B-Class Fleet
Destroyer ordered from Hawthorn Leslie, Newcastle on 4th March 1929 under
the1928 Programme and laid down on 11th
July 1929. She was launched on 23rd September 1930 as the 5th RN ship to bear the name introduced
in 1797 and last used by a cruiser sold in 1926. Build completion date was 7th April 1931 and the
contract price was £225,325 which excluded items supplied by the Admiralty In February 1942, after a
successful WARSHIP WEEK National Savings Campaign, she was adopted by the civil community of
Accrington, Lancashire.
B a t t l e H o n o u r s
REUNION 1810 - MAURITIUS 1810 - BURMA 1824-26 - ZULU WAR 1879
- JUTLAND 1916 - ATLANTIC 1941-43 - NORTH AFRICA 1942 - ARCTIC 1942-44
-
NORMANDY
1944
H e r a l d i c D a t a
Badge: On a
Field Black, Boadicea in a chariot drawn by two horses Gold
M o t t
o
Vincta sed invicta - 'bound yet unconquered'
D e t a i l s o f
W a r S e r v i c e
(for more ship information,
go
to
Naval History Homepage
and type name in Site Search)
1 9 3 9
September Joined 19th Destroyer
Flotilla at Dover for escort duties
including covering the
passage of ships
taking troops of BEF to French ports.
October Deployment at Dover in
continuation.
November Transferred to 22nd
Destroyer Flotilla at Harwich for North Sea convoy defence.
20th Under air attack.
21st Deployed with HM
Destroyers GIPSY, GRIFFIN, KEITH and two Polish
destroyers for
North Sea patrol.
Rescued wounded
and survivors from HMS GIPSY sunk after detonating a
magnetic mine
when leaving harbour.
December Convoy escort and patrol
duty based at Harwich in continuation.
1 9 4 0
January Deployed at Harwich for
East coast convoy escort and patrol duties.
February Rejoined 19th Flotilla at
Dover in continuation.
6th Embarked Winston
Churchill at Boulogne for passage to Dover.
March Channel convoy defence
and patrol in continuation.
4th Towed merchant ship
CHARLES F MEYER disabled by mine to Southampton
Water.
7th Escorted HM
Auxiliary Minelayer HAMPTON with HMS KEITH during minelay
in Galloper area.
April Convoy defence and
patrol in continuation.
May
2nd Under refit at
Chatham.
June On completion
nominated for support of evacuation from Channel Ports.
(Operation
CYCLE).
9th Evacuated remnants
of 51st Highland Division from Le Havre.
10th In action with aircraft off Dieppe
. Hit twice in machinery compartments with very
serious casualties only one
of whom survived.
Ship disabled and extensive damage control
needed to reduce list to deal with the
effects of flooding.
Items of equipment including depth charges were
jettisoned.
Blanket of fog prevented further air attack
which enabled tow to be established by
HM Destroyer AMBUSCADE.
11th Tow to Dover taken
over by tug KROOMAN
July
Taken in hand for
repair at Portsmouth
August Under repair
to Radar Type 286M
fitted for warning of aircraft and ships.
December (For details of development
and use of radar by RN see RADAR AT SEA by D
Howse).
1 9 4 1
January Under repair
February On completion of post
refit trials passage for Home Fleet duties at Scapa Flow.
Part of destroyer
screen for major Fleet units during search for German warships
SCHARNHORST and
GNEISENAU.
March Transferred to 4th
Escort Group at Greenock for Atlantic convoy defence.
23rd Joined military
convoy WS17 in Clyde with H M Destroyers ROCKINGHAM,
LEAMINGTON, NEWPORT, BEVERLEY, VOLUNTEER,
BADSWORTH,
KEPPEL for Local
Escort in NW Approaches.
30th Detached from WS17
with HMS ROCKINGHAM
April Deployed on Atlantic
convoy defence with Group.
to
November
December Part of escort for Convoy
HX165.
1 9 4 2
January Atlantic convoy defence
in continuation
February On dispersal of Group
remained at Greenock. for Atlantic convoy defence.
February Convoy defence duty in
continuation.
to
March
April Detached for duty
with Home Fleet for Russian Convoy defence.
(For full details
of all Russian Convoy operations see CONVOYS TO RUSSIA
by RA Ruegg,
CONVOY ! by P. Kemp, THE RUSSIAN CONVOYS By B
Schoefield and
ARCTIC CONVOYS by Richard Woodman).
28th Joined escort for
Convoy PQ15 with H M Destroyers BADSWORTH,
MATCHLESS,
VENOMOUS, SOMALI and Norwegian destroyer
ST. ALBANS.
May
5th Remained in Murmansk
on arrival. of PQ15. See references.
21st Joined Ocean Escort of returning QP12
with HM Destroyers INGLEFIELD,
ESCAPADE and same
destroyers as deployed for PQ15.
(Note: HMS
INGLEFIELD and HMS ESCAPADE had been specially detached
from Home Fleet
for this duty.)
29th Detached from PQ12
with HM Destroyers ESCAPADE, INGLEFIELD and
Norwegian ST
ALBANS for return to Scapa Flow.
June Resumed convoy
defence duties based at Greenock.
17th Deployed as Local
Escort for rms QUEEN ELIZABETH with HM Cruiser
DELHI, HM
Destroyers KEPPEL, LEAMINGTON, SALISBURY and
Norwegian ST
ALBANS during passage in NW Approaches.
(Note:
Designated Convoy WS19Y this liner was carrying troops to Middle
East.)
18th Detached from WS19Y
and returned to Clyde with Local Escort.
(Note: QUEEN
ELIZABETH then made independent passage to Suez.)
21st Joined military
convoy WS20 in Clyde with HM Destroyers GEORGETOWN,
RIPLEY,
SALISBURY, BEAGLE, VIDETTE, VANSITTART,
WOLVERINE and
Norwegian ST ALBANS as Local Escort during passage in
NW Approaches.
25th Detached from WS20
with HMS RIPLEY and returned to Clyde.
July Transferred to
Greenock Special Escort Group.
Deployed for
Atlantic convoy escort.
Joined escort for
mv DOMINION MONARCH from Halifax, NS to Liverpool.
Nominated for
refit in Liverpool at commercial shipyard.
August Taken in hand for refit
at Liverpool.
September Under refit.
October On completion of post
refit trials rejoined Greenock Escort Force.
Deployed for
defence of military convoys for allied landings in North Africa.
Part of escort
for Convoy KX12 for North African landings
(Operation TORCH
- For details see ENGAGE THE ENEMY MORE
CLOSELY, ALLIED
INVASION FLEETS by J de Winser and Naval Staff History)
November Deployed at Gibraltar for
support of landings in North Africa,
8th Part of escort for
Assault Convoy during passage to Oran.
In action with
French destroyer off Oran during assault.
Hit by 5.1in
shell in forward shell room with some flooding of compartment.
Damage repaired
at Gibraltar.
11th Embarked 425
survivors for passage to Gibraltar after troopship VICEROY OF INDIA
was torpedoed off
Oran.
14th Returned to UK as
part of escort of Convoy MXF1.
19th Resumed Atlantic
convoy defence on arrival at Greenock.
December Transferred to 20th Escort
Group deployed in the defence of Russian convoys.
(References as
above).
18th Joined Ocean escort for Convoy JW51A
with HM Destroyers ECHO, ECLIPSE,
FAULKNOR, FURY
and INGLEFIELD. 25th Detached from escort.
1 9 4 3
January Re-deployed with ships
of Group in Western Approaches for convoy defence.
February
19th Detached with ships
of Group to provide part of Ocean Escort for Convoy JW53
2?th Left Convoy when
Local Escort arrived.
March
1st Joined escort for
returning convoy RA53
7th Withdrawn to refuel.
10th Sustained damage due
to excess icing
11th Rejoined RA53 and
remained till 12th March.
17th Taken in hand for
repair in Clyde shipyard.
April Under repair.
Nominated for
convoy escort duty at Freetown.
May
19th Joined military
convoys WS30 (For Freetown) and KMF 15 (For Mediterranean)
in the Clyde for
passage to Freetown.
(Note: HM
Cruiser SUFFOLK provided Ocean Escort)
25th Gibraltar Section
KMF15 detached.
HM Destroyers
ANTELOPE, CATTERICK and FOXHOUND joined WS30 (Freetown Section).
Remained with
WS30.
28th Detached from WS30 on
arrival at Freetown and joined Local Escort Force.
June
6th Joined WS30 on
departure from Freetown for Local Escort with H M Destroyers
RAPID, WITCH and
WOLVERINE.
9th Detached from WS30
and returned to Freetown.
July West African escort
duty in continuation.
19th Rescued survivors
from mv INCOMATI sunk SW of Accra.
August Freetown Convoy defence
duties in continuation September
14th Joined military
convoy WS33 with HM Destroyers BEAGLE, BULLDOG, WOLVERINE
and HM Frigate
BANN for Local Escort during calls at ports in West Africa.
19th Detached from WS33
with Local Escort and returned to Freetown.
Withdrawn from
Freetown for refit and conversion.
Took passage to
UK.
Deployed
temporarily with 8th Escort Group for A/S duty in NW Approaches.
October Convoy defence in NW
Approaches with Group in continuation.
November Taken in hand for refit in
Tyne shipyard and converted to Anti-Submarine Escort.
(For details of
conversion see SEEK AND STRIKE by Hackmann).
December Under refit
1 9 4 4
January Under refit.
February On completion worked up
for duty as A/S Escort.
Rejoined 8th
Escort for duty with Russian convoys based in Iceland.
20th Joined Close Escort
for Convoy JW57.
28th Detached from JW57.
March
2nd Joined Close Escort
of returning convoy RA57-
6th During passage of
RA57 as part of escort rescued two survivors from U973 which
had been sunk
after air attack by aircraft from HMS CHASER.
There were no
other survivors from the submarine.
See U-BOATS
DESTROYED by P Kemp.
9th Transferred to
2nd Escort Group after leaving RA57.
29th Deployed with HM
Sloop STARLING (Captain F J Walker) and ships of Group for
anti-submarine
support of Russian Convoy JW58 during passage to Kola Inlet.
April
4th Detached from JW58.
7th Joined Ocean Escort of returning Convoy
RA 58.
12th Detached from RA58
and rejoined Group.
19th Passage to Murmansk
with other Escorts to collect ships and personnel from Russia
after winter
season.
(Note:
Requirements for Normandy landings precluded passage of JW Convoy.)
23rd Embarked 14
passengers for return to UK.
28th Escorted returning
convoy RA59.
May
3rd Detached from RA59-
Re-deployed at
Plymouth in support of Normandy landings (Operation NEPTUNE).
Attached to
Support Force B in Escort Group 143 for the defence of Build - up
convoys
to Western Task
Force Area.
(For details of
naval activities before and during allied landings see OPERATION
NEPTUNE by K Edwards and LANDINGS IN
NORMANDY, JUNE 1944 (HMSO).)
June Passage to Falmouth
to escort Convoy ECL1 with HM Corvette BLUEBELL, HM
Trawler CORNELIAN
(ex-FORFEIT), HM Trawler ELLESMERE and HM Trawler
PEARL.
6th Passage to beach
head with 31 Landing Ships (Tank).
7th Arrived in Western
Task Force Area.
Passage to
Milford Haven for escort of Follow-Up convoys.
13th Under air attack by
Ju88 whilst escorting westbound convoy off Portland. Hit by two
torpedoes one of
which detonated magazine.
Sank very rapidly
in position 50.26N 02.46W with only 12 survivors from a total
complement of
182.
Addendum
CONVOY ESCORT MOVEMENTS of
HMS BOADICEA
by Don Kindell
These convoy lists have not been cross-checked with the text above
|
|
|
|
|
Date convoy
sailed |
Joined convoy
as escort |
Convoy No. |
Left convoy |
Date convoy
arrived |
|
|
|
|
|
03/04/41
|
03/04/41
|
OB 306
|
06/04/41
|
09/04/41
|
27/03/41
|
10/04/41
|
HX 117
|
14/04/41
|
15/04/41
|
30/04/41
|
02/05/41
|
OB 317
|
06/05/41
|
06/05/41
|
24/04/41
|
07/05/41
|
HG 060
|
12/05/41
|
12/05/41
|
15/05/41
|
16/05/41
|
OG 062
|
19/05/41
|
29/05/41
|
27/04/41
|
19/05/41
|
SL 073
|
25/05/41
|
25/05/41
|
29/05/41
|
29/05/41
|
OB 328
|
02/06/41
|
02/06/41
|
19/05/41
|
02/06/41
|
SC 032
|
07/06/41
|
07/06/41
|
06/06/41
|
17/06/41
|
HX 131
|
20/06/41
|
23/06/41
|
16/07/41
|
16/07/41
|
OB 347
|
22/07/41
|
31/07/41
|
11/07/41
|
23/07/41
|
HX 138
|
26/07/41
|
27/07/41
|
06/08/41
|
08/08/41
|
ON 004
|
12/08/41
|
18/08/41
|
01/08/41
|
12/08/41
|
HX 142
|
18/08/41
|
18/08/41
|
01/08/41
|
18/08/41
|
SC 039
|
19/08/41
|
19/08/41
|
20/08/41
|
20/08/41
|
ON 009
|
23/08/41
|
25/08/41
|
16/08/41
|
26/08/41
|
HX 145
|
31/08/41
|
31/08/41
|
07/09/41
|
09/09/41
|
ON 014
|
12/09/41
|
14/09/41
|
04/09/41
|
13/09/41
|
HX 148
|
15/09/41
|
17/09/41
|
25/11/41
|
27/11/41
|
ON 040
|
30/11/41
|
04/12/41
|
15/12/41
|
24/12/41
|
HX 165
|
29/12/41
|
30/12/41
|
06/01/42
|
07/01/42
|
ON 054
|
11/01/42
|
17/01/42
|
26/01/42
|
27/01/42
|
ON 060
|
02/02/42
|
15/02/42
|
23/01/42
|
04/02/42
|
SC 066
|
08/02/42
|
09/02/42
|
04/02/42
|
16/02/42
|
SC 068
|
20/02/42
|
20/02/42
|
14/03/42
|
19/03/42
|
TA 012
|
unknown
|
25/03/42
|
10/04/42
|
28/04/42
|
PQ 015
|
05/05/42
|
05/05/42
|
21/05/42
|
21/05/42
|
QP 012
|
29/05/42
|
29/05/42
|
30/06/42
|
04/07/42
|
HG 085
|
07/07/42
|
12/07/42
|
21/07/42
|
23/07/42
|
NA 013
|
28/07/42
|
28/07/42
|
18/10/42
|
19/10/42
|
KX 002
|
29/10/42
|
29/10/42
|
12/11/42
|
12/11/42
|
MKF 001X
|
19/11/42
|
19/11/42
|
15/12/42
|
18/12/42
|
JW 051A
|
25/12/42
|
25/12/42
|
15/02/43
|
19/02/43
|
JW 053
|
27/02/43
|
27/02/43
|
01/03/43
|
01/03/43
|
RA 053
|
12/03/43
|
14/03/43
|
19/05/43
|
25/05/43
|
KMF 015
|
28/05/43
|
27/05/43
|
23/06/43
|
23/06/43
|
ST 070
|
29/06/43
|
29/06/43
|
03/07/43
|
03/07/43
|
TS 046
|
08/07/43
|
08/07/43
|
11/07/43
|
11/07/43
|
ST 072
|
20/07/43
|
20/07/43
|
22/07/43
|
22/07/43
|
TS 048
|
28/07/43
|
28/07/43
|
11/08/43
|
11/08/43
|
TS 050
|
16/08/43
|
16/08/43
|
25/08/43
|
25/08/43
|
CF 013B
|
31/08/43
|
31/08/43
|
26/09/43
|
04/10/43
|
CF 014
|
10/10/43
|
10/10/43
|
14/10/43
|
16/10/43
|
SR 006/1
|
21/10/43
|
21/10/43
|
17/10/43
|
28/10/43
|
MKF 025
|
04/11/43
|
04/11/43
|
20/02/44
|
20/02/44
|
JW 057
|
28/02/44
|
28/02/44
|
02/03/44
|
02/03/44
|
RA 057
|
10/03/44
|
10/03/44
|
27/03/44
|
29/03/44
|
JW 058
|
04/04/44
|
04/04/44
|
07/04/44
|
07/04/44
|
RA 058
|
12/04/44
|
14/04/44
|
28/04/44
|
28/04/44
|
RA 059
|
03/05/44
|
06/05/44
|
|
|
|
|
|
(Note
on Convoys)