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DeutschHMS Whaddon (L45)
 Whaddon, 19 June 1942 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Whaddon |
| Ordered | 11 April 1939 |
| Builder | Alexander Stephen & Sons, Linthouse, Govan |
| Yard number | Admiralty Job No.1472 |
| Laid down | 27 July 1939 |
| Launched | 16 July 1940 |
| Commissioned | 28 February 1941 |
| Identification | Pennant number: L45 |
| Honours and awards |
|
| Fate | Scrapped in April 1959 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Type I Hunt-class destroyer |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 85 m (278 ft 10 in) o/a |
| Beam | 8.8 m (28 ft 10 in) |
| Draught | 3.27 m (10 ft 9 in) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed |
|
| Range |
|
| Complement | 146 |
| Armament |
|
HMS Whaddon (L45) was a Type I Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy built by Alexander Stephen & Sons of Linthouse, Govan and launched on 16 July 1940. She was laid down on 27 July 1939 and commissioned 28 February 1941. She was adopted by the civil community of Newport Pagnell in Buckinghamshire, as part of the Warship Week campaign in 1942.
Design
[edit]The Hunt-class was meant to fill the Royal Navy's need for a large number of small destroyer-type vessels capable of both convoy escort and operations with the fleet, and were designed with a heavy anti-aircraft armament of six 4-inch anti-aircraft guns and a speed of 29 knots (33 mph; 54 km/h).[1][2] An error during design, which was only discovered once the first ship of the class Atherstone was built, meant that the ships as designed were dangerously unstable. To restore stability, the first 23 Hunts, including Whaddon, were modified during construction by removing a twin 4-inch mount, cutting down the ships' superstructure and adding ballast. These ships were known as Type I Hunts.[3][4] Later ships in the class had their beam increased, which allowed them to carry the originally intended armament, and were known as Type II Hunts.[5]
The type I Hunts were 264 feet 3 inches (80.54 m) long between perpendiculars and 280 feet (85.34 m) overall. The ship's beam was 29 feet 0 inches (8.84 m) and draught 7 feet 9 inches (2.36 m). Displacement was 1,000 long tons (1,000 t) standard and 1,360 long tons (1,380 t) under full load. Two Admiralty boilers raising steam at 300 pounds per square inch (2,100 kPa) and 620 °F (327 °C) fed Parsons single-reduction geared steam turbines that drove two propeller shafts, generating 19,000 shaft horsepower (14,000 kW) at 380 rpm. This gave a speed of 27.5 knots (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph).[6]
The ship's main gun armament was four 4 inch (102 mm) QF Mk XVI dual purpose (anti-ship and anti-aircraft) guns in two twin mounts, with one mount forward and one aft. Additional close-in anti-aircraft armament was provided by a quadruple 2-pounder "pom-pom" mount.[7][6] Type I Hunts were later modified by adding two single Oerlikon 20 mm cannon on the bridge wings.[8] Up to 40 depth charges could be carried.[6][9] The ship had a complement of 146 officers and men.[6]
Construction
[edit]Whaddon was ordered on 11 April 1939, as part of the second batch of ten Hunts authorised under the 1939 Royal Navy construction programme. The ship was laid down at Alexander Stephen and Sons' Linthouse, Govan shipyard on 27 July 1939,[10] with the yard number 572.[11] The destroyer was launched on 16 July 1940 and completed on 28 February 1941.[10] Whaddon, named for the Fox hunt based at the Buckinghamshire village of the same name,[12] was the first ship of that name to serve with the Royal Navy.[13] She was allocated the pennant number L45.[14]
Service history
[edit]Following commissioning, Whaddon joined the Rosyth Escort Force, where she was employed as a convoy escort in the North Sea, continuing with these operations for the rest of 1941 and throughout 1942. On During 1941 and 1942 she was on North Sea Convoy escort duties.[15]
She was then allocated to the Mediterranean Fleet in March 1943 where she undertook escort and patrol duties and provided cover for the allied landings in Sicily and Salerno.
On 29 September 1945 Whaddon sailed from Gibraltar to Devonport and was placed in reserve.[16] She was scrapped at Faslane in April 1959. She has since had a British Sea Cadet Corps unit named after it, T.S Whaddon, located in Milton Keynes.
References
[edit]- ^ English 1987, pp. 7–9.
- ^ Friedman 2008, pp. 71–72.
- ^ English 1987, pp. 10–11.
- ^ Friedman 2008, pp. 75–77.
- ^ English 1987, pp. 11–12.
- ^ a b c d Lenton 1970, p. 87.
- ^ Gardiner & Chesneau 1980, p. 47.
- ^ Lenton 1970, p. 85.
- ^ Friedman 2008, p. 319.
- ^ a b English 1987, p. 16.
- ^ "Whaddon". Scottish Built Ships: The History of Shipbuilding in Scotland. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
- ^ Manning & Walker 1959, p. 485.
- ^ Colledge & Warlow 2006, p. 385.
- ^ English 1987, p. 106.
- ^ English 1987, p. 101.
- ^ Critchley, Mike, "British Warships Since 1945: Part 3: Destroyers", Maritime Books: Liskeard, UK, 1982. ISBN 0-9506323-9-2, page 29
Bibliography
[edit]- Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
- English, John (1987). The Hunts: A history of the design, development and careers of the 86 destroyers of this class built for the Royal and Allied Navies during World War II. World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-44-4.
- Friedman, Norman (2008). British Destroyers and Frigates: The Second World War and After. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-015-4.
- Gardiner, Robert; Chesneau, Roger, eds. (1980). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
- Lenton, H.T. (1970). Navies of the Second World War: British Fleet & Escort Destroyers Volume Two. London: Macdonald & Co. ISBN 0-356-03122-5.
- Manning, T. D.; Walker, C. F. (1959). British Warship Names. London: Putnam.
External links
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