HMS ''Fernie'' was a Type I Hunt-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 ...

completed in mid-1940. She was adopted by the Civil Community of

Market Harborough Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, in the far southeast of the county, forming part of the border with Northamptonshire. Market Harborough's population was 25,143 in 2020. It is the adm ...

, Leicestershire, as part of the

Warship Week Warship Weeks were British National savings campaigns during the Second World War, with the aim of a Royal Navy warship being adopted by a civil community. During the early parts of the war, the Royal Navy not only had lost many capital ships bu ...

campaign in 1942. She has been the only ship in the Royal Navy to carry this name.

Service history

On commissioning in 1940 ''Fernie'' completed work ups for service 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 ...

. She provided escort cover during the evacuation of troops from French Channel Ports in June 1940. The following month she provided escort cover during the laying of the minefield of the northern barrage, north of

North Rona Rona ( gd, Rònaigh) is a remote, uninhabited Scottish island in the North Atlantic. Rona is often referred to as North Rona to distinguish it from South Rona (another small island, in the Inner Hebrides). It has an area of and a maximum elevat ...

. During the rest of the year she undertook escort duties in the English Channel. During 1941 and 1942 she continued escort duties in the English Channel and North sea. In August 1942 she was part of the escort force supporting the landings in the abortive Dieppe Raid and was subject to heavy air attack during the raid. In 1943 ''Fernie'' undertook convoy defence in the North Sea. In the following year was nominated to provide support for the Allied landings 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 ...

. She then returned to convoy escort and patrol duties in the North Sea and English Channel. After August 1945 she was used as an air target ship 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 ...

. She was subsequently placed in reserve at Chatham. She was then sold to BISCO for scrap. She arrived for scrapping at Port Glasgow on 7 November 1956.

References

Publications

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External links

Profile on naval-history.net
Hunt-class destroyers of the Royal Navy Naval ships of Operation Neptune Ships built on the River Clyde 1939 ships World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom {{UK-mil-ship-stub