
08/01/42 08/01/42 ON 055 15/01/42 26/01/42
08/06/42 08/06/42 SL 111F 13/06/42 13/06/42
24/05/42 unknown SL
111 13/06/42 16/06/42
26/06/42 02/07/42 QP 013 07/07/42 07/07/42
15/03/43 15/03/43 KMF 011 23/03/43 23/03/43
25/03/43 26/03/43 MKF 011 01/04/43 05/04/43
05/04/43 05/04/43 MKF 011A 12/04/43 12/04/43
19/07/43 25/07/43 KMF 020 27/07/43 28/07/43
13/08/43 15/08/43 CF 013A 22/08/43 24/08/43
03/09/43 03/09/43 SL 136 06/09/43 14/09/43
26/09/43 04/10/43 CF 014 10/10/43 10/10/43
14/10/43 14/10/43 SR 006/1 21/10/43 21/10/43
14/12/43 14/12/43 SR 008 21/12/43 21/12/43
26/12/43 26/12/43 RS 013 02/01/44 02/01/44
20/01/44 20/01/44 STL 010 24/01/44 24/01/44
11/02/44 11/02/44 TS 057 15/02/44 15/02/44
03/03/44 03/03/44 SR 011 14/03/44 14/03/44
08/04/44 11/04/44 MKF 029B unknown 17/04/44
(Note on Convoys)
