H . M . S . S C I M I T A R ( H 2 1)
"Admiralty S "Class
destroyer ordered from John Brown at Clydebank in April 1917 in the 11th
Order of me 1917-18 Programme. She was laid down on
30th May the same year and launched on 27th February 1918 as the first RN ship
to bear this name. Build was completed on 29th April
1918
and the ship served briefly with the Grand Fleet before the armistice in
November 1918. In 1938 she was deployed with the Portsmouth Local Flotilla and
used for training purposes. Following a successful
WARSHIP WEEK National Savings campaign in March 1942 she was
"adopted" by the civil community of Pershore, men in Worcestershire.
B a t t l e H o n o u r s
DUNKIRK 1940
-
ATLANTIC 1940-44 - ARCTIC 1942 - ENGLISH CHANNEL 1943-44
H e r a l d i c D a t a
Badge:
On a Field Azure, a saltire couped ragulee, Gold.
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
for convoy defence in Channel.
12th Escorted military convoy DB1 from Southampton
to Brest with HM Destroyer
VANSITTART.
October
Channel convoy escort duties in continuation.
to Withdrawn from operational duties and
modified for minesweeping duties.
December On
completion resumed convoy defence duties.
1 9 4 0
January Convoy escort deployment in
continuation in Home waters.
to
April
May
26th Transferred to Dover Command to assist
in evacuation of allied troops from
Dunkirk (For details see ENGAGE THE
ENEMY MORE CLOSELY by
Corelli Bamett, Naval Staff
History, NINE DAYS AT DUNKIRK by AD
Divine, and BRITISH INVASION FLEETS by J de Winser.)
31st Involved
in collision with HM Destroyer ICARUS and grounded with damage
to propellers.
June Under repair and resumed convoy escort in
Channel.
Sustained damage during air raid on Portland.
July
Under repair and selected for service as an Anti-submarine escort.
On completion of modifications resumed Channel duties.
12th Embarked troops of No 3 Commando at Dartmouth for planned raid on Guernsey.
Passage with HM Destroyer SALADIN.
14th Returned to Dartmouth after
failure of operation.
(For
details see COMMANDO STRIKE by K Massey.)
August Transferred
to Western Approaches Command for Atlantic convoy escort in
5th
Escort Group
September Part of
escort for Convoy HX72 with ships of Group.
21st Under attack by
pack of six U-boats and drove off an attack by U32.
(Note:
This was the first attack on an Atlantic convoy by a group of six
submarines. For details see HITLER'S U-BOAT WAR by C Blair.)
October Atlantic convoy escort in NW
Approaches with ships of Group.
to For details of U-Boat deployments see above reference and
U-BOAT WAR IN
December THE
ATLANTIC (HMSO)
1 9 4 1
January Atlantic
convoy escort with Group in continuation
to
February
March Part
of escort for Convoy HX112 with HM Destroyers WALKER, VANOC,
VOLUNTEER,
SARDONYX and six FLOWER Class Corvettes, including
HMS BLUEBELL and HMS HYDRANGEA.
7th Sighted Ul00 on surface and carried
out attacks
Took
part in sinking of U100 in position 61.04N 16.30W with HMS VANOC
and HMS WALKER,
(Note: This German submarine was commanded by J Schepke who had
achieved distinction as a successful U-boat commander. He
was not
one of the six survivors rescued. See U-BOATS DESTROYED by
P Kemp.)
April Atlantic escort with Group in continuation.
to
May
June Deployed
with 8th Escort Group as part of escort for Convoy HX133 with
HM Destroyer MALCOLM, WATCHMAN,
SARDONYX, HM Corvettes
ARABIS, NASTURTIUM, VIOLET and HM Minesweeper SPEEDWELL.
29th Took part in anti-submarine operations
with Group against U651 which
resulted in sinking of the submarine in position 59.52N
18.36W. 44 of the
crew of U651 were rescued..
July Atlantic convoy escort in continuation.
August Part
of escort for Convoy HX143 with HMS MALCOLM, HMS WATCHMAN
and six FLOWER Class corvettes of 8th Escort Group.
September Atlantic convoy escort with Group in
continuation.
October
Deployed with Group for escort of Convoy ON30.
November Deployed
with Group for escort of Convoy HX160 for outward passage to
Mid-Ocean Meeting Point.
December Atlantic convoy defence with Group
in continuation.
1 9 4 2
January
Transferred to 1st Escort Group in continuation of Atlantic escort duties.
Based
at Londonderry with HM Destroyer SABRE and
HM Corvette
ALISMA.
February Deployment
with Group in continuation
to During this period the Group escorted 13
convoys many of which had no
December losses in transit. For details of tactics used
in defence and those used by
German
submarines as well as information about new weapons introduced
see THE BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC by D Macintyre, CONVOY
ESCORT
COMMANDER, BUSINESS IN GREAT WATERS by J Terrain
and SEEK AND STRIKE by W Hackmann.)
1 9 4 3
January Transferred
to 21st Escort Group and joined HM Destroyers SALADIN,
SKATE and SABRE for escort of UK-Iceland convoys.
February Convoy
escort with Group between UK and Iceland in continuation.
to
June
July Deployed as Stand-By Group based in Iceland
for reinforcement of escorts
of Atlantic convoy under attack by U-Boat Groups (Operation
ROSEGARDEN)
Sustained
damage in heavy weather conditions and withdrawn from operational
duty for repair. Passage to UK for
repair.
August Under repair.
(Note: Escort Group was disbanded during this period and
later reformed
with new CAPTAIN Class Frigates built in USA under Lend-Lease.)
September On
completion of repair and refit resumed operational service.
4th Deployed with HM Destroyers LANCASTER, SARDONYX and METEOR
as
escort for HM Auxiliary Minelayers AGAMEMNON, MENESTHEUS and
PORT QUEBEC during
Northern Barrage Minelay (Operation SN222B).
(Note: See Naval
Staff History (Mining) for details of Northern Barrage. HM
Minesweeper
SCOTT was specially deployed for navigation duties
during this operation.)
October
Withdrawn for Atlantic escort duties.
(Note: This was due to her age and also the fact that new
ships were now
becoming available for ocean escort duties) Transferred to Plymouth
Command for Channel coastal convoy escort.
November Coastal convoy escort in
continuation.
to
December
1 9 4 4
January
Channel deployment in continuation.
February Deployed
with HM Destroyer WARWICK in search for submarine reported
in S W Approaches.
20th Carried out anti-submarine search
operations during which HMS WARWICK
was hit by T5 homing torpedo and sank very quickly when
explosives were
detonated. Rescued 93 survivors from HMS
WARWICK.
March Plymouth deployment for convoy defence
and patrol in continuation.
April Deployed
for escort duties in support of landing craft during exercises in
preparation for planned allied landings in Normandy (Operation NEPTUNE)
26th During escort of convoy of US landing
ships on passage for landings on
Slapton Sands (Exercise TIGER) involved in collision with
LST and sustained
structural damage.
Withdrawn
from Exercise and took passage to Plymouth for repair.
(Note:
This poorly escorted convoy was later attacked by E-Boats which sank
several ships with heavy casualties. See LANDINGS IN NORMANDY,
June
1944 (HMSO)
May Resumed coastal convoy deployment on completion
of repair.
June Coastal convoy escort in continuation.
(Note: Did not take part in escort or support of landings in
Normandy.
July Coastal
convoy escort in continuation
to
September
October Withdrawn
from operation service and relegated to Training role based at
to Plymouth.
December
1 9 4 5
January
Training duties in continuation.
to
May
P o s t W a r N o t e s
HMS SCIMITAR was Paid-off after VJ Day and reduced to Reserve
Status. Placed on the Disposal List in 1947 she was sold to BISCO and arrived in tow at the Breaker's yard on
30th June that year for demolition by T W Ward at Briton Ferry. This WWI built
destroyer had rendered notable service in the Atlantic, despite her age and
unsuitability for ocean escort.
Addendum
CONVOY ESCORT MOVEMENTS of
HMS SCIMITAR
by Don Kindell
Date convoy
Joined convoy
Convoy
No. Left convoy Date convoy
Sailed as escort arrived
20/09/39 20/09/39 DB 005 21/09/39 21/09/39
30/10/39 30/10/39 SA 015 31/10/39 31/10/39
13/11/39 13/11/39 SA 017 14/11/39 14/11/39
25/06/40 07/07/40 HX 053 10/07/40 10/07/40
20/07/40 21/07/40 CW 007 22/07/40 22/07/40
03/09/40 04/09/40 OB 208 07/09/40 07/09/40
25/08/40 09/09/40 SC 002 10/09/40 10/09/40
19/09/40 19/09/40 OL 003 21/09/40 22/09/40
09/09/40 21/09/40 HX 072 21/09/40 21/09/40
24/09/40 25/09/40 OA 219 28/09/40 28/09/40
17/09/40 29/09/40 HX 074 21/09/40 02/10/40
03/10/40 03/10/40 OB 223 06/10/40 08/10/40
26/09/40 07/10/40 HX 076 10/10/40 10/10/40
21/10/40 21/10/40 OB 232 25/10/40 26/10/40
15/10/40 31/10/40 SC 008 31/10/40 31/10/40
14/11/40 26/11/40 HX 088 29/11/40 30/11/40
30/11/40 01/12/40 OB 252 04/12/40 04/12/40
22/11/40 05/12/40 SC 013 07/12/40 07/12/40
14/12/40 15/12/40 OB 259 17/12/40 17/12/40
06/12/40 18/12/40 HX 094 20/12/40 22/12/40
28/12/40 28/12/40 OB 266 31/12/40 01/01/41
15/12/40 01/01/41 SL 059 05/01/41 05/01/41
02/01/41 13/01/41 HX 098/1 16/01/41 17/01/42
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
15/02/41 15/02/41 OG 053 19/02/41 01/03/41
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
16/04/41 19/04/41 OB 311 22/04/41 25/04/41
18/04/41 23/04/41 OB 312 25/04/41 25/04/41
09/04/41 24/04/41 SC 028 28/04/41 28/04/41
19/04/41 30/04/41 SC 029 04/05/41 08/05/41
30/04/41 12/05/41 HX 124 14/05/41 20/05/41
12/05/41 18/05/41 OB 322 20/05/41 20/05/41
10/05/41 22/05/41 HX 126 24/05/41 28/05/41
20/05/41 02/06/41 HX 128 unknown 06/06/41
21/06/41 22/06/41 OB 338 26/06/41 03/07/41
16/06/41 27/06/41 HX 133 30/06/41 03/07/41
01/07/41 13/07/41 SC 036 18/07/41 19/07/41
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 16/08/41 24/08/41
05/08/41 17/08/41 HX 143 20/08/41 20/08/41
15/11/41 18/11/41 ON 037 22/11/41 30/11/41
15/11/41 25/11/41 HX 160 29/11/41 30/11/41
21/12/41 01/01/42 HX 166 04/01/42 05/01/42
11/01/42 20/01/42 SL 097G 24/01/42 24/01/42
26/01/42 27/01/42 ON 060 30/01/42 15/02/42
26/01/42 04/02/42 HX 172 07/02/42 07/02/42
15/02/42 03/03/42 SC 070 05/03/42 07/03/42
11/03/42 11/03/42 DS 024 15/03/42 15/03/42
16/03/42 16/03/42 SD 024 19/03/42 19/03/42
14/03/42 19/03/42 TA 012 unknown 25/03/42
14/03/42 30/03/42 SL 103 02/04/42 02/04/42
11/04/42 11/04/42 UR 019 15/04/42 15/04/42
18/04/42 18/04/42 RU 019 22/04/42 22/04/42
01/05/42 01/05/42 DS 026 03/05/42 03/05/42
03/05/42 03/05/42 SD 026 05/05/42 05/05/42
21/05/42 21/05/42 UR 025 27/05/42 25/05/42
27/05/42 27/05/42 RU 025 30/05/42 01/06/42
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
26/06/42 26/06/42 UR 030 01/07/42 01/07/42
02/07/42 02/07/42 UR 031 07/07/42 07/07/42
02/07/42 02/07/42 RU 030 06/07/42 06/07/42
09/07/42 09/07/42 RU 031 13/07/42 13/07/42
17/10/42 17/10/42 UR 046 21/10/42 21/10/42
14/11/42 14/11/42 KMF 003 15/11/42 23/11/42
09/11/42 26/11/42 SC 109 30/11/42 30/11/42
04/12/42 21/12/42 SC 112 25/12/42 25/12/42
21/12/41 22/12/42 ON 049 27/12/41 05/01/42
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
10/02/43 11/02/43 PW 292 12/02/43 12/02/42
08/06/43 08/06/43 DS 041 11/06/43 11/06/43
12/06/43 12/06/43 SD 041 14/06/43 14/06/43
01/08/43 01/08/43 DS 043 03/08/43 03/08/43
06/08/43 06/08/43 SD 043 08/08/43 08/08/43
28/09/43 28/09/43 DS 045 02/10/43 02/10/43
03/10/43 03/10/43 SD 045 05/10/43 05/10/43
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
27/11/43 27/11/43 DS 047 29/11/43 29/11/43
02/12/43 02/12/43 SD 047 04/12/43 04/12/43
06/01/44 18/01/44 HX 274 20/01/44 21/01/44
16/02/44 16/02/44 WP SP 20 18/02/44 18/02/44
17/03/44 18/03/44 WP 493 19/03/44 19/03/44
08/04/44 08/04/44 WP 504 09/04/44 10/04/44
10/04/44 10/04/44 WP 505 12/04/44 12/04/44
16/04/44 16/04/44 WP 508 17/04/44 18/04/44
18/04/44 18/04/44 WP 509 19/04/44 20/04/44
24/04/44 24/04/44 WP 512 25/04/44 26/04/44
(Note
on Convoys)
