H
. M . S . V A N I T Y
( D 2 8 )
Admiralty V Class" destroyer order from Beardmore of Glasgow in June 1918 with the 9th Order,
1916-17 Programme and laid down on 28th July 1917. The ship was launched on 3rd
May 1918 and was the second RN warship to carry the name dating from about
1650. She- served with the Fleet until the 1930's when she was placed in
Reserve (See General Information) until re-commissioned in 1939. After a
successful WARSHIP WEEK National Savings campaign during December 1941 this
ship was adopted by the civil community of Scunthorpe,
then in Lincolnshire,
B a t t l e H o n o u r s
NORTH SEA 1939 - ENGLISH CHANNEL
1943
H e r a l d i c D a t a
Badge : On a Field Black, a Peacock's
feather, Gold, Blue and Green.
M o t t
o
Vanitas vanitatum: 'Vanity of Vanities'
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 Maintenance Reserve at Rosyth and commissioned for attendance
at the Royal Review of the Reserve Fleet.
September Remained
in commission and joined 15th Destroyer Flotilla at Rosyth.
Deployed for convoy defence and patrol in North Sea.
Nominated
for conversion to Anti-Aircraft Escort (WAIR)
(See General Information and BRITISH DESTROYERS by Edgar March).
October Taken
in hand for refit and conversion.
November Under refit and conversion.
to
December
1 9 4 0
January Refit and conversion in
continuation.
to (Note : Pennant Number for visual
signalling purposes changed to L38 to confor,
June with
new identity for Fleet and Auxiliary vessels.)
July Post
refit trials and preparation for convoy escort duty.
August Deployed
on convoy escort duty in North Sea.
to (For details of East Coast convoy defence
see THREE CORVETTES by N. Monsarrat
December and THE BATTLE OF THE NARROW SEAS by P.
Scott).
(Note : Ships based on east coast were deployed for
anti-invasion patrols after July 1940)
1 9 4 1
January Convoy
defence and interception patrol in continuation.
to
December
1 9 4 2
January Detached for duty with Home
Fleet based at Scapa
Flow.
Escorted
blockade runners carrying steel products from Sweden during passage in
North Sea. (Operation PERFORMANCE)
(Note : Cover was provided by Home Fleet units.)
February Resumed North Sea convoy defence and interception duties
March North Sea deployment in continuation.
to
December
1 9 4 3
January Deployed
in North
Sea
and English
Channel for convoy defence and patrol duty.
to (For details of naval operations in English Channel see HOLD THE NARROW SEA by P Smith)
December
1 9 4 4
January Deployed
for convoy defence and patrol in North Sea.
to (Note : Remained in North Sea and not detached for defence
of invasion convoys
December during Normandy landings
(Operation NEPTUNE).
1 9 4 5
January North Sea convoy defence in
continuation.
February Transferred
to English
Channel.
(Note :
Atlantic convoys had been re-routed through English Channel after German
air attacks
were no longer from bases in France. In addition there was an
increase in activity of 'Schnorkel'
fitted U-Boats that were concentrating in
convoy focal points. As a result the number of escorts was
increased).
March Channel
convoy defence in continuation.
to (For details of German submarine
deployments in 1945 see ENGAGE THE ENEMY
May MORE
CLOSELY by Corelli Barnett, SEEK. AND STRIKE by P Hackmann). and
HITLER'S
U-BOAT WAR by C Blair.)
P o s t W a r N o t e s
HMS VANITY was withdrawn from
operational service after the end of hostilities in Europe and placed in
Reserve. In 1946 the ship went on the Disposal List and was sold for
breaking-up at Grangemouth in 1947.
Special Note
HMS VANITY was one of many WW1 built destroyers that were ’unsung'
ships whose routine work in defence of coastal convoys received little publicity. She was
frequently in action against enemy torpedo boats (E-Boats) during her many months of North Sea and Channel
duties. Service in this Class of destroyer was especially unpleasant and the performance of ship's
companies under the abominable living conditions was quite outstanding. (See THE V AND W
DESTROYERS by A Preston).
Addendum
CONVOY ESCORT MOVEMENTS of
HMS VANITY
by Don Kindell
Date convoy
Joined
convoy
Convoy
No.
Left convoy Date convoy
sailed as
escort
arrived
05/09/40 05/09/40 FS 0273 07/09/40 07/09/40
09/09/40 09/09/40 FN 0277B 11/09/40 11/09/40
14/09/40 14/09/40 FS 0281 16/09/40 16/09/40
17/09/40 17/09/40 FN 0283 19/09/40 19/09/40
25/09/40 25/09/40 FS 0290 26/09/40 26/09/40
27/09/40 27/09/40 FN 0292 29/09/40 29/09/40
01/10/40 01/10/40 FS 0297 03/10/40 03/10/40
04/10/40 04/10/40 FN 0299 06/10/40 06/10/40
10/10/40 10/10/40 FS 0305 12/10/40 12/10/40
13/10/40 13/10/40 FN 0307 15/10/40 16/10/40
24/10/40 24/10/40 FN 0318 26/10/40 26/10/40
29/10/40 29/10/40 FS 0322 01/11/40 01/11/40
02/11/40 02/11/40 FN 0325 04/11/40 04/11/40
06/11/40 06/11/40 FS 0329 08/11/40 08/11/40
09/11/40 09/11/40 FN 0330 11/11/40 11/11/40
19/11/40 19/11/40 FS 0339 21/11/40 21/11/40
22/11/40 22/11/40 FN 0340 24/11/40 24/11/40
26/11/40 26/11/40 FS 0345 28/11/40 28/11/40
29/11/40 29/11/40 FN 0346 01/12/40 01/12/40
06/12/40 06/12/40 FN 0352 08/12/40 08/12/40
14/12/40 14/12/40 FS 0361 16/12/40 16/12/40
22/12/40 22/12/40 FS 0368 25/12/40 25/12/40
04/01/41 04/01/41 FN 0375 06/01/41 06/01/41
12/01/41 12/01/41 FS 0386 14/01/41 14/01/41
23/01/41 23/01/41 FS 0395 26/01/41 26/01/41
27/01/41 27/01/41 FN 0393 29/01/41 29/01/41
31/01/41 31/01/41 FS 0400 02/02/41 02/02/41
04/02/41 04/02/41 FN 0400 06/02/41 06/02/41
20/02/41 06/03/41 HG 054 12/03/41 12/03/41
16/03/41 16/03/41 OB 298 18/03/41 20/03/41
19/03/41 20/03/41 OB 299 24/03/41 25/03/41
11/03/41 24/03/41 HX 114 unknown 30/03/41
(Note
on Convoys)
