Name: HMS VANSITTART
Ordered: January 1918; Builder: William Beardmore and Company, Glasgow; Laid down: 1 January 1918; Launched: 17 April 1919; Commissioned: 5 November 1919; Fate: Sold for scrap on 25 February 1946
General characteristics:
Displacement: 1,140 tons standard, 1,550 tons full, Length: 300 ft o/a, 312 ft p/p, Beam: 30 ft, Draught: 10 ft 11 in, Propulsion: 3 Yarrow type Water-tube boilers, Brown-Curtis steam turbines, 2 shafts, 30,000 shp, Speed: 32 kt, Range: 320-370 tons oil, 3,500 nmi at 15 kt, 900 nmi at 32 kt, Complement: 134, Armament: 4 x BL 4.7 in (120-mm) Mk.I guns, mount P Mk.I, 2 x QF 2 pdr Mk.II "pom-pom" (40 mm L/39), 6 (2x3) tubes for 21 in torpedoes
Honours and awards: ATLANTIC 1939-45
NORWAY 1940
MALTA CONVOYS 1942
NORTH AFRICA 1942
Construction and commissioning
Vansittart was ordered with the 13th Order of the 1918-19 Programme in January 1918 from the yards of William Beardmore & Co. She was laid down on 1 January 1918, launched on 17 April, 1919, and was commissioned on 5 November, 1919.
Pre-war career
Vansittart initially joined the Fleet after being commissioned, and in 1921 was part of the 4th Destroyer Flotilla, Atlantic Fleet. Vansittart and the Flotilla transferred to the Mediterranean in 1925, but on the introduction of more modern destroyer types, the Flotilla returned to the UK and Vansittart was paid off into the Reserve. She was laid-up at Rosyth, but was briefly reactivated, manned by Reservists in time for the Review of the Reserve Fleet at Weymouth in August 1939. With war looming, Vansittart was kept in commission and nominated to join the 15th Destroyer Flotilla.
Wartime career
She was responsible for the sinking of U-102 by the use of depth charges, on 1 July, 1940.
As it happened, U 102 had just recently destroyed one of its only victims, the British merchant SS CLEARTON, in approximately the same general region. HMS VANSITTART went on to save the survivors of the CLEARTON, who numbered 26 people.
August 1942 - 12th Under attack by submarines and resumed air attacks. Force Z detached from convoy and remained west of Sicilian Narrows.
13th - Detached from Force Z with HM Destroyers AMAZON, ANTELOPE, ITHURIEL, WESTCOTT, WISHART and ZETLAND as screen for HMS INDOMITABLE and HMS RODNEY during return passage to Gibraltar. The other ships of Force Z remained off Algiers to meet the snips of Force X which had escorted WS21S ships to Malta through Sicilian Narrows.
14th - Arrived at Gibraltar and resumed convoy defence
During her career she went under one reconstruction, to serve as a long range escort. Such maintenance was completed in June 1943.
HMS VANSITTART was placed on the Disposal List In 1945 and sold to BISCO for demolition by J Cashmere on 25th February 1946. She arrived in tow at the breaker’s yard at Newport, Wales on 5th May 1946.
Sources: Wikipedia. http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono ... ittart.htm.
Information Mr P Crichton.