HMS ''Chequers'' was a destroyer, of the "Ch" subclass, 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 ...

that was in service from December 1945, and which was scrapped in 1966.

Construction

The Royal Navy ordered ''Chequers'' on 24 July 1942, one of eight C-class "Intermediate" destroyers of the 1942 Programme. She was built by

Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Limited, often referred to simply as Scotts, was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Greenock on the River Clyde. In its time in Greenock, Scotts built over 1,250 ships. History John Scott fo ...

, Greenock, Scotland and commissioned in December 1945, too late for service during the Second World War.

Service

''Chequers'' was assigned to, and became leader of, the 1st Destroyer Squadron based at

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

between 1948 and 1954. She saw service, along with other Royal Navy ships, in preventing illegal immigration into Palestine in 1947. She was given an interim modernisation in 1954, which saw her 'X' turret at the rear of the ship replaced by two Squid anti-submarine mortars.

Decommissioning and disposal

''Chequers'' was decommissioned and placed in Operational reserve in 1954. She was placed on the disposal list in 1964. She was sold to

John Cashmore Ltd John Cashmore Ltd (also known as J Cashmore, or simply as Cashmore's or other derivations) was a company operating largely in Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales. It became best known for ship breaking and scrapping redundant British railway locomot ...

for scrapping and arrived at their yard in

Newport, Wales Newport ( cy, Casnewydd; ) is a city and county borough in Wales, situated on the River Usk close to its confluence with the Severn Estuary, northeast of Cardiff. With a population of 145,700 at the 2011 census, Newport is the third-largest a ...

on 23 July 1966.

References

Publications

* * 1944 ships Ships built on the River Clyde C-class destroyers (1943) of the Royal Navy World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom Cold War destroyers of the United Kingdom {{UK-destroyer-stub