HMS ''Ulysses'' was a U-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 ...

of the British

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 Fr ...

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. She was later converted 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 an ...

, 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 ...

F17.

Service history

Second World War service

On commissioning ''Ulysses'' was allocated to the 25th Destroyer Flotilla and worked as part of 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 Firs ...

; this included work on the Arctic convoys. In June 1944 she assisted with the

invasion of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

, providing naval gunfire support. In late 1944 and early 1945 she was refitted for service in the Far East and in March 1945 left the UK to join 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 ...

. She returned to the UK in 1946 and was soon placed in reserve.

Postwar service

Between 1946 and 1951 ''Ulysses'' was held in reserve at Devonport. In December 1951 she was commissioned for the

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to ...

local flotilla. In 1953 she was again reduced to the reserve at Devonport. Between 1954 and 1955 she was converted to a Type 15 anti-submarine frigate, at Devonport Dockyard. On 18 October 1955 she re-commissioned and formed part of the 6th Frigate Squadron, as part Mediterranean and Home Fleet. She also formed part of the Royal Navy's force used during the Suez Operation. In 1958 she was part of

Operation Grapple Operation Grapple was a set of four series of British nuclear weapons tests of early atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs carried out in 1957 and 1958 at Malden Island and Kiritimati (Christmas Island) in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands in the ...

, witnessing nuclear tests off

Christmas Island Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an Australian external territory comprising the island of the same name. It is located in the Indian Ocean, around south of Java and Sumatra and around north-west of the ...

. On 27 October 1958 she collided with

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

off

Ushant Ushant (; br, Eusa, ; french: Ouessant, ) is a French island at the southwestern end of the English Channel which marks the westernmost point of metropolitan France. It belongs to Brittany and, in medieval terms, Léon. In lower tiers of govern ...

. In 1960 she became a training ship as part of the Plymouth local squadron and in December 1960 was placed into the Devonport reserve.

Decommissioning and disposal

''Ulysses'' was decommissioned in 1963 and in 1966 was still listed as in reserve. Used as accommodation and office space for standing by build of HMS Danae in 1967, she was scrapped at Plymouth in 1970.

Notes

Publications

* * * * * U and V-class destroyers of the Royal Navy Ships built on the River Mersey 1943 ships World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom Cold War destroyers of the United Kingdom Type 15 frigates Cold War frigates of the United Kingdom {{UK-destroyer-stub