HMS Vimy

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Vimy
The sister boat Vanessa as a long range escort
The sister boat Vanessa as a long range escort
Ship data
flag United KingdomUnited Kingdom (Naval War Flag) United Kingdom
Ship type Destroyer
escort boat
class V- and W-class
long range escort
Shipyard Beardmore & Co. , Dalmuir
Build number 563
Keel laying June 30, 1916
Launch December 28, 1917
Commissioning March 9, 1918
reactivation July 1939
Decommissioning 1945
Whereabouts scrapped from March 1947
Ship dimensions and crew
length
95.1 m ( Lüa )
91.4 m ( Lpp )
width 8.15 m
Draft Max. up to 3.43 m
displacement Standard : 1,366  ts
1939: 1,120 ts
 
crew 115 men
Machine system
machine 3 Yarrow boilers
2 Brown Curtis turbines
Machine
performance 		27,500 hp (20,226 kW)
Top
speed 		34 kn (63 km / h)
propeller 2
Armament

from 1941:

The HMS Vimy (ID: D33) of the Royal Navy came first as fleet destroyer HMS  Vancouver the V-Class at the end of the First World War and during the Russian Civil War used. In April 1928 the boat was renamed HMS Vimy .
Re- activated shortly before the start of World War II , the Vimy was used to secure the convoys to Great Britain and in 1940 to evacuate British troops from Dunkirk. In 1941 she was the first boat of the class to be converted into a "Long Range Escort". Until the end of the war she remained in service in the anti-submarine defense.

Building history

The Vancouver

The boat was ordered in April 1916 as the first unit of the Royal Navy, which should be named HMS Vancouver after Captain George Vancouver (1757–1798) and the island and city in British Columbia , Canada . The Vancouver was the first V- and W-class destroyer built by Beardmore & Co. in Dalmuir . The destroyer was launched shortly before the end of 1917 and was completed by March 9, 1918. With the Vanessa and Vanity , the shipyard built two sister boats until June and then delivered four S-class destroyers with Tactician , Tara , Tasmania and Tattoo between October 1918 and April 1919, which were started in November 1917 . Of four modified W-Class destroyers still ordered in 1918, only the Vansittart was completed on November 5, 1919, the other orders were canceled again in 1918.

Mission history

The Vancouver joined the Grand Fleet in World War I and in the fall of 1918 was one of thirteen destroyers of the new V and W class among the 20 boats of the 11th destroyer flotilla.
In July 1919, as part of the third replacement of the British intervention units to protect the Baltic States against the Soviet Union and Germany, they moved to the eastern Baltic Sea together with the Vindictive seaplane carrier (twelve aircraft), seven motor torpedo boats and eight other destroyers from the 1st and 3rd destroyer flotilla . On July 26, 1919, she chased the Russian submarine Wepr ' (Вепрь) with the Valorous , which escaped damaged.

HMCS Vancouver , which took over the old name of HMS Vimy in 1928

From 1921 the Vancouver was assigned to the 1st Destroyer Flotilla with the Atlantic Fleet . During a maneuver near Mallorca in July 1922, she rammed the submarine H24 , which lost its turret and periscope . Later the destroyer was used in the Mediterranean fleet.

In April 1928 the boat was in reserve when it was renamed HMS Vimy . The choice of the new name should continue to establish a reference to Canada, as the Vimy ridge was conquered by Canadian troops in 1917 . The Royal Canadian Navy wanted to use the previous name Vancouver for the S-Class destroyer Toreador , which Canada borrowed from the Royal Navy in March 1928 as a training ship. HMS Vimy remained part of the reserve fleet in Portsmouth until 1938 . Like many units in the reserve fleet, the Vimy was commissioned for an inspection by the King in the summer of 1939 and then remained in service.

Service in World War II

At the beginning of the war, the Vimy was assigned to the 11th destroyer flotilla, which still included the HMS Mackay as flotilla leader and the sister boats Vanquisher , Walker , Versatile , Warwick , Whirlwind and Winchelsea . Mainly in the area of ​​the south-western access routes to the British Isles, the Vimy was also deployed to Gibraltar and in the Channel and the North Sea.

In May 1940, the destroyer was assigned to the "Dover Command" and the 19th destroyer flotilla. At the end of the month, the Vimy was used in the evacuation of Dunkirk . Anticipating the need, the Royal Navy sent the boat with 200 additional seamen and marines to Boulogne on May 23 to take over the port organization. She was attacked on the way by the German submarine U 60 . The two torpedoes fired at them failed, however. On May 23, the boat's captain, Lieutenant Commander Colin Donald, and the officer on watch, Sub Lieutenant Webster, were hit by rifle bullets. Webster died instantly, Lt Cdr Donald died in Dover hospital. The replacement for the captain disappeared without a trace on the second day of the evacuation from Dunkirk. The Vimy was able to evacuate 2,976 soldiers, but collided on June 1 in the Gull Channel west of Goodwin Sands with the yacht Amulree , which sank immediately, and suffered damage from air strikes the same day. The Vimy , whose ID had been changed to I33 , was not operational again until August . She now served with the Home Fleet and secured convoys in the area of ​​the "North Western Approaches".

Long-range escort boat

HMS Velox , the last conversion to a long-range escort

From January 1941, the HMS was Vimy as a destroyer of the V- and W-class at a long distance Chaser (long range escort) in the Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth rebuilt. The conversion included the removal of the foremost boiler and the associated front thin chimney. This reduced the speed to a maximum of 25 knots. The vacated space was used in the lower area as an additional bunker room and the upper part received urgently needed crew rooms for the considerably stronger crews for the intensive and longer security missions. The torpedo tubes were also removed and replaced with roll-off devices and launchers for depth charges, and the anti-aircraft guns were modernized and reinforced. In addition, the Vimy received the most modern tracking devices. At least 19 further conversions were carried out based on this model until 1944. In May 1941, the HMS Vimy made a trip to Freetown to complete its tests . There she was ready for action again in June 1941 and took over security tasks on convoy trains to Gibraltar . She was then stationed there in July.

On July 23, she was with the Vidette to secure the damaged cruiser HMS Manchester , which had received heavy bombs and an air torpedo hit as security for a supply convoy to Malta and whose starboard engine was no longer operational and with the destroyer escort Avon Vale and the Wishart on the Back to Gibraltar was. On the 26th, the damaged cruiser arrived there with its fuse.
From September 17, the Vimy formed the security of the convoy HG 73 (25 ships) from Gibraltar to Liverpool with two sloops and eight corvettes . On 20./21. September 1941, the Vimy damaged the Italian submarine Luigi Torelli of the Marconi-class with her depth charges when it tried to attack the convoy west of Gibraltar . From the 24th, the Germans shaded the convoy from the air and attacked it from the 26th with the submarines U 124 , U 200 , U 201 and U 203 . The convoy lost nine merchant ships with a total of 25,818 GRT. On October 1st the convoy and its security reached Liverpool.
In October 1941 the Vimy then returned to Freetown station and also took over security tasks in the direction of Cape Town .

In August 1942, the Vimy accompanied the HMS Queen Elizabeth and the destroyers Pathfinder and Quentin from Freetown across the Atlantic to Norfolk (Virginia) . The battleship went to the shipyard there to repair the damage caused by the Italian torpedo rider attack in Alexandria . The three escort boats moved from Norfolk to Port of Spain , Trinidad in order to strengthen the security forces there. On September 3, 1942 sunk Vimy , Pathfinder and Quentin , the German submarine U 162 northeast of Trinidad on 12 ° 21 '0 "  N , 59 ° 29' 0"  W . With the exception of three dead, the crew of the submarine under Jürgen Wattenberg was captured. The Vimy then discovered a shaft damage that should be repaired in Great Britain. Previously, on September 18, she rescued 17 survivors of the US freighter SS West Lashaway , which was sunk by U 66 on August 30 . Following the repair, the Vimy was assigned to the 2nd Escort Group in October. In February 1943 the group secured the convoy SC118 with Vimy and the destroyers HMS's Vanessa , Witch and the former American Beverley and the British corvettes Campanula , Mignonette , Abelia and the French corvette Lobelia and the US coastguard cutter George M. Bibb . The Germans deployed the submarine groups "Pfeil" and "Haudegen" against the convoy. Vimy and Beverley located the touching German submarine U 187 with HF / DF on February 4, 1943 and sank the boat, which was on its first patrol, with depth charges 966 km south-east of Cape Farewell . 45 men rescued the British boats, only nine men died. The Vimy also launched attacks on other boats and could seriously damage U 267 . On the 8th, the Vimy towed the no longer maneuverable Lobelia that had sunk U 609 and brought the corvette to Iceland by the 10th. On March 20, the Vimy reinforced the security of the attacked convoy HX 229 from Iceland with the corvette Abelia .

In April 1943 the Vimy moved with the Beverley to the 4th Escort Group and secured the convoy ON176 with the destroyer HMS Highlander and five corvettes.

Again on the British coast

In May 1944 the Vimy moved to the "Plymouth Command" and the new 141st Escort Group. The corvette HMCS Kitchener also belonged to the group stationed in Milford Haven . The group supported preparations for the invasion and then secured reinforcement convoys for the troops that had landed. After the bridgeheads had been secured, the boat was mainly used to secure shipping traffic in the canal. After Germany surrendered, the Vimy was decommissioned. In March 1947 it was sold for demolition, which took place in Rosyth in February 1948 .

The long range conversions

Surname BauWerft Launch in service Conversion yard to Final fate
HMS Vimy (D33)
ex HMS Vancouver 		Beardmore 12/28/1917 March 9, 1918 Portsmouth DY 1. – 6.1941 1947 demolished
HMS Viscount (D92) Thornycroft 12/29/1917 03/25/1918 Liverpool 6-12.1941 03.1945 a. D.
HMS  Venomous  (D75)  mod.W J. Brown December 21, 1918 08/24/1919 Greenock
does not have an increased bunker capacity 		11.41-3.1942 1947 demolished
HMS Winchelsea (D46) JS White December 15, 1917 03/15/1918 Sheerness DY 1. – 4.1942 1947 demolished
HMS Vanessa (D29) Beardmore March 16, 1918 04/27/1918 Green & Silley Weir, London 8.41-6.1942 1947 demolished
HMS Whitehall (D77) mod.W Swan Hunter 09/11/1919 July 9, 1924 Sheerness DY 5-8.1942 1945 demolished
HMS  Volunteer  (D46)  mod.W Denny December 21, 1918 November 7, 1919 Rosyth DY 8.42-1.1943 1947 demolished
HMS Vidette (D48) Stephen's 02/28/1918 04/27/1918 Sheerness DY 9.42-1.1943 1947 demolished
HMS Vanquisher (D54) J. Brown 08/18/1917 October 2, 1917 Portsmouth DY 9.42-4.1943 1947 demolished
HMS Warwick (I25) Hawthorn Leslie 12/28/1917 03/18/1918 Dundee 1. – 5.1943 Sunk on February 20th, 1944
HMS Wrestler (D35) Swan Hunter 02/25/1918 05/15/1918 Sheerness DY 1. – 5.1943 06.1944 total loss
HMS Wanderer (D74) mod.W Fairfield May 1, 1919 08/18/1919 Devonport DY 1. – 5.1943 1946 demolished
HMS Walker (I27) Denny 11/29/1917 02/12/1918 Thames 1-6.1943 1946 demolished
HMS Vansittart (D47) mod.W Beardmore 04/17/1919 November 5, 1919 Middlesbrough 1-6.1943 1946 demolished
HMS Vesper (D55) Stephens December 15, 1917 02/28/1918 ?? 1. – 7.1943 1945 a. D.
HMS Watchman (D26) J. Brown December 2, 1917 01/26/1918 Liverpool 4-8.1943 1945 a. D.
HMS Versatile (D32) Hawthorn Leslie 10/31/1917 02/11/1918 Grangemouth 1. – 9.1943 1945 a. D.
HMS Verity (D63) mod.W J. Brown 03/19/1918 09/17/1919 Portsmouth DY 4-10.1943 1947 demolished
HMS Vanoc (H33) J. Brown 06/14/1917 08/15/1917 ?? 4-11.1943 1945 a. D.
HMS Velox (D34) Doxford 11/17/1917 1.04.1918 Sheerness DY 12.43-5.1944 1947 demolished

Individual evidence

  1. ^ S. Stokes: Naval actions of the Russian Civil War. (PDF; 392 kB)
  2. ^ Norman Polmar: Submarines of the Russian and Soviet Navies. P. 66.
  3. ↑ Submarine H24 damaged
  4. ^ Rohwer: Sea War. P. 45.
  5. ^ Rohwer, p. 48.
  6. ↑ a b Rohwer, p. 169.
  7. ^ Rohwer, p. 325.
  8. ↑ Rohwer, p. 340.
  9. ^ Rohwer, p. 347.

literature

  • Norman Polmar: Submarines of the Russian and Soviet Navies 1798–1990. Naval Institute Press (1991)
  • Jürgen Rohwer , Gerhard Hümmelchen : Chronicle of the naval war 1939-1945. Manfred Pawlak VerlagsGmbH, Herrsching 1968, ISBN 3-88199-0097 .
  • Alexander Bredt (Ed.): WEYERS Taschenbuch der Kriegsflotten 1941/1942. Lehmanns Verlag, Munich / Berlin 1941.
  • MJ Whitley: Destroyers of World War 2. Cassell Publishing, 1988, ISBN 1-85409-521-8 .
  • HP Willmott: The Last Century of Sea Power: From Port Arthur to Chanak, 1894-1922. Indiana University Press, 2009.
  • Antony Preston: 'V&W' Class Destroyers 1917–1945 . Macdonald, London 1971, OCLC 464542895 .
  • Alan Raven, Roberts, John: 'V' and 'W' Class Destroyers  (= Man o 'War), Volume 2. Arms & Armor, London 1979, ISBN 0-85368-233-X .

Web links

Commons : V- and W-class destroyers  - collection of images, videos and audio files