HMS ''Stork'' (L81) was a sloop 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 ...

. She was active during 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 ...

, serving in convoy escort groups, and was a successful

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are t ...

vessel, being credited with the destruction of four

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 ...

Construction

''Stork'' was laid down on 19 June 1935 by

William Denny & Brothers William Denny and Brothers Limited, often referred to simply as Denny, was a Scottish shipbuilding company. History The shipbuilding interests of the Denny family date back to William Denny (born 1779), for whom ships are recorded being buil ...

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, one of a series of general purpose vessels that could be employed as escort vessels in time of war. She was launched on 21 April 1936 and commissioned on 10 September the same year. She was completed as an unarmed survey ship, but with provision for an armament of anti-aircraft and

weapons. After commissioning ''Stork'' was sent to join the

Commander-in-Chief, China The Commander-in-Chief, China was the admiral in command of what was usually known as the China Station, at once both a British Royal Navy naval formation and its admiral in command. It was created in 1865 and deactivated in 1941. From 1831 to 18 ...

, and operated in Malayan waters until 1939. With war in Europe looming she returned to Devonport in early 1939 for refit and for installation of her main armament and anti-aircraft guns.G Mason
navalhistory.net
/ref>

Service history

At the outbreak of hostilities in September 1939 ''Stork'' was still refitting; by November she had completed trials and was assigned to convoy escort duty in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

, on the east coast routes. In April 1940 ''Stork'' took part in the Norwegian Campaign and at Narvik came under air attack, assisting later in the rescue of survivors from the transport . In September 1940 ''Stork'' was damaged by air attack on an east coast convoy and spent the next six months in dock. ''Stork'' completed repairs and trials in June 1941 and in August, under the command of Cdr FJ "Johnnie" Walker, was assigned to lead the 36th Escort Group (36 EG), employed escorting convoys to and from

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

and the South Atlantic. In December 1941, while off Gibraltar, ''Stork'' and ''Samphire'' attacked ''U-568'', which was damaged and forced to return to base. Later that month ''Stork'' and 36EG escorted HG 76 from Gibraltar homeward, augmented by the new escort carrier and other ships. During the journey five U-boats were sunk, four by ships of 36 EG, with ''Stork'' taking part in the destruction of , and , which was depth-charged and rammed by ''Stork''. ''Stork'' continued with 36 EG until mid-1942. On 14 April, while with OG 82 ''Stork'' and the corvette sank . In June, HG 84 came under attack by Endrass group; Five ships were sunk, but Walker and 36EG were commended for their vigorous defence. During this action ''Stork'' and ''Gardenia'' attacked and damaged ''U-132'', forcing it to retire. In August Walker took command of 20th Escort Group, with ''Stork'' as senior ship. 20EG designated as a support group, but after two trips (with ON 132 and SC 102) the group was disbanded to provide escorts for Operation Torch. While escorting Torch convoy KMS 1 in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

''Stork'' was torpedoed by off

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

on 12 November. She was towed to Gibraltar for temporary repairs and then taken to Falmouth for further repairs. In June 1943, under new command, ''Stork'' joined the 37th Escort Group and on 30 August 1943, while escorting SL 135, she and the corvette sank in the North Atlantic east of the Azores. In 1944 she was part of the 116th Escort Group supporting

Operation Neptune Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

. In January 1945, with the war in Europe drawing to a conclusion, ''Stork'' was docked for refitting at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

prior to joining the

British Pacific Fleet The British Pacific Fleet (BPF) was a Royal Navy formation that saw action against Japan during the Second World War. The fleet was composed of empire naval vessels. The BPF formally came into being on 22 November 1944 from the remaining ships o ...

, but the work was delayed and not completed before the Japanese surrender, and the war's end. ''Stork'' was put in reserve but in January 1946 was re-commissioned as the Senior Officer's ship in the

Fishery Protection Squadron The Overseas Patrol Squadron (known as the Fishery Protection Squadron until 2020) is a front-line squadron of the Royal Navy with responsibility for patrolling the UK's Extended Fisheries Zone, both at home and around British Overseas Territorie ...

where she served for two years before being put in reserve again. She was decommissioned and broken up in 1958.

Battle honours

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

1940 * North Sea 1940 *

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

1940-44 *

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

1942 *

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

1944HMS ''Stork'': Battle Honours
at britainsnavy.co.uk; retrieved 8 July 2020

Successes

During her service ''Stork'' was credited with the destruction of four U-boats:

Notes

References

* Clay Blair, ''Hitler’s U-Boat War Vol I '' (1996). * Clay Blair : ''Hitler's U-Boat War Vol II'' (1998) * * * * Paul Kemp : ''U-Boats Destroyed'' ( 1997) . * * Axel Neistle : ''German U-Boat Losses during World War II'' (1998). * * Warlow, B : ''Battle Honours of the Royal Navy'' (2004) * DEG Wemyss : ''Walker's Groups in the Western Approaches'' (1948)

External links

– naval-history.net

– uboat.net

– britainsnavy.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Stork 1936 ships Bittern-class sloops Survey vessels of the Royal Navy World War II escort ships of the United Kingdom