H . M . S . V E N O M O U S ( D 7 5 )
Modified W-Class destroyer ordered in January 1918 from John
Brown at Clydebank with the 10th order of th» 1918-19 Programs. The ship was laid
down on 31st May 1918 and was launched on 21st December 1918. She was originally to have been named HMS
VENOM but this was changed In order to avoid confusion with the Torpedo School
HMS VERNON. Build was completed on 24th August 1919 and the ship joined the 4th Destroyer Flotilla, Atlantic Fleet.
After the new B-Class of destroyers began service in 1931 she was
placed in Reserve. During February 1942 she was adopted by the civil community
of Loughborough, Leicestershire following a successful WARSHIP WEEK
National Savings campaign during February 1942.
B a t t l e H o n o u r s
ATLANTIC 1940-43
-
DUNKIRK 1940 - ARCTIC 1942
-
MALTA CONVOYS 1942
- NORTH AFRICA 1942
-
SICILY 1943
H e r a l d i c D a t a
Badge On a Field Black, a goblet, Gold,
with two snakes intertwined Green.
M o t t o
Hostibus nocens amiscis innoncens: 'Deadly to foes, harmless to
Friends’
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
with 16th Destroyer Flotilla at Portsmouth for escort of convoys taking
the BEF to France.
7th Escorted troop convoy to Cherbourg with HM Destroyer WREN.
12th Escorted Convoy
MB2 to Cherbourg with HMS
WREN.
15th Escorted Convoy
DB2 with HMS WREN.
October Transferred
to mercantile convoy escort duty in SW Approaches and Channel
November Convoy
defence and anti-submarine patrol in SW Approaches in continuation.
to December
1 9 4 0
January Deployment
in Western Approaches continued.
to April
May Transferred
to assist in evacuation of British troops and allied nationals from ports in Holland,
Belgium and France.
12th Embarked party of Royal Marines for
passage to Hook of Holland with HM Destroyer
VERITY.
15th Evacuated refugees from Amsterdam for passage to Dover.
21st Deployed for
evacuation from Boulogne with HM Destroyer KEITH and WILD SWAN.
Returned to
Folkestone
26th Deployed to assist in evacuation of
troops from Dunkirk (Operation DYNAMO)
(For
details see ENGAGE THE ENEMY MORE CLOSELY by Corelli Bamett
and Naval
Staff History (HMSO, 2002 )and BEF Ships by J de Winser).
31st Deployed for evacuation of troops from Dunkirk and made two trips.
Landed 670 at Dover from La Panne and Bray on first trip.
Landed 408 at Dover from Pier at Dunkirk on second trip with HM Destroyers
WHITEHALL
Land WINCHELSEA.
(Note : During
May Pennant Number for Visual Signalling purposes was changed to I75 to
conform with revision of these identities introduced for all
RN warships.)
June
2nd Landed 630 troops at Dover from beaches
3rd Landed 957 troops at Dover from beaches
4th Landed 463 troops at Dover after last trip to Dunkirk beaches.
(Note : In all this ship carried 3,128 personnel to Dover during DYNAMO)
7th On release
from DYNAMO deployed for escort of North Sea convoys
based at Harwich.
11th During escort of Convoy FN19 off Great
Yarmouth with H M Destroyer WIVERN under
attack by six aircraft.
Damage
avoided by skilful manoeuvring.
July Carried
out anti-invasion patrol in North Sea when not required for convoy dfence..
to
August
September Patrolled
off Boulogne with HM Destroyer WILD SWAN.
October Transferred
to Western Approaches Command for convoy defence in Atlantic.
November
13th Escorted HM
Aircraft Carrier ARGUS to Gibraltar for Malta aircraft
delivery.
(Operation
WHITE).
December Transferred
to 1st Escort Group based at Londonderry for Atlantic Convoy defence.
During
escort of Convoy HX96 sustained damaged by mine explosion and taken in hand
for repair
1 9 4 1
January Under
repair
to Rejoined Group at Londonderry on completion.
February
March Convoy
defence in Western Approaches in continuation.
April Damaged
in collision with HM Submarine H31 and under repair for 2 weeks.
May On
completion resumed Atlantic convoy defence with Group.
to
June
July Part
of escort of Convoy OB343.
Detached
of Iceland and returned to Londonderry for machinery repairs.
August Under
repair
September Rejoined
Group on completion and resumed convoy escort duty.
Group
renamed “B1” (1st British) and comprised HM Destroyers SHIKARI,
ROCKINGHAM, SABRE, KEPPEL,
LINCOLN and four FLOWER Class
Corvette
(For
details of Atlantic convoy defence see THE BATTLE CF THE ATLANTIC by Donald
MacIntyre,
ENGAGE THE ENEMY MDRE CLOSELY by C0 Barnett and U-BOAT WAR
IN THE ATLANTIC (HMSO)).
October Deployed
as escort for Convoy ONS21 with ships of Group.
November Damaged
in collision with HM Destroyer KEPPEL during escort of Convoy OS35.
Withdrawn from service for repair and conversion into Long Range
Escort.
December Under repair and conversion at Greenock in
commercial shipyard.
1 9 4 2
January Under
repair and conversion
to Radar Type 271 for surface warning fitted.
March (Note : For details of development and use of radar in RN see
RADAR AT SEA by D
Howse.)
(See
SEEK AND STRIKE by W Hackmann, U-BOAT WAR IN THE ATLANTIC
(HMSO)
and HITLER'S U-BOAT WAR by C Blair for details of weapons and tactics
used in the Battle of the Atlantic and Russian convoy defence.)
April
20th On completion deployed with Home Fleet
for escort of Russian Convoy.
28th Joined escort for Russian Convoy PQ15
with Home Fleet destroyers
May
5th Detached from PQ15.
21st Joined Ocean Escort for returning
Convoy QP12.
27th Detached from QP12.
(For
full details of all Russian Convoy operations see CONVOYS TO RUSSIA by R A
Ruegg,, CONVOY! by
P Kemp, THE RUSSIAN CONVOYS by D. MacIintyre and
ARCTIC CONVOYS by R Woodman.)
June Resumed
Atlantic convoy defence duty.
July Detached
to escort HM Aircraft Carrier FURIOUS for Malta aircraft delivery.
August
11th Escorted HMS FURIOUS in Western Mediterranean for aircraft delivery.
(Operation
BELLOWS - See ENGAGE THE ENEMY MORE CLOSELY, MALTA
CONVOYS by R Woodman, Naval Staff History (HMSO, 2002) for
details.)
. Returned to Scapa Flow on
completion.
Nominated for escort duty with Russian Convoy PQ18 escort.
September Boiler
defect prevented joining convoy..
10th Deployed with HM Destroyers AMAZON,
BULLDOG, ECHO and ECLIPSE to establish
base for refuelling of destroyers escorting Convoys PQ18 and
returning QP14
October Detached
from Home Fleet service for escort, of military convoys to Gibraltar for
planned allied landings in North Africa.
(Operation
TORCH. See ENGAGE THE ENEMY MORE CLOSELY and Naval Staff History).
November Escorted
HM Cruiser VINDICTIVE and HM Depot Ship HECLA with HM Destroyer MARNE
during Atlantic passage to Gibraltar.
12th Detected U515 with Type 271 Radar Outfit
about 180 miles west of Gibraltar.
Carried
out hunt for submarine which fired full salvo of bow torpedoes at the two larger
warships.
HMS
VINDICTIVE avoided two after seeing their wakes
. Two
of the other torpedoes hit HMS HECLA but these did not sink her.
Hunt
for U515 with HMS MARNE continued..
In
further torpedo attack by U515 both HMS MARNE and HMS HECLA were hit.
(Note : HMS HECLA sank soon afterwards with the loss of 279
lives.
Stem
structure of HMS MARNE was blown off but the ship remained afloat.)
Carried
out rescue of survivors from HMS HECLA and took HMS MARNE in tow.
During
tow of HMS MARNE obtained radar contact with submarine and carried out a series
of
depth charge attacks which drove off U515.
Relieved as escort, of HMS MARNE
by HM Corvette JONQUIL and took passage with 568
survivors to Casablanca.
(For
details see HITLER'S U-BOAT WAR Volume 2 by C Blair.)
December Deployed
for escort- of KMF convoys to Gibraltar.
1 9 4 3
January Gibraltar
Atlantic convoy defence in continuation .
February Deployed
for convoy defence in western Mediterranean.
March Escorted
military convoys in Western Mediterranean.
Nominated for convoy escort during planned allied landings in Sicily.
(Operation HUSKY).
April Passage to Clyde to join
military convoy WS29.
16th Joined WS29 with HM Destroyer
LAUDERDALE, HM Sloops WELLINGTON, WESTON,
HM Cutters
GORLESTON, TOTLAND, HM Frigates EXE and NESS as Local Escort during
passage in NW Approaches.
(Note :
HM Cruiser NEWCASTLE provided Ocean Escort with HM Destroyer RAPID.)
20th Detached from WS29 with Local Escort,
and returned to Clyde.
May Convoy defence of
UK-Gibraltar convoys in continuation.
to June Deployed in western Mediterranean for military convoy escort-.
July
9th Sailed from Alexandria with HM Destroyers WISHART and
WITHERINGTON as part
of escort for follow-up military Convoy MWF37 during passage
to Sicily.
13th Detached from MWF37 on arrival at Syracuse and deployed off coast for anti
-submarine
and anti E-boat patrol as well as naval gunfire support for
shore operations.
Joined
Support Force East for landings in Sicily (Operation HUSKY)
(For
details see ENGAGE THE ENEMY MORE CLOSELY and Naval Staff History.)
August On release from HUSKY resumed
convoy defence duties in Mediterranean.
to Nominated for refit in UK.
September
October Passage
to UK for refit in commercial.
November Under refit at Falmouth.
to December (Note : Age of this ship and it
significant operational service was a factor to be considered
when deciding that further refit was required.)
1 9 4 4
January Future service under
consideration.
to July Withdrawn from operational duties and converted
for service as a target ship for training of
aircrew in shipping attacks.
Paid off.
August Re-commissioned
for duty as aircraft target ship and tender.
September Deployed
as Target Ship.
to December
1 9 4 5
January Air Target. Ship duty in continuation.
to April
May Detached
for support of allied re-occupation operations.
14th Escorted minesweepers with HM Destroyer
VALOROUS during clearance operations prior
to entry of allied ships into Kristiansund
South.
P o s t W a r N o t
e s
HMS VENOMOUS was reduced to
Reserve after the end of the European War and placed on the Disposal List. She
was sold on 4th March 1947 for breaking up by Metal Industries at Charlestown,
Rosyth and arrived at the breakers yard in August of that year.
Addendum
CONVOY ESCORT MOVEMENTS of
HMS VENOMOUS
by Don Kindell
Date convoy
Joined
convoy
Convoy
No.
Left convoy Date
convoy
sailed as
escort
arrived
22/09/39 22/09/39 DB 006 23/09/39 23/09/39
24/09/39 24/09/39 DB 007 25/09/39 25/09/39
27/09/39 27/09/39 DB 008 28/09/39 28/09/39
29/09/39 29/09/39 DB 009 30/09/39 30/09/39
06/10/39 06/10/39 SA 011 07/10/39 07/10/39
09/10/39 09/10/39 SA 012 10/10/39 10/10/39
16/10/39 16/10/39 SA 013 17/10/39 17/10/39
23/10/39 23/10/39 SA 014 24/10/39 24/10/39
27/11/39 27/11/39 SA 019 28/11/39 29/11/39
14/12/40 27/12/40 HX 096 29/12/40 30/12/40
25/02/41 26/02/41 OG 054 03/03/41 14/03/41
12/03/41 12/03/41 OB 297 17/03/41 17/03/41
05/03/41 17/03/41 HX 113 20/03/41 21/03/41
24/03/41 24/03/41 OB 302 unknown 30/03/41
17/03/41 29/03/41 HX 115 03/04/41 03/04/41
07/04/41 08/04/41 OB 307 11/04/41 13/04/41
30/03/41 23/04/41 SC 027 18/04/41 18/04/41
17/05/41 19/05/41 OB 323 22/05/41 25/05/41
10/05/41 26/05/41 HX 126 28/05/41 28/05/41
02/06/41 03/06/41 OB 330 07/06/41 07/06/41
27/05/41 08/06/41 HX 129 12/06/41 12/06/41
15/06/41 17/06/41 OB 336 22/06/41 23/06/41
10/06/41 24/06/41 SC 034 28/06/41 29/06/41
06/07/41 06/07/41 OB 343 12/07/41 21/07/41
21/07/41 22/07/41 OB 349 26/07/41 01/08/41
16/07/41 26/07/41 HX 139 31/07/41 31/07/41
21/08/41 02/09/41 HX 146 06/09/41 06/09/41
11/09/41 11/09/41 ON 015 13/09/41 16/09/41
05/09/41 16/09/41 SC 043 20/09/41 20/09/41
28/09/41 30/09/41 ON 021 05/10/41 14/10/41
28/09/41 09/10/41 HX 152 14/10/41 14/10/41
20/10/41 23/10/41 ON 028 25/10/41 03/11/41
17/10/41 31/10/41 SC 050 04/11/41 04/11/41
10/11/41 10/11/41 ON 035 12/11/41 27/11/41
17/04/42 17/04/42 UR 020 22/04/42 22/04/42
10/04/42 28/04/42 PQ 015 05/05/42 05/05/42
21/05/42 21/05/42 QP 012 27/05/42 29/05/42
02/09/42 14/09/42 PQ 018 22/09/42 21/09/42
13/09/42 14/09/42 QP 014 22/09/42 26/09/42
22/10/42 22/10/42 KX 004A 04/11/42 04/11/42
15/11/42 17/11/42 MKF 002 17/11/42 23/11/42
08/11/42 22/11/42 KMS 003G 26/11/42 26/11/42
01/12/42 01/12/42 ET 003 04/12/42 04/12/42
26/11/42 07/12/42 KMS 004G 13/12/42 13/12/42
05/12/42 14/12/42 ET 005 16/12/42 16/12/42
11/12/42 23/12/42 KMS 005G unknown 27/12/42
10/01/43 21/01/43 TMF 002 24/01/43 24/01/43
31/01/42 31/01/43 GUF 004 02/02/43 13/02/43
06/02/43 15/02/43 KMS 009G 16/02/43 20/02/43
08/02/43 18/02/43 UGF 005 19/02/43 19/02/43
07/02/43 25/02/43 UGS 005 26/02/43 26/02/43
05/03/43 18/03/43 UGF 006 19/03/43 18/03/43
04/03/43 21/03/43 UGS 006 22/03/43 22/03/43
23/03/43 23/03/43 GUS 005A 26/03/43 15/04/43
16/04/43 20/04/43 KMF 013 23/04/43 23/04/43
17/05/43 17/05/43 KMS 014X 22/05/43 26/05/43
28/04/43 18/05/43 UGS 008 21/05/43 21/05/43
21/06/43 21/06/43 GTX 003 unknown 04/07/43
10/07/43 10/07/43 MWF 037 13/07/43 13/07/43
13/07/43 13/07/43 MEF 037 17/07/43 17/07/43
20/07/43 20/07/43 MWF 038 24/07/43 24/07/43
12/10/43 12/10/43 MKF 024A 17/10/43 18/10/43
27/08/41 29/08/94 ON 010 10/10/94 11/09/41
