HMS Brissenden
 HMS Brissenden underway
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Brissenden |
| Ordered | 4 July 1940 |
| Builder | John I. Thornycroft and Company, Woolston |
| Laid down | 28 February 1941 |
| Launched | 15 September 1942 |
| Commissioned | 12 February 1943 |
| Identification | Pennant number: L79 |
| Fate | Scrapped, 3 March 1965 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Type III Hunt-class destroyer |
| Displacement | |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 31 ft 6 in (9.60 m) |
| Draught | 7 ft 9 in (2.36 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 26 knots (48 km/h; 30 mph) |
| Range | 3,700 nmi (6,900 km; 4,300 mi) at 14 kn (26 km/h; 16 mph) |
| Complement | 170 |
| Armament | 6 × QF 4-inch Mk XVI guns (3 × twin mount Mk XIX); 4 × QF 2 pdr Mk VIII (1 × quad mount); 2 × 20 mm Oerlikons (single mounts); 4 × Vickers .50 machine guns (2 × twin mounts); 3 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes; 40 depth charges, 2 throwers, 1 rail |
HMS Brissenden (pennant number L79) was a Type IV Hunt-class escort destroyer of the Royal Navy, which served during the Second World War and remained in service into the early 1960s.
Brissenden was ordered from John I. Thornycroft and Company of Clydebank on 27 July 1940 as part of the 1940 Emergency Programme. She was laid down on 28 February 1941 under yard number J6140, launched on 15 September 1942 and completed on 12 February 1943.[1][2]
Service
[edit]1943
[edit]In late February or early March 1943, after completing acceptance trials and fitting out, Brissenden proceeded to Scapa Flow for work-up training, during which she undertook patrols in the Western Approaches. On 21 April she joined Convoy WS 29A as a local escort alongside Anthony and Lewes. On 26 April, she was relieved by Boreas and returned to the Home Fleet for further training. In May, she was assigned to support the Allied invasion of Sicily. On 21 June, she joined Convoy WS 31/KMF 17 en route to Gibraltar, along with other Home Fleet vessels earmarked for the operation. She remained with KMF 17 after the convoys split, continuing as escort alongside the cruiser Uganda. WS 31 proceeded independently via the Cape of Good Hope.
At the beginning of July, Brissenden joined the 58th Destroyer Flotilla, moving to the Bône Peninsula to support the eastern flank of the landings. On 7 July, she escorted Convoy KMF 18 as part of Escort Group V, alongside Blankney, Blencathra, Brecon and Brocklesby. She refuelled on 9 July before resuming escort duty. On 10 July, she arrived off the Bark West landing zone with KMF 18, detaching to provide naval gunfire support during the landings and to patrol the landing area. She was tasked, alongside Blankney, with securing the port of Pozzallo.
On 13 July, Blankney accidentally collided with Brissenden, causing serious damage to her port bow. She was sent to Malta for initial repairs before being transferred home. She entered dry dock at Liverpool on 21 August. Upon completion, she was reassigned to the 15th Destroyer Flotilla at Plymouth and resumed service on 2 October. Thereafter, she conducted convoy escort duties and patrolled English Channel shipping lanes until being reassigned to the Home Fleet in November. On 10 November, she joined Convoy RA 54A returning from the Kola Peninsula alongside Middleton and Halcyon, escorting the final leg to Loch Ewe. She detached on 13 November, then joined Convoy JW 54A outbound to the Soviet Union with Termagant and the Polish Navy's ORP Burza, escorting the convoy to Iceland. She left the group on 18 November once the main convoy had arrived, then returned to her flotilla at Plymouth.
1944
[edit]In early 1944, Brissenden remained with her flotilla in Plymouth. In February, she was assigned to Operation Tunnel, aimed at intercepting German E-boats operating from bases along the French coast. On 5 February, she took part in a naval action off the north coast of Brittany with HMS Tanatside, Talybont and Wensleydale against the torpedo boat T29 and minesweepers M-156 and M-206.[3]
On 15 March, while escorting Convoy WP 492 north of Land's End with Melbreak, she repelled a German torpedo boat attack in which S143 was damaged. Brissenden continued with escort duties until assigned in May to Force B for the Normandy landings. In May, she took part in preparatory exercises for the invasion. In early June, she joined Force B at Milford Haven with Wensleydale. On 5 June, she deployed to the English Channel to intercept German naval forces attempting to disrupt the landings in the western sector. On 12 June, Brissenden and Wensleydale repelled an E-boat attack against the beachhead. On 22 June, as the weather cleared, Luftwaffe activity intensified and Brissenden came under air attack. After her release from invasion duties, she resumed convoy escort operations in the English Channel until entering refit at Pembroke Dock in December.
1945
[edit]In February 1945, she rejoined active service with the 21st Destroyer Flotilla at Sheerness, conducting patrols in the English Channel and within the Nore Command. In June, she was transferred to the Mediterranean as a reserve vessel allocated to the Eastern Fleet.[4]
Postwar and fate
[edit]She remained with the Mediterranean Fleet until 1947, during which she undertook coastal patrols off Mandatory Palestine. Upon her return to the United Kingdom, she was decommissioned and placed in reserve at Portsmouth on 19 June 1948.[5]
The Government of Kuwait expressed interest in acquiring the vessel for conversion into a royal yacht, but the proposal was ultimately abandoned.[6] In 1962, she was marked for disposal and sold on 18 February 1965 to the British Iron & Steel Corporation (BISCO) for £29,000. She was handed over to W. H. Arnott, Young and Company Ltd. of Dalmuir for scrapping, arriving under tow on 3 March 1965.
References
[edit]- ^ English, John. The Hunts – A History of the Design, Development and Careers of the 86 Destroyers of this Class Built for the Royal and Allied Navies during World War II, World Ship Society, 1987, p. 17.
- ^ Naval-History.net – HMS Brissenden
- ^ Whitley, M. J. Destroyers of World War Two – An International Encyclopedia, Arms & Armour Press, 1988.
- ^ Gardiner, Robert (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. London: Conway Maritime Press, 1987. ISBN 9780851771465.
- ^ Gardiner, Robert (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946, Conway Maritime Press, 1987.
- ^ Colledge, J. J., & Warlow, Ben. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of All Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy. London: Chatham Publishing, 2006. ISBN 9781861762818.
