HMS ''Wanderer'' (D74/I74) was an Admiralty modified
W class destroyer built for 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 F ...
. She was the seventh RN ship to carry the name ''Wanderer''. She was ordered in January 1918 to be built at the
Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company
The Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Limited was a Scottish shipbuilding company in the Govan area on the Clyde in Glasgow. Fairfields, as it is often known, was a major warship builder, turning out many vessels for the Royal Navy ...
,
Govan
Govan ( ; Cumbric?: ''Gwovan'?''; Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of south-west City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south ba ...
in
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
, being launched in May 1919. She served through
World War II
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 opposin ...
where she was jointly credited with five kills on
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
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 role ...
s, more than any other ship of her class.
[naval-history.net] In December 1941 the community of
Sutton Coldfield
Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, known locally as Sutton ( ), is a town and civil parish in the City of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles south ...
in
Warwickshire
Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...
officially adopted her.
In 1943 she was one of twenty one V&W class destroyers to be converted as
Long Range Escorts. She was decommissioned after the war and sold for scrap in 1946.
Construction
HMS ''Wanderer''
's keel was laid down on 7 August 1918 at
Fairfield's shipyard in
Govan
Govan ( ; Cumbric?: ''Gwovan'?''; Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of south-west City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south ba ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
.
[uboat.net, HMS Wanderer] She was launched on 1 May 1919 and the build was completed on 18 August.
The average cost for this class of ship was £262,478 which could be divided into hull cost of £104,726 (weighing 548 tons) and machinery cost of £109,308 (weighing 417 tons).
[Whinney 1986, p.79-81]
She was 312 feet overall in length with a beam of 29.5 feet. Her mean draught was 9 feet, and would reach 11.7 feet under full load. She had a displacement of 1,112 tons as standard.
[Janes fighting ships]
She was propelled by three
Yarrow type 250 pound per square inch water tube boilers, powering
Brown-Curtis geared independent oil fuelled
steam turbines
A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...
developing 27,120
SHP and driving two
screws
A screw and a bolt (see '' Differentiation between bolt and screw'' below) are similar types of fastener typically made of metal and characterized by a helical ridge, called a ''male thread'' (external thread). Screws and bolts are used to fa ...
at 260
RPM
Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines.
Standards
ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...
for a maximum designed speed of 34 knots.
She was oil-fired and had a bunkerage of 320 to 350 tons. This gave a range of between 3500 nautical miles at 15 knots to 900 nautical miles at 32 knots.
She shipped four
BL 4.7 in (120-mm) Mk.I guns on CP VI mountings in four single centre-line turrets. The turrets were disposed as two forward and two aft in super imposed firing positions. She also carried two
QF 2 pounder Mk.II (40 mm L/39) ("Pom poms") mounted abeam between funnels and five
Light machine gun
A light machine gun (LMG) is a light-weight machine gun designed to be operated by a single infantryman, with or without an assistant, as an infantry support weapon. LMGs firing cartridges of the same caliber as the other riflemen of the sam ...
s (4 were
Lewis guns and 1 was a
Maxim
Maxim or Maksim may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine
** ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition
** ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition
*Maxim Radio, ''Maxim'' magazine's radio channel on Sir ...
). Abaft of the 2nd funnel, she carried six
21-inch Torpedo Tubes in two triple mountings on the centre-line.
Inter war service
She was initially commissioned to the 3rd Flotilla,
Atlantic Fleet on 18 September 1919
National Maritime Museum
The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the United ...
, Warship Histories, vol.iv, vessel id.365719 and later moved to the
Mediterranean Fleet
The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between t ...
. Then in 1931 she was deployed at
Chatham Naval Base as a training vessel.
Shortly before the war broke out she was deployed with the
15th Destroyer Flotilla at
Rosyth
Rosyth ( gd, Ros Fhìobh, "headland of Fife") is a town on the Firth of Forth, south of the centre of Dunfermline. According to the census of 2011, the town has a population of 13,440.
The new town was founded as a Garden city-style suburb ...
.
Second World War service
1939
At the outbreak of WWII in September 1939 ''Wanderer'' was sent to
Plymouth Navy Base to join the
Western Approaches
The Western Approaches is an approximately rectangular area of the Atlantic Ocean lying immediately to the west of Ireland and parts of Great Britain. Its north and south boundaries are defined by the corresponding extremities of Britain. The c ...
Command along with her flotilla (
''Vanity'',
''Vansittart'',
''Volunteer'',
''Whitehall'',
''Witch'',
''Witherington'' and
''Wolverine'), then on the 13th she was sent with HMS
''Whirlwind'' to escort convoy
OB4 on its initial outward journey.
1940
On 7 January 1940 she arrived at Gibraltar together with HMS Aberdeen as escorts to convoy OG-13F (23 ships).
Convoy duties continued until 27 April 1940 when she was transferred to 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 ...
to support the evacuation of Allied troops from
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 t ...
in
Operation Alphabet
Operation Alphabet was an evacuation, authorised on 24 May 1940, of Allied (British, French and Polish) troops from the harbour of Narvik in northern Norway marking the success of Operation Weserübung (the German invasion of 9 April) and the ...
. On 29 April along with five other destroyers (
''Somali'',
''Mashona'',
''Sikh'',
''Walker'' and
''Westcott'') and the
light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...
s
''Sheffield'',
''Arethusa'' and
''Galatea'' she took passage to
Åndalsnes
is a town in Rauma Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. Åndalsnes is in the administrative center of Rauma Municipality. It is located along the Isfjorden, at the mouth of the river Rauma, at the north end of the Romsdalen valley. ...
.
During the operation ''Wanderer'' rescued 150 troops but became grounded and had to be towed free by HMS ''Sikh''.
On 3 May her
pendant number
In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...
was changed to I74 as the Royal Navy were changing identities for all their ships in order to hopefully confuse the enemy.
Took part in
Operation Cycle
Operation Cycle is the name of the evacuation of Allied troops from Le Havre, in the Pays de Caux of Upper Normandy from 1940, towards the end of the Battle of France, during the Second World War. The operation was preceded by the better kno ...
, the evacuation of Allied troops from
Le Havre
Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, on 6–7 June 1940.
In August with
HMS ''Anthony'' rescued 55 survivors (between them) of the British merchantman ''Jamaica Pioneer''.
1941
Whilst escorting to convoy OB239 on 2 June 1941 along with the
corvette
A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...
HMS ''Periwinkle'' she attacked and sunk the first of her five confirmed
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 role ...
kills, to the west of
Skerryvore at .
She was involved in the initial stages of
Operation Substance
Operation Substance was a British naval operation in July 1941 during the Second World War to escort convoy GM 1, the first of the series from Gibraltar to Malta. The convoy defended by Force H was attacked by Italian submarines, aircraft, and ...
in July 1941, escorting the convoy WS9C through the North West Approaches and in August she was escorting SL81 when it was spotted by the who called for support. When on her maiden patrol arrived they attacked together but ''Wanderer'' along with
HNoMS ''St Albans'' and
HMS ''Hydrangea'' managed to destroy ''U-401'' at South-West of
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
.
SL81 was harried for the next two days by submarine and air attacks with the loss of five ships, until it reached safer waters with
RAF
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
support.
On the evening of 18 Aug ''Wanderer'' was signalled by the C-in-C Western Approaches "Proceed OG 71 and carry out sweep astern of convoy for two hours before returning. Convoy is being shadowed by U boats".
OG 71 was an outbound convoy to Gibraltar that was destined to have a hard time and in fact by the time ''Wanderer'' arrived the Norwegian destroyer had already been sunk by torpedoes, so ''Wanderer'' joined ''Hydrangea'' in rescuing 42 survivors (although 2 later died aboard ''Hydrangea'').
1942
![HMS Wanderer 026-g-031-052-001](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/HMS_Wanderer_026-g-031-052-001.jpg)
Escort duties continued in the Atlantic theatre and in September ''Wanderer'' entered the
US Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...
's
Brooklyn shipyard for repairs or refit.
1943
LRE conversion
January to May 1943 was spent at
HMNB Devonport
His Majesty's Naval Base, Devonport (HMNB Devonport) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Portsmouth) and is the sole nuclear repair and refuelling facility for the Roy ...
under refit and conversion as a
long range escort; the No.1 boiler (and her forward funnel) was removed to provide space for more fuel tanks and crew quarters; two of her main guns (A and Y) were landed and replaced with a
Hedgehog
A hedgehog is a spiny mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, in the eulipotyphlan family Erinaceidae. There are seventeen species of hedgehog in five genera found throughout parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in New Zealand by introducti ...
ahead-throwing weapon forward and depth charge stowage and launchers aft; the torpedo tubes were replaced with depth charge stowage and a pair of
Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original German Becker Type M2 20 mm cannon design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models emplo ...
amidships, with a further pair in the bridge wings; the 2-pounders were removed; her gunnery director tower and torpedo control were removed from the bridge to be replaced by an
ASDICS control cabinet; she was fitted with Type 144
ASDICS (Sonar),
Type 271 target indication radar and
Type 291 air warning radar; the latest
Wireless telegraphy
Wireless telegraphy or radiotelegraphy is transmission of text messages by radio waves, analogous to electrical telegraphy using cables. Before about 1910, the term ''wireless telegraphy'' was also used for other experimental technologies for ...
(W/T),
Radio transmitter
In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...
(R/T) and
High-frequency direction finding
High-frequency direction finding, usually known by its abbreviation HF/DF or nickname huff-duff, is a type of radio direction finder (RDF) introduced in World War II. High frequency (HF) refers to a radio band that can effectively communicate over ...
(H/F D/F) equipment was installed; and
Carley rafts were fitted throughout.
The effect of removing the boiler was to reduce maximum speed to 27.5 knots, but the increase in fuel increased her range, and her crew complement was raised to 193.
Back in service
In July she began by escorting a convoy of troop ships for the
Allied invasion of Sicily
The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers ( Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It bega ...
, known as Operation Husky.
[Whinney 1986, p.90-91] On 25 August, during a convoy from Britain to
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 ...
she came into radar contact with a surfaced at about 4.30am.
[Whinney 1986, p.95-102] When they closed to within 2,800 yards the U-boat submerged and they had to pick her up on sonar.
They lost contact temporarily as the submarine headed underneath the convoy ships but the eventually picked her up again and with corvette
HMS ''Wallflower'' began Hedgehog and depth charge runs.
''U-523'' was forced to surface and the Allied ships turned their main armaments on them, forcing the Germans to abandon the submarine; 17 were lost but the other 37 were rescued
[uboat.net, U-523] and ''U-523'' sank at . The following day ''Wanderer'' landed an advance
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
party in
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
as part of
Operation Alacrity
Operation Alacrity was the code name for a possible Allied seizure of Azores during World War II. It never took place because Portugal agreed to an Allied request for use of air bases. The islands were of enormous strategic value in the defeat ...
, the occupation of leased air bases in the
Azores
)
, motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace")
, anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores")
, image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg
, map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union
, map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...
.
[Whinney 1986, p.104-105]
''Wanderer'' was deployed to the close escort group for
Convoy JW 55B
Convoy JW 55B was an Arctic convoy sent from Great Britain by the Western Allies to aid the Soviet Union during World War II. It sailed in late December 1943, reaching the Soviet northern ports at the end of the month. All ships arrived safely.
...
which was a part of the
Russian convoys, sailing from
Loch Ewe
Loch Ewe ( gd, Loch Iùbh) is a sea loch in the region of Wester Ross in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. The shores are inhabited by a traditionally Gàidhlig-speaking people living in or sustained by crofting villages, the most notab ...
on 20 December when she had to rescue a young seaman that fell overboard; although they had him inboard with the doctor within seven minutes the cold killed him. The close escort group remained with the convoy well up into the
Arctic Circle
The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle.
The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at w ...
before they turned for home to refuel.
[Whinney 1986, p.114-116] A few days afterwards warships from JW 55B were involved in the
Battle of the North Cape
The Battle of the North Cape was a Second World War naval battle that occurred on 26 December 1943, as part of the Arctic campaign. The , on an operation to attack Arctic Convoys of war materiel from the Western Allies to the Soviet Union, was ...
.
1944
On 17 January ''Wanderer'' was searching for a German blockade runner along with
frigate
A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat.
The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...
and the corvette when they detected a weak sonar contact to the south west of
Cape Clear which turned out to be a U-boat. Together they carried out several Hedgehog attacks, with little effect, before ''Wanderer'' made a fast depth-charge barrage attack which sank the U-boat at .
[Whinney 1986, p.12-18] The U-boat was identified as but recent research suggests she may have been .
[Niestle]
The Loss of ''U-305'', ''U-377'' and ''U-641''
, ''ubootwaffe.net''
During 22 to 27 February ''Wanderer'' accompanied
aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...
on the Russian
Convoy JW 57 which was attacked by U-boats with the loss of one destroyer. ''Wanderer'' then took passage with the rest of her Escort Group to the
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...
to refuel but they were caught in a gale which three ships in the group registered as Force 12 on the
Beaufort scale
The Beaufort scale is an empirical measure that relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or on land. Its full name is the Beaufort wind force scale.
History
The scale was devised in 1805 by the Irish hydrographer Francis Beaufort ...
; as fuel was running low they were forced to continue and returned safely but with heavy weather damage.
[Whinney 1986, p.116-124]
Further modifications came in late March as she was fitted rather mysteriously with a single mounted
2 pounder gun on the
Forecastle
The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is the phrase " be ...
and another
Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original German Becker Type M2 20 mm cannon design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models emplo ...
on the
Quarterdeck
The quarterdeck is a raised deck behind the main mast of a sailing ship. Traditionally it was where the captain commanded his vessel and where the ship's colours were kept. This led to its use as the main ceremonial and reception area on bo ...
.
[Whinney 1986, p.127-128]
In April she was transferred to 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 ...
with Escort Group 105 in support of
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-Man ...
, the landing operations in
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 ...
. On 28 May she escorted
Motor Launch
A Motor Launch (ML) is a small military vessel in Royal Navy service. It was designed for harbour defence and submarine chasing or for armed high-speed air-sea rescue. Some vessels for water police service are also known as motor launches.
...
10 on a
mine
Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to:
Extraction or digging
* Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging
*Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine
Grammar
*Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun
...
laying operation off
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
.
Also that May she attacked a German
E-boat
E-boat was the Western Allies' designation for the fast attack craft (German: ''Schnellboot'', or ''S-Boot'', meaning "fast boat") of the Kriegsmarine during World War II; ''E-boat'' could refer to a patrol craft from an armed motorboat to a lar ...
in the channel, setting it on fire.
[Whinney 1986, p.129]
Between 4 and 6 June Escort Group 105 (''Wanderer'',
HMS ''Tavy'',
HMS ''Dianella'' and
HMS ''Geranium'') and the
Royal Canadian Navy
The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack s ...
corvettes
''Summerside'',
''Woodstock'' and
''Regina'' escorted Convoy EBM2, composed of 30 motor transport ships and five others, from the
Bristol Channel
The Bristol Channel ( cy, Môr Hafren, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Seve ...
to the Western Task Force unloading area off
Omaha Beach
Omaha Beach was one of five beach landing sectors designated for the amphibious assault component of operation Overlord during the Second World War. On June 6, 1944, the Allies invaded German-occupied France with the Normandy landings. "Omaha" r ...
, arriving on D-day plus one.
[Whinney 1986, p.131-135]
On 5 July whilst escorting a convoy north off Pointe de
Barfleur
Barfleur () is a commune and fishing village in Manche, Normandy, northwestern France.
History
During the Middle Ages, Barfleur was one of the chief ports of embarkation for England.
* 1066: A large medallion fixed to a rock in the harbour ...
''Wanderer'' detected and along with HMS ''Tavy'' began a Hedgehog attack which would lead to her fifth and final U-boat kill at .
They rescued only one survivor, U-390's Engineer Officer, and were directed to land the prisoner at Portland.
[Whinney 1986, p.138-140]
Fate
Whilst at Portland ''Wanderer
's'' Engineering officer reported that the ship had "one hundred leaks from the sea and two hundred and fifty internal" and that due to steam the engineers couldn't see their way around the engine room while at sea.
[Whinney 1986, p.140-141] The ship's captain, Lt.Cdr.
Reginald Whinney having questioned the engineer further then signaled the flag officer at Portland that he would not take the ship to sea again except for action against the enemy.
Whinney was then reassigned and his First Lieutenant was given command to sail ''Wanderer'' to
Chatham Dockyard
Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham (at its most extensive, in the early 20th century, ...
for assessment where it was confirmed that the twenty-five-year-old vessel was no longer seaworthy or even repairable.
[Whinney 1986, p.145]
In September 1945 ''Wanderer'' was put on the disposal list and was sold by 3 January 1946 to be demolished by ship breakers
Hughes Bolckow
Hughes Bolckow formerly ''Messrs, Hughes, Bolckow, and Co., Limited'' was a well-known shipbreaking company based in Blyth, Northumberland.
Background
Intending to create an industrial park for dismantling obsolete warships in 1911, the compa ...
.
Battle honours
During her service ''Wanderer'' was awarded six
battle honour
A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible.
In European military t ...
s
*
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 ...
1939-44
*
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 t ...
1940
*
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
1943
*
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 ...
1944
*
Arctic
The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...
1944
* English Channel 1944
Successes
During her service ''Wanderer'' was credited with the destruction of five U-boats
Notes
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wanderer
V and W-class destroyers of the Royal Navy
Ships built on the River Clyde
1919 ships
World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom