WOLVERINE HMS 1920

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aukepalmhof
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WOLVERINE HMS 1920

Post by aukepalmhof » Fri Jan 21, 2011 7:14 pm

Built as a destroyer under yard No 1526 by J.S. White & Co. Ltd., East Cowes for the Royal Navy.
08 October 1918 keel laid down.
17 July 1919 launched as HMS WOLVERINE (D78) one of a class of the modified W- class.
Displacement 1,138 ton standard, 1,473 ton full load. Dim. 95 x 8.99 x 3.28m.
Powered by three Brown Curtis geared steam turbines, 27.000 hp. twin shafts, speed 35 knots.
Armament 3 – 4.7 inch., 1 – 3 inch AA gun, 2 – 2pdr pom-poms, 1 machine gun and 4 Lewis. 3 – 21 inch torpedo tubes in triple mounting.
Crew 134.
27 July 1920 completed.

After completion she joined the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla and served in the Atlantic and Mediterranean Fleets, before being relegated to the Navy reserve as an austerity measure.
With the threat of was, WOLVERINE was re-activated and was recommissioned in August 1939.

At the outbreak of war in September 1939 WOLVERINE joined 15 destroyer flotilla, based at Milford Haven and engaged in convoy escort duty in the English Channel and Southwest Approaches. During this period she escorted 19 convoys one of which was attacked.
In April 1940 WOLVERINE moved to Home fleet for the Norwegian campaign. She operated under air attack and helped in evacuation the from Harstad, rescuing nearly 700 Irish guards from a burning troopship. In June she was involved in the evacuation of France, assisting in Operation Aerial, the evacuation of the Biscay ports.
In August 1940 WOLVERINE returned to convoy escort duty, joined 6th Escort Group for escort duty in the North Atlantic and on the Gibraltar and South Atlantic routes. In this role Wolverine was engaged in all the duties performed by escort ships; protecting convoys, searching for and attacking U-boats which attacked ships in convoy, and rescuing survivors. She operated in this role the next 21 months. She escorted 27 North Atlantic convoys, 10 of which were attacked, and was involved in two major battles there.
In March 1941 WOLVERINE was leader of the escort group for Convoy OB 293 which was attacked by a U-boat pack. The escorts were able to drive this attack off, destroying U-70 in the process. WOLVERINE made an attack on a contact, which was believed to have destroyed U-47; this assessment was revised later, and is believed to have hit U-A, which escaped with damage.
In April 1941 WOLVERINE e was part of the escort force for Convoy SC 26, shared credit with HMS SCARBOROUGH for the sinking of U-76. WOLVERINE also escorted 6 Gibraltar and 6 South Atlantic convoys, 3 of which were attacked, and took part in one major battle, for HG 73 in September 1941.
In February 1942 WOLVERINE was converted to Short-range escort and in April worked up under her new captain, Lt Cdr PW Gretton. In July she moved to Gibraltar for operations in the Mediterranean. In August WOLVERINE took part in Operation Pedestal, during which she attacked and sank the Italian submarine DAGABUR. She was damaged in this encounter and was returned to Gibraltar for temporary repair, followed by several months in dock at Devonport.
In June 1943 WOLVERINE returned to local escort duty, transferring to Gibraltar, then Freetown then Cape Town for operations in the South Atlantic. During this period she escorted 17 convoys, 2 of which were attacked.
In January 1944 WOLVERINE returned to Britain for a refit, before returning to escort duty in the Gibraltar and Mediterranean route. She escorted 7 convoys, none of which were attacked In January 1945 WOLVERINE was on escort duty in Home Waters. engaged in anti-submarine patrols in the Channel and Southwest Approaches, where she continued to the end of the war.
WOLVERINE was paid off in May 1945 and after VJ day was earmarked for disposal. 28 January 1946 she was sold for scrap, and was broken up at Troon in September 1946.
Congo 2005 750F sg?, scott?
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Wolverine_(D78) Jane’s . Ships of the Royal Navy by Colledge.
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