HMS Serapis (G94)

HMS ''Serapis'' was an S-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy. The ship was built by Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company from 1941 to 1943, and was launched on 25 March 1943 and completed on 25 December 1943.

''Serapis'' operated with the Home Fleet during the Second World War, escorting Arctic Convoys and taking part in the Invasion of Normandy in 1944. After the end of the war, the ship was sold to The Netherlands, being renamed HNLMS ''Piet Hein''. ''Piet Hein'' served in Indonesian War of Independence and the Korean War. She was sold for scrap in 1962.

Design and construction

The British Admiralty ordered the eight destroyers of the S class on 9 January 1941 as the 5th Emergency Flotilla. The S class were War Emergency Programme destroyers, intended for general duties, including use as anti-submarine escort, and were to be suitable for mass-production. They were based on the hull and machinery of the pre-war J-class destroyers, but with a lighter armament (effectively whatever armament was available) in order to speed production.

The S class were long overall, at the waterline and between perpendiculars, with a beam of and a draught of mean and full load. Displacement was standard and full load. Two Admiralty 3-drum water-tube boilers supplied steam at and to two sets of Parsons single-reduction geared steam turbines, which drove two propeller shafts. The machinery was rated at giving a maximum speed of and at full load. 615 tons of oil were carried, giving a range of at .

The ship had a main gun armament of four 4.7-inch (120 mm) QF Mk. IX guns, capable of elevating to an angle of 55 degrees, giving a degree of anti-aircraft capability. The close-in anti-aircraft armament was one Hazemayer stabilised twin mount for the Bofors 40 mm gun and eight Oerlikon 20 mm cannons (four twin mounts). Two quadruple mounts for 21-inch (533 mm) torpedoes were fitted, while the ship had an depth charge outfit of four depth charge mortars and two racks, with a total of 70 charges carried.

''Serapis'' was fitted with a Type 272 surface warning radar and a high-frequency direction finding (HF/DF) aerial on the ship's lattice foremast, together with a Type 291 air warning radar on a pole mast aft. A Type 285 fire control radar integrated with the ship's high-angle gun director, while the Hazemayer mount had an integrated Type 282 radar. She had a crew of 179 officers and other ranks.

''Serapis'' was laid down at Scotts', Greenock shipyard on 14 August 1941 and was launched on 25 March 1943. She was completed on 23 December 1943, and assigned the pennant number G94.

Service

Royal Navy

After commissioning and workup, ''Serapis'' joined the 23rd Destroyer Flotilla of the Home Fleet based at Scapa Flow. On 22 February 1944, ''Serapis'' joined the ocean escort for the Arctic Convoy JW 57, remaining with it until arriving at the Kola Inlet on 28 February and also escorted the return convoy RA 57 from Russia to Loch Ewe. On 29 March, ''Serapis'' joined the next Russia bound convoy, JW 58, escorting it until 4 April and the return convoy RA 58 from 29 March until 4 April.

In June 1944, ''Serapis'', along with the rest of the 23rd Flotilla, took part in the Allied Invasion of France, supporting landings on Sword Beach on 6 June, and continuing to provide gunfire support for the fighting on land and carry out escort operations until August. After Normandy duties ended, ''Serapis'' returned to the Home Fleet, escorting the aircraft carriers and as their aircraft carried out anti-shipping strikes and minelaying operations off the coast of Norway on 14–15 October and the carriers ''Trumpeter'' and for more air strikes and minelaying operations off Norway on 24 October. From 2 November to 6 November, ''Serapis'' formed part of the escort for Convoy JW 61A, which consisted of two troopships, and , carrying 11,000 Soviet citizens who had been captured in Normandy while fighting for the German Army, and from 11 to 16 November escorted the two troopships on their return journey as Convoy RA 61A.

From 7–12 December 1944, ''Serapis'' took part in Operation Urbane, a minelaying and anti-shipping survey by the carriers , and ''Trumpeter''. From 1 January to 8 January 1945, ''Serapis'' escorted Convoy JW 63 to the Kola Inlet, and from 11 to 21 January, the return Convoy RA 63 back to Loch Ewe. ''Serapis'' formed part of the ocean escort for Arctic Convoy JW 64 from 6 to 15 February and the return convoy RA 64 from 17 to 28 February, her last Arctic Convoy. Carrier sweeps against Norwegian coastal waters continued, with ''Serapis'' taking part in Operation Cupola (escorting , ''Premier'' and ) from 19 to 21 March and Operations Muscular and Prefix (escorting ''Searcher'', ''Puncher'', ''Queen'' and ) from 24 to 29 March 1945. From 31 March to 17 June 1945, ''Serapis'' was refitted at Immingham and then returned to the Home Fleet, carrying out occupation duties at Wilhelmshaven in July.

Royal Netherlands Navy

In September 1945, the Netherlands agreed to purchase four British destroyers to help to re-equip the Royal Netherlands Navy, the three S-class destroyers ''Serapis'', and and the Q-class destroyer . ''Serapis'' was commissioned into Netherlands service on 5 October 1945, with the new name ''Piet Hein''. She left Sheerness on 28 October on passage for Batavia in the Dutch East Indies via the Mediterranean and Ceylon. She took part in the Indonesian War of Independence, as the Dutch attempted to regain control of the East Indies from the Indonesian nationalists, and this led to Australian dock workers refusing to carry out repairs on ''Piet Hein'' in June 1946. ''Piet Hein'' also took part in the Korean War in 1952, and on 17 July 1952, together with the American destroyers and , captured two Sampans and 10 prisoners. ''Piet Hein'' was also credited with destroying a North Korean train during the war.

On 12 August 1954, ''Piet Hein'' along with the destroyers ''Marnix'' and ''Evertsen'', escorted the Norwegian Royal Yacht , carrying King Haakon VII of Norway on a Royal Visit to the Netherlands, to Ijmuiden. ''Piet Hein'' had her anti-aircraft armament modified in 1956–57, becoming six Bofors 40 mm guns. She was converted to a fast frigate from 1957 to 1958, with a helicopter pad being fitted aft of the ship's funnel, with the ship's armament unchanged. ''Piet Hein'' recommissioned on 1 July 1958, but was sold for scrap in 1962, being broken up at Ghent from 30 May 1962.

References

Publications

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External links

HMS SERAPIS (G 94) - S-class Destroyer
at Naval-history.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Serapis (G94)
S and T-class destroyers
Ships built on the River Clyde
1943 ships
World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom
S-class destroyers of the Royal Netherlands Navy