H .
M. S . S A L A D I N ( H 5 4 )
"S" class
Destroyer ordered from Alex. Stephen at Govan on 9th
April 1917 with the Emergency 1917-18 Programme
(12th Order), The ship was laid down on
10th September 1917 and launched on 17th February
as the first RN ship to carry this name. Build was completed on11th April 1918 and the
ship joined the
Grand Fleet for service before the end of hostilities. After the end of WW1 she was
laid-up in Reserve and
did not re-commission for Fleet duties. In 1939 she was brought
forward and manned by Fleet Reserve personnel to attend the Review of the
Reserve Fleet by HM King George V during August 1939. After a successful
National Savings campaign during a WARSHIP WEEK in
March 1942 this destroyer was adopted by the civil community of Pudsey in the West Riding of Yorkshire.
B a t t
l e H o n o u r s
DUNKIRK 1940 -
ATLANTIC 1940-44 -
ARCTIC 1942-43 -
ENGLISH CHANNEL 1944
H e r a l d i
c D a t a
Badge : On a Field Blue an eagle wings
elevated grasping with
the dextter claw a
scimitar also Gold.
D e t a i
l s o f W a r
S e r v i c e
1 9 3 9
August Brought forward from Reserve
for Royal Review in Weymouth Bay.
Remained in
commission when Fleet mobilised for war and stored for operational service
September Nominated for convoy defence and
took up War Station in English Channel.
Deployed for defence of convoys in Channel and SW Approaches.
October Deployed in Channel and
western approaches in continuation
to
December
1 9 4 0
January Western Approaches Command
service in continuation
to (Note
: CinC Western Approaches was based at Plymouth until moved to Liverpool
April at
the end of this period. See Naval Staff History and ENGAGE THE ENEMY
MORE CLOSELY by Corelli Barnett.)
May Transferred to Dover
Command for duty in support of evacuation of allied personnel from
(Operation
DYNAMO.)
Passage to Dover.
26th Deployed at Dover for evacuation of troops from Dunkirk and under heavy and sustained
air attacks on passage to and from area as well as whilst
embarking passengers to ports
in Kent.
(For details see
Naval Staff History, EVACUATION OPERATIONS by J de Winser
and
NINE DAYS OF DUNKIRK by AD Divine.)
30th Sustained damage during air attacks.
June Under
repair.
10th On completion of repair took part in evacuation of allied
personnel including civilians from
Le Havre and St Valerie (Operation CYCLE
- see above references).
13th On release from, CYCLE resumed convoy
defence in Western Approaches Command.
July Deployed for convoy
defence.
Nominated for support of planned landings by Commando unit on Guernsey.
12th Joined HM Destroyer SCIMITAR and embarked troops on No 3
Commando at Dartmouth.
Passage to Guernsey.
Operation failed
and returned to Dartmouth to disembark troops.
15th Resumed convoy defence duties.
August Transferred to Clyde
Nominated for escort of military convoy from Scapa Flow to Clyde.
Passage to Scapa Flow.
15th Escorted Convoy WS8C from Scapa Flow with HM Destroyers
ANTELOPE,
CASTLETON, CHARLESTOWN, DOUGLAS, GEORGETOWN, INTREPID
and LEAMINGTON.
(Note : This convoy had been assembled at Scapa Flow as part of a planned operation
to
occupy the Azores, but had been cancelled.)
17th Detached from WS8C escort on arrival in Clyde and resumed Atlantic convoy
defence.
September Nominated for refit.
October Under
refit during which Sonar equipment was modified to improve performance.
to
December
1 9 4 1
January Under refit
February On completion of post refit
trials rejoined Western Approaches Command.
March Deployed for Atlantic convoy
defence in NW Approaches.
to
August
September Transferred to Iceland for service with 2nd Escort
Group and deployed for convoy
defence in mid-Atlantic.
Joined escort
for Convoy SC42 with HM Destroyers DOUGLAS, VETERAN, SKATE
and LEAMINGTON to reinforce defence.
See HITLER'S
U-BOAT WAR by C Blair and U-BOAT WAR IN THE ATLANTIC (HMSO)
for details.
October NW Approaches convoy defence
in continuation.
to For
details of Atlantic convoys in this period see ALLIED CONVOYS IN WW2 by A Hague.
December
1 9 4 2
January Atlantic
convoy defence in continuation.
to
February
March Nominated for escort of
Russian convoys during passage in NW Approaches.
11th Deployed with HM Destroyers SABRE, LAMERTON and Polish ORP
BLYSKAWICA for escort
of Russian Convoy PQ13 during passage to Iceland.
17th Detached from PQ13 on arrival in Iceland and resumed
Atlantic convoy defence.
(Note : For details of all Russian Convoy operations
including mercantiles and warships see
CONVOYS TO RUSSIA by RA Ruegg,
THE RUSSIAN CONVOYS by B Schoefield
and ARCTIC CONVOYS by P Kemp.)
April Nominated for escort of
minelayers during planned operations.
18th Joined escort of ships of 1st Minelaying Squadron for planned
minelay in Northern Barrage.
(Operation SN88
-See Naval Staff History (Mining)
May Deployed
for convoy defence in NW Approaches.
June
1st Part of escort for 1st Minelaying
Squadron during further Northern Barrage minelay.
(Operation SN72
- See above reference.)
July
11th Part of escort for ships of 1st Minelaying Squadron during
further Northern Barrage minelay,
(Operation SN30
- See above reference.)
August Atlantic
convoy defence in NW Approaches.
to
December
1 9 4 3
January Joined 21st Escort Group for
escort of convoys between UK and Iceland.
February Convoy defence with Group in
continuation.
to
June
July Deployed in Iceland for anti-submarine operations
against U-Boat Groups operating in
mid Atlantic. (Operation ROSEGARDEN - See
HITLER'S U-BOAT WAR by C Blair.
This operation
included air support from RAF Coastal Command.)
(Note : Following extent of repair due to weather damage in
this Class of destroyer
during Atlantic operations arrangements to be made for
withdrawal from ocean
convoy defence.)
August Nominated for escort during
Northern Barrage minelay.
16th Deployed with escort of ships of 1st
Minelaying Squadron during Northern Barrage minelay.
(Operation SN74
- See above reference.)
26th Further deployment with 1st Minelaying Squadron escort during
Northern Barrage minelay
(Operation SN22C
- See above reference.)
(Note : Continued Atlantic deployment may have been necessary
because of delays in
build completion in USA of new CAPTAIN Class Frigates.)
September NW Approaches convoy defence in
continuation.
to October
November Nominated for Local Escort of
Russian Convoys during initial stage of passage to Kola
Inlet from Loch Ewe.
22nd Joined Russian Convoy JW54 with HM Destroyers MIDDLETON and
SKATE as Local
Escort form Loch
Ewe.
25th Detached from JW54 after arrival of
Ocean Escort.
December
5th Joined return Convoy RA54B with HM Destroyers SKATE,
BRISSENDEN and MIDDLETON
as Local Escort into Loch Ewe
9th Detached from RA54B on arrival.
1 9 4 4
January Withdrawn from Atlantic convoy
escort and transferred for coastal convoy defence in English
to Channel.
April
May Nominated for escort of
landing craft during exercises in preparation for planned allied landings
in Normandy (NEPTUNE).
(Note : During Exercise TIGER a convoy of Landing Ships and
Landing Craft were attacked by
E-boats with heavy loss of life. See LANDINGS IN NORMANDY, June 1944 (HMSO)
June Deployed at Plymouth for coastal convoy escort.
to July (Note
: This ship was not deployed for escort of Assault or Follow-up convoys during NEPTUNE)
August Withdrawn from operational
duties and transferred to the training role.
September Deployed for sea training duties.
to December
1 9 4 5
January Training duties in
continuation.
to May
June Paid-off and laid-up in
Reserve.
to August
P o s t W a
r N o t e s
HMS SALADIN was placed on the Disposal List after VJ
and sold to BISCO on 29th June 1947 for demolition by E Rees at Llanelli, S
Wales. The ship arrived in tow at the breaker’s yard on 3rd July that year.
Addendum
CONVOY ESCORT MOVEMENTS of
HMS SALADIN
by Don Kindell
Date convoy
Joined convoy
Convoy
No. Left convoy Date convoy
Sailed as escort arrived
21/09/39 21/09/39 MB 006/1 23/09/39 23/09/39
06/11/39 06/11/39 SA 016 07/11/39 07/11/39
12/05/40 12/05/40 OB 147 14/05/40 14/05/40
22/10/40 07/11/40 SL 052F 08/11/40 10/11/40
14/11/40 26/11/40 HX 088 29/11/40 30/11/40
08/12/40 08/12/40 OB 256 12/12/40 12/12/40
24/01/41 24/01/41 OB 278 27/01/41 27/01/41
10/01/41 30/01/41 SL 062 03/02/41 03/02/41
08/02/41 08/02/41 OB 283 12/02/41 12/02/41
30/01/41 12/02/41 HX 106 14/02/41 18/02/41
20/02/41 06/03/41 HG 054 12/03/41 12/03/41
17/03/41 18/03/41 OG 056 21/03/41 02/04/41
01/03/41 21/03/41 SL 067 26/03/41 26/03/41
23/03/41 15/04/41 SL 069 16/04/41 unknown
27/04/41 30/04/41 OB 316 04/05/41 05/05/41
19/04/41 04/05/41 SC 029 08/05/41 08/05/41
30/04/41 19/05/41 HX 124 20/05/41 20/05/41
21/05/41 21/05/41 OB 325 25/05/41 29/05/41
14/05/41 26/05/41 HG 062 02/06/41 02/06/41
10/06/41 23/06/41 HX 132 28/06/41 28/06/41
26/06/41 07/07/41 HX 135 10/07/41 12/07/41
12/07/41 23/07/41 SC 037 27/07/41 28/07/41
16/08/41 18/08/41 ON 008 21/08/41 25/08/41
10/08/41 24/08/41 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 17/09/41 20/09/41
19/09/41 21/09/41 ON 018 24/09/41 02/10/41
10/10/41 11/10/41 ON 025 16/10/41 24/10/41
10/10/41 19/10/41 HX 154 23/10/41 23/10/41
10/02/42 22/02/42 SC 069 27/02/42 27/02/42
10/03/42 11/03/42 PQ 013 17/03/42 31/03/42
14/03/42 29/03/42 SL 103 31/03/42 02/04/42
03/04/42 03/04/42 UR 018 07/04/42 07/04/42
10/04/42 10/04/42 RU 018 14/04/42 14/04/42
24/04/42 24/04/42 UR 021 28/04/42 28/04/42
30/04/42 30/04/42 RU 021 03/05/42 03/05/42
02/05/42 unknown AT 015 15/05/42 15/05/42
11/06/42 11/06/42 UR 028 15/06/42 15/06/42
18/06/42 18/06/42 RU 028 22/06/42 22/06/42
02/07/42 02/07/42 UR 031 07/07/42 07/07/42
09/07/42 09/07/42 RU 031 13/07/42 13/07/42
12/07/42 20/07/42 HX 198 21/07/42 23/07/42
10/08/42 10/08/42 TA 019 11/08/42 16/08/42
16/08/42 16/08/42 DS 031 18/08/42 18/08/42
22/08/42 22/08/42 SD 031 24/08/42 24/08/42
08/09/42 08/09/42 TA 021 09/09/42 14/09/42
05/09/42 10/09/42 AT 022 11/09/42 11/09/42
14/09/42 14/09/42 TA 022 15/09/42 19/09/42
06/09/42 14/09/42 HX 206 16/09/42 18/09/42
27/09/42 01/10/42 AT 024 02/10/42 02/10/42
17/10/42 17/10/42 UR 046 21/10/42 21/10/42
26/10/42 26/10/42 RU 046 31/10/42 31/10/42
16/10/42 05/11/42 SL 125 08/11/42 09/11/42
26/11/42 26/11/42 RU 050 01/12/42 01/12/42
14/04/43 14/04/43 DS 039 16/04/43 16/04/43
19/04/43 19/04/43 SD 039 21/04/43 21/04/43
01/06/43 01/06/43 RU 076 05/06/43 05/06/43
07/07/43 07/07/43 DS 042 09/07/43 09/07/43
10/07/43 10/07/43 SD 042 13/07/43 13/07/43
28/10/43 28/10/43 DS 046 30/10/43 30/10/43
02/11/43 02/11/43 SD 046 04/11/43 04/11/43
22/11/43 22/11/43 JW 054B 25/11/43 03/12/43
26/11/43 05/12/43 RA 054B 09/12/43 09/12/43
16/12/43 16/12/43 DS 047A 18/12/43 18/12/43
19/12/43 19/12/43 SD 047A 21/12/43 21/12/43
31/12/43 31/12/43 DS 048 03/01/44 03/01/44
04/01/44 04/01/44 SD 048 07/01/44 07/01/44
06/01/44 18/01/44 HX 274 20/01/44 21/01/44
24/01/44 25/01/44 ON 221 25/01/44 11/02/44
24/01/44 27/01/44 OS 066KM 29/01/44 05/02/44
16/02/44 16/02/44 WP SP 20 18/02/44 18/02/44
17/03/44 17/03/44 WP 493 18/03/44 19/03/44
19/03/44 19/03/44 WP 494 20/03/44 21/03/44
04/04/44 04/04/44 WP 502 05/04/44 06/04/44
20/04/44 20/04/44 WP 510 21/04/44 22/04/44
22/04/44 22/04/44 WP 511 23/04/44 24/04/44
06/05/44 07/05/44 WP 518 08/05/44 08/05/44
(Note on Convoys)
