HMS ''Onslaught'' was an O-class destroyer of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

which entered service in 1941. She was originally to have been named ''Pathfinder'', but this was changed during construction. She was adopted by the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

as part of the

Warship Week Warship Weeks were British National savings campaigns during the Second World War, with the aim of a Royal Navy warship being adopted by a civil community. During the early parts of the war, the Royal Navy not only had lost many capital ships bu ...

campaign in 1942. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

she was sold to Pakistan and scrapped in 1977.

Service history

Second World War service

On 19 June 1942 ''Onslaught'' was commissioned for service in the 17th Destroyer Flotilla, as part of the Home Fleet. She took part in convoy escort duties throughout the war, including the

Arctic convoys The Arctic convoys of World War II were oceangoing convoys which sailed from the United Kingdom, Iceland, and North America to northern ports in the Soviet Union – primarily Arkhangelsk (Archangel) and Murmansk in Russia. There were 78 convoys ...

and the Battle of the Atlantic. She also undertook patrol duties in the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

during the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

in 1944.

Postwar service

''Onslaught'' remained in commission after

VJ Day Victory over Japan Day (also known as V-J Day, Victory in the Pacific Day, or V-P Day) is the day on which Imperial Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect bringing the war to an end. The term has been applied to both of the days on ...

and in September 1945 was deployed for training duties at Portsmouth Gunnery School, HMS ''Excellent''. In December she was detached to take part in

Operation Deadlight Operation Deadlight was the code name for the Royal Navy operation of November 1945 – February 1946 to scuttle German U-boats surrendered to the Allies after the defeat of Germany near the end of World War II. Operation Of the 156 U-boats ...

, the destruction of surrendered

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...

s in the Northwestern Approaches. Between 1946 and 1949 she was used as a submarine target ship in the Clyde. The ship was paid off early in 1950 and put on the Disposal List.

Pakistan service

She was transferred to the Pakistan Navy on 3 March 1951 and renamed PNS ''Tughril''. In 1957 the ship was converted at Liverpool to a Type 16 anti-submarine frigate and remained on the Active List until 1975. She was scrapped in 1977.

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Onslaught (G04) O and P-class destroyers Ships built in Govan 1942 ships World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom O-class destroyers of the Pakistan Navy