H . M . S
. S A R D O N Y X ( H 2 6 )
"S" Class Destroyer ordered from Alex Stephen of Cowan
with the 12th Order of the 1917-18 Build
Programme in June 1918 with 37 other ships. The ship was laid down 25th March
1918 and launched
on 27th May 1919 as the first RN ship to carry the name. Build was
completed on 12th July 1919 and she served with the Fleet until later was placed in Reserve. Brought
forward for service in 1939 this ship was ‘adopted ‘ by the civil community of Coulsdon and Pursey, Surrey
after a successful "WARSHIP WEEK" National Savings campaign in December 1941.
B a t t l e H o n o u r s
ATLANTIC 194 0-42
- ARCTIC 1942
H e r a l d i c D a t a
Badge : On a Field Black a Pendant Gold
set with geometrical
design Red and White.
M o t t o
'Clean cuts clean'
D e t a i l s o f
W a r S e r v i c e
1 9 3 9
September Deployed
on coastal convoy defence.
to (For details of naval activities in Home
water during 1939 see ENGAGE THE ENEMY
October MORE CLOSELY by C Barnett and
Naval Staff History.
November Transferred
to Western Approaches for Atlantic convoy escort.
December Atlantic convoy defence in
continuation.
1 9 4 0
January Atlantic convoy defence in continuation.
to Nominated for refit.
August
September Under refit and modifications to
improve capability.
to
November
December Resumed
duty in Western Approaches.
1
9 4 1
January Western
Approaches convoy defence in continuation
to
February
March Joined
HM Destroyers WALKER, VANOC, VOLUNTEER, HM
Corvettes BLUEBELL
and HYDRANGEA in 5th Escort Group on formation.
Deployed as escort for Convoy HX112.
16th Convoy sighted by Ul10 which carried out
attack on escorted ships and called for further
U-Boat
support
17th U99, U100 carried out attacks during
which both were sunk for the loss of five escorted
mercantiles including three
Tankers
(Note : U 99 was commanded by Otto Kretschmer
and U 100 by Joachim Schepke both of
whom were successful U-Boat commanders with many sinkings.
These
two U-Boat sinkings were credited to HMS VANOC and
HMS WALKER.
For
details of defence of this convoy see HITLER'S U-BOAT WAR by C Blair and
U-BOATS
DESTROYED by P Kemp.)
April Deployment
with Group in continuation
to
July
August Deployed
with HM Destroyers MALCOLM, WATCHMAN, SCIMITAR, H M Covettes
to ARABIS,
VERBENA, VIOLET, MONKSHOOD, PETUNIA and DAHLIA in 8th Escort
October Group
for convoy defence in NW Approaches.
November Atlantic convoy defence in
continuation with Group.
22nd Involved in collision with HM Trawler ST
APOLLO which was sunk
December NW Approaches deployment with
Group in continuation.
1 9 4 2
January NW Approaches deployment with
Group in continuation.
to For details of U-BOAT operations in the Atlantic see U-BOAT WAR IN THE
March ATLANTIC
(HMSO), ENGAGE THE ENEMY MORE CLOSELY and HITLER’S
U-BOAT WAR by C Blair.)
April Detached
for escort of ships of 1sst Minelaying Squadron
18th Deployed with H M Destroyers CHARLESTOWN, WELLS of Minelaying
Squadron,
HM Destroyer SALADIN and HM
Minesweeper SCOTT as escort for HM Auxiliary
Minelayers AGAMEMNON,
MENESTHEUS, PORT QUEBEC and SOUTHERN
PRINCE
for minelay in Northern Barrage
(Operation
SN88 - For details of all minelaying operations see
the Naval Staff History
(MINING).
May
23rd Deployed with HM Cruiser CAIRO, HM Destroyers BEAGLE, DOUGLAS and
KEPPEL
for Local escort of rms QUEEN MARY during first 24hours of
passage in NW Approaches
as Convoy WS19W
24th Detached with escort and returned to Clyde.
(Note : QUEEN MARY was on passage to Suez with troops for 8th Army.)
31st Carried out anti-submarine operations
in with HM Destroyers NEWARK and INTREPID
in Denmark Strait prior to minelay by H M Minelayer ADVENTURE and above ships of
1st
Minelaying Squadron (Operation SN72)
June Atlantic
convoy escort in continuation.
Detached for duty in Denmark Strait during
minelaying operation.
June On
completion of detached duty resumed convoy defence in NW Approaches.
July Detached
for escort of minelayers in NW Approaches.
11th Deployed with m Destroyers BRIGHTON, ST MARY'S, SALISBURY OF Squadron and
HMS
SCOTT to escort of same minelayers as Operation SN72 for minelay in Faeroes
Bank
(Operation
SN3C)
Resumed convoy defence in NW Approaches on completion of SN3C.
August
2nd Deployed as part of escort for military
Convoy WS21S during initial stage of passage from
Clyde in NW Approaches
(Note : This convoy was on passage to Gibraltar as part of Operation
PEDESTAL.
See
MALTA CONVOYS by R Woodman, THE BATTLE FOR THE
MEDITERRANEAN by D
Macintyre and PEDESTAL by P Smith.
September Atlantic convoy defence in
continuation.
October
31st Deployed with HM Destroyer SKATE as
escort for ships on passage in Irish Sea from
Liverpool to join
military Convoy WS24 in Clyde.
November Atlantic convoy defence in
continuation.
to
December
1 9 4 3
January Transferred
to Iceland for Atlantic convoy defence
with H M Destroyers SALADIN,
SABRE, SCIMITAR and SHIKARI as 21st Escort Group.
February Convoy
defence based in Iceland with Group in continuation.
to
April
May Deployed for local escort duties in Clyde.
19th Part of escort for joint Convoy
KMF15/WS30 for initial stage of passage in NW Approaches
to Gibraltar
June Clyde local
escort deployment in continuation.
to
August
September Detached
with HMS SCIMITAR for escort of minelayers.
4th Escorted HM Auxiliary Minelayers AGAMEMNON, MENESTHEUS and PORT QUEBEC
with HMS SCOTT and HM
Destroyers LANCASTER and METEOR for minelay in Faeroes
-Iceland Gap. (Operation
SN222B).
21st Deployed with HM Destroyers MAHRATTA,
OBEDIENT and SHIKARI for anti-submarine
search operation in NW Approaches.
October Withdrawn
from Atlantic convoy escort and deployed for convoy defence in coastal waters
to of UK.
December (For
details of changes in defence tactics and development of new weapons and of radar for
convoy defence see THE BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC by D
Macintyre, SEEK AND
STRIKE by W Hackmann and
BUSINESS IN GREAT WATERS by John Terraine).
1 9 4 4
January Coastal convoy escort duty in continuation.
to (Note : This ship is not included in the
Naval Staff History record of escorts
deployed in
September support
of allied landings in Normandy
. No
Battle Honour NORMANDY was
awarded - See LANDINGS IN NORMANDY
June
1944 (HMSO) and D-DAY SHIPS by J de Winser.)
October Withdrawn
from operational service and deployed for training.
November Training
deployment in continuation.
to
December
1 9 4 5
January Training
deployment in continuation.
to Reduced to Reserve status.
May
P o s t W a r N o t e s
HMS SARDONYX was placed on the Disposal List after the end of
hostilities in Europe and sold to BISCO for demolition by TW Ward at
Inverkeithing. The ship arrived in tow at the breaker’s yard in September 1945.
Addendum
CONVOY ESCORT MOVEMENTS of
HMS SARDONYX
by Don Kindell
Date convoy
Joined convoy
Convoy
No.
Left convoy Date convoy
Sailed as escort arrived
19/09/39 19/09/39 MB 005/1 21/09/39 21/09/39
23/09/39 23/09/39 MB 007/1 25/09/39 25/09/39
30/10/39 30/10/39 SA 015 31/10/39 31/10/39
06/11/39 06/11/39 SA 016 07/11/39 07/11/39
08/10/40 20/10/40 HX 079 unknown 23/10/40
29/10/40 30/10/40 OB 236 01/11/40 02/11/40
20/10/40 01/11/40 HX 082 06/11/40 06/11/40
04/11/40 11/11/40 OB 239 13/11/40 14/11/40
18/11/40 19/11/40 OB 245 22/11/40 22/11/40
11/11/40 22/11/40 HX 086 25/11/40 26/11/40
08/12/40 08/12/40 OB 256 12/12/40 12/12/40
20/12/40 21/12/40 OB 262 23/12/40 23/12/40
07/12/40 25/12/40 SL 058 28/12/40 28/12/40
03/01/41 04/01/41 OB 269 06/01/41 06/01/41
26/12/40 08/01/41 HX 099 11/01/41 11/01/41
24/01/41 24/01/41 OB 278 27/01/41 27/01/41
12/01/41 29/01/41 SC 019 30/01/41 02/02/41
10/01/41 31/01/41 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 17/02/41 18/02/41
08/03/41 09/03/41 OB 295 14/03/41 14/03/41
01/03/41 15/03/41 HX 112 19/03/41 20/03/41
23/03/41 23/03/41 OB 301 27/03/41 27/03/41
15/03/41 27/03/41 HG 056 02/04/41 02/04/41
01/06/41 15/06/41 HX 130 19/06/41 20/06/41
24/06/41 04/07/41 HG 066 06/07/41 09/07/41
07/07/41 07/07/41 OB 344 11/07/41 16/07/41
26/07/41 27/07/41 ON 001 30/07/41 09/08/41
22/07/41 02/08/41 HX 140 05/08/41 06/08/41
11/08/41 13/08/41 ON 006 15/08/41 24/08/41
05/08/41 17/08/41 HX 143 20/08/41 20/08/41
30/08/41 01/09/41 ON 011 04/09/41 11/09/41
24/08/41 06/09/41 SC 041 11/09/41 11/09/41
13/09/41 13/09/41 ON 016 19/09/41 27/09/41
04/10/41 05/10/41 ON 023 09/10/41 19/10/41
05/10/41 13/10/41 HX 153 17/10/41 19/10/41
26/10/41 29/10/41 ON 030 02/11/41 09/11/41
23/10/41 04/11/41 SC 051 08/11/41 09/11/41
15/11/41 16/11/41 ON 037 19/11/41 30/11/41
15/11/41 25/11/41 HX 160 29/11/41 30/11/41
13/02/42 14/02/42 ON 066 16/02/42 26/02/42
10/02/42 22/02/42 SC 069 27/02/42 27/02/42
14/03/42 30/03/42 SL 103 02/04/42 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
28/05/42 28/05/42 UR 026 31/05/42 31/05/42
04/06/42 04/06/42 RU 026 08/06/42 08/06/42
18/06/42 18/06/42 UR 029 22/06/42 22/06/42
25/06/42 25/06/42 RU 029 29/06/42 29/06/42
11/07/42 11/07/42 UR 032 16/07/42 16/07/42
16/07/42 16/07/42 RU 032 20/07/42 20/07/42
24/07/42 24/07/42 RU 032A 27/07/42 27/07/42
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
06/12/42 21/12/42 MKS 003Y 23/12/42 23/12/42
21/01/43 21/01/43 DS 036 23/01/43 23/01/43
25/01/43 25/01/43 SD 036 27/01/43 27/01/43
17/02/43 17/02/43 DS 037 19/02/43 19/02/43
23/02/43 23/02/43 SD 037 26/02/43 26/02/43
12/05/43 12/05/43 DS 040 14/05/43 14/05/43
14/05/43 14/05/43 SD 040 17/05/43 17/05/43
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
(Note
on Convoys)
