HMS ''Finisterre'' was a of the Royal Navy (RN). She was named after one of the battles of Cape Finisterre. She was the first and thus far the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear this name. ''Finisterre'' was built by Fairfields of Govan on the Clyde. She was laid down on 8 December 1942, launched on 22 June 1944 and completed on 11 September 1945.

Operational service

HMS Finisterre (D55) in the North Atlantic 1961

''Finnisterre'' first joined the

Home Fleet The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy that operated from the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967. In 1967, it was merged with the Mediterranean Fleet creating the new Western Fleet. Before the First ...

upon her commissioning. After being in the Far East for some time, in which she performed a variety of duties there, ''Finisterre'' returned to the UK via the Mediterranean. In January 1950, ''Finisterre'' took part in the rescue attempt of the submarine , which had sunk after colliding with the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

merchant ship ''Divina'' in the Thames Estuary. The collision had resulted in the loss of 64 of those on board. The following year ''Finisterre'' became the Gunnery Training Ship, based at Whale Island, Portsmouth as part of . In 1953, ''Finisterre'' took part in the 1953

Coronation Fleet Review A fleet review or naval review is an event where a gathering of ships from a particular navy is paraded and reviewed by an incumbent head of state and/or other official civilian and military dignitaries. A number of national navies continue to ...

to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. ''Finisterre'' was positioned adjacent to her

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

. The following year ''Finisterre'' was placed in Reserve. After her sister ship, , collided with an Indian cruiser in August 1959, ''Finisterre'' replaced her in the 1st Destroyer Squadron, based in the Far East. She took over duties of her sister ship, , to complete a tour of Australia over the Christmas period of 1959. ''Finisterre'', as part of that squadron, subsequently saw service with the

Home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. H ...

and Mediterranean Fleets. She was one of a number of Royal Navy ships stationed off Kuwait to keep the peace as the country gained its independence in 1961.

Decommissioning and disposal

She arrived for scrapping at the yard of W.H.Arnott Young Co. Ltd, Dalmuir on 12 June 1967.

References

Publications

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Finisterre (D55) Battle-class destroyers of the Royal Navy Ships built in Govan 1944 ships Cold War destroyers of the United Kingdom