H . M . S . W H I T L E Y ( L 2 3 )
W-Class
destroyer included in the 10th Order of the 1916-17 Programme for build by Doxford and laid down in June 1917. This
ship was intended to be named HMS WHITBY but, as the name was incorrectly
written when selected, she was given
the name WHITLEY when launched on 13th April 1918. She was the first RN
ship to carry the name and build was
completed on 11th October that year. During 1919-20 she served in the Baltic
for operations against the Bolsheviks.
The ship was placed in the Reserve Fleet by 1921 as part of the 9th Destroyer Flotilla at Rosyth and did not
serve with the Fleet in the inter-war years. As pert of the rearmament
programme in 1938 she was the first of this
Class to be selected for conversion to an AA Escort (WAIR) by HM Dockyard
Chatham. Her conversion began in August
1938 and on completion in 1939 she commissioned for service.
B a t t
l e H o n o u r s
None are
recorded.
H e r a
l d i c D a t a
Badge :
On a Field Red, the Mace of the Speaker of the House of Commons.
M o t t
o
'Silence
is golden'
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 defence of East Coast convoys with Rosyth
Escort Force.
to (Note : Her conversion which included installation
of dual purpose twin 4" guns ideally suited to
December defence of convoys from air attack or by E-Boats).
1 9 4 0
January East Coast convoy defence in continuation.
12th During escort of Convoy FN12 from the Thanes estuary
to the Forth came under air attacks which
which were driven off.
February East coast convoy defence in continuation.
to
April
May Transferred to Dover Command.
Deployed under French naval control for support
to French shore operations. (Operation FA).
19th Damaged in dive bombing attacks 2 miles off Nieuport.
Beached and later destroyed by gunfire from HM
Destroyer KEITH.
Addendum
CONVOY ESCORT MOVEMENTS of
HMS
WHITLEY
by Don Kindell
Date convoy
Joined
convoy
Convoy
No.
Left convoy Date
convoy
sailed as
escort
arrived
14/10/39 14/10/39 FS 0021 16/10/39 16/10/39
26/10/39 26/10/39 FS 0027 28/10/39 28/10/39
01/11/39 01/11/39 FS 0030 03/11/39 03/11/39
11/11/39 11/11/39 FS 0035 13/11/39 13/11/39
17/11/39 17/11/39 FS 0038 19/11/39 19/11/39
09/12/39 09/12/39 FS 0052 10/12/39 10/12/39
20/12/39 20/12/39 FS 0057 22/12/39 22/12/39
24/01/40 24/01/40 FS 0079 25/01/40 25/01/40
26/01/40 26/01/40 FN 0080 27/01/40 27/01/40
01/02/40 01/02/40 FS 0084 03/02/40 03/02/40
06/02/40 06/02/40 FN 0086 09/02/40 09/02/40
10/02/40 10/02/40 FS 0092 12/02/40 12/02/40
13/02/40 13/02/40 FN 0093 15/02/40 15/02/40
20/02/40 20/02/40 FS 0101 22/02/40 22/02/40
02/03/40 02/03/40 FS 0110 04/03/40 04/03/40
09/03/40 09/03/40 FS 0117 11/03/40 11/03/40
23/03/40 23/03/40 FS 0127 25/03/40 25/03/40
30/03/40 30/03/40 FS 0133 01/04/40 01/04/40
10/04/40 10/04/40 FS 0142 12/04/40 12/04/40
22/04/40 22/04/40 FS 0153 24/04/40 24/04/40
04/05/40 04/05/40 FS 0162 06/05/40 06/05/40
