HMS ''Wizard'' was a W-class

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

of the British

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that saw service during

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 ...

Second World War service

In 1942, as part of Warship Week, ''Wizard'' was adopted by the Borough of

Wood Green Wood Green is a suburban district in the borough of Haringey in London, England. Its postal district is N22, with parts in N8 or N15. The London Plan identifies it as one of the metropolitan centres in Greater London, and today it forms a maj ...

in London. The plaque from this adoption is held by the

National Museum of the Royal Navy The National Museum of the Royal Navy was created in early 2009 to act as a single non-departmental public body for the museums of the Royal Navy. With venues across the United Kingdom, the museums detail the history of the Royal Navy operating o ...

in Portsmouth. ''Wizard'' was initially deployed to the Home Fleet, before joining a mixed destroyer group on 6 May 1944, assigned to screen for aircraft carriers and . These duties continued until 9 June 1944, when she sustained major damage from an explosion of her own depth charges, which caused considerable compartment flooding. The ship was towed to

Lyness Lyness is a village on the east coast of the island of Hoy, Orkney, Scotland. The village is within the parish of Walls and Flotta, and is situated at the junction of the B9047 and B9048. During the 1920s Lyness was briefly the headquarters of t ...

on the following day for emergency dry dock repair, later being towed to

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

for further repairs which lasted until April 1945. Over this period ''Wizard'' was reassigned for deployment to the British Pacific Fleet. After a period of sea-trials and preparation, it made passage to the Pacific, with a final resupply in Sydney, before joining the 27th Destroyer Flotilla in August. Although arriving in theatre before the end of the war, and being listed as part of the British Pacific Fleet present in Tokyo Bay when the surrender was signed on 2 September 1945, ''Wizard'' did not receive a Battle Honour as she had not been deployed operationally during the short time she was with the flotilla.

Post War service

From 1946 until 1951 ''Wizard'' served in the Plymouth local flotilla. During 1953 and 1954 she was converted at Devonport Dockyard into a Type 15 fast

anti-submarine An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapo ...

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 ...

, with the new

pennant 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 ...

F72. In 1956 ''Wizard'' was part of the 5th Frigate Squadron and was deployed to the eastern Mediterranean as part of the Royal Navy force which took part in the

Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...

. On return to UK in May 1957 the frigate refitted at Chatham before joining the Dartmouth Training Squadron for two years before being deployed in the West Indies with the

8th Frigate Squadron 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

until 1964. On return she resumed Cadet training and remained with the Dartmouth Squadron until 1966.

Decommissioning and disposal

In 1966 she was paid-off and was reduced to Reserve status. She was then placed on the Disposal List and sold to Thos. W. Ward for demolition on 16 February 1967. Taken in tow to Inverkeithing she arrived at the breaker's yard on 7 March that year.

Commanding officers

References

Publications

* * * W and Z-class destroyers 1943 ships World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom Cold War destroyers of the United Kingdom Type 15 frigates of the Royal Navy Cold War frigates of the United Kingdom {{UK-destroyer-stub