1 9
3 9
March Contractors trials and commissioned
for service in 1st Tribal Destroyer Flotilla, Home Fleet
29th Build completion and commenced Acceptance
Trials.
(Note: Pennant Number allocated was F21 in place of initial L21.)
April On completion of trials and
storing took passage to Portland.
Worked-up at Portland.
Flotilla re-identified
as 6th Destroyer Flotilla.
May On completion of work-up
joined 6th Flotilla
Deployed with Flotilla in Home Fleet Exercise and visits Programme.
June
1st Diverted from Programme after sinking of HM Submarine THETIS
and took passage to
Anglesey
area to join Home Fleet ships carrying out rescue operations.
(Note: These failed and 99 of the crew lost their lives.)
4th Released from THETIS operation and resumed
Home Fleet programme.
July Deployed in Home waters
with Flotilla for Fleet exercises.
August Home Fleet deployment in continuation
including exercise in Atlantic with Anglo French
Squadron.
(Note: This may be have been her appointed war station.)
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)
September Deployed with Flotilla for Home Fleet
duties including anti-submarine patrol and convoy
defence in NW Approaches and North Sea.
October Home Fleet
Flotilla deployment in continuation.
(Note: Attempted salvage of German Flying Boat which was unsuccessful.)
November Deployed with Flotilla in North
Sea for patrol and convoy defence.
December
2nd Sustained structural damage to bows in collision with ss LAIRDSCREST
south of Holy Island.
(Note: One source
records this was during escort of HM Battlecruiser HOOD.)
Repair arranged at Govan
15th Under
repair by Stevens shipyard
1 9 4 0
January Repair at Govan in continuation
February
29th Resumed
operational service with Flotilla after post repair trials.
March Passage to rejoin Flotilla at Scapa Flow for screening and patrol duties.
(Note: Other
ships in Flotilla were HM Destroyers SOMALI, ASHANTI, BEDOUIN,
ESKIMO, MATABELE, MASHONA
and TARTAR.)
April
7th Deployed
with HM Destroyers CODRINGTON, GRIFFIN, JUPITER, ELECTRA.
ESCAPADE, BRAZEN, BEDOUIN, ESKIMO and
KIMBERLEY as screen for
HM Battleships RODNEY and VALIANT, HM
Battlecruiser REPULSE, HM Cruiser
PENELOPE and French cruiser EMILE BERTIN
during search for German warships
reported on passage
in North Sea off Norwegian coast.
8th Detached
with HM Destroyers BEDOUIN, ESKIMO and KIMBERLEY as screen for
HMS REPULSE and HMS PENELOPE to assist
HM Destroyer GLOWWORM under
attack by German
cruiser HIPPER.
(Note: HMS GLOWWORM
was sunk after ramming the enemy ship.)
9th Deployed
off Narvik as screen for HM Battlecruisers RENOWN and
REPULSE with HM
Destroyers BEDOUIN, ESKIMO and KIMBERLEY prior to attack on German destroyers
13th Took
part in 2nd Battle of Narvik and sustained serious damage after six hits during
this
engagement. Ship
disabled but resumed service after an hour.
14th Taken in hand for temporary repair at Skelfjord
to enable ship to return to UK for repair.
20th Passage
to UK and repair arranged at HM Dockyard, Devonport.
28th Arrived at Plymouth for repair.
(Note: For details
of the disastrous naval operations off Norway see NAVAL OPERATIONS
OF THE CAMPAIGN IN NORWAY, April – June 1940 (HMSO), THE DOOMED
EXPEDITION by T Adams, NARVIK by D Macintyre
and CARRIER GLORIOUS
by J Winton.)
May Under repair by HM Dockyard,
Devonport.
Pennant Number for visual signalling purposes
changed to G21
Work done included
replacement of 4.7in mounting in X position by 4in Twin AA mounting.
June
12th Carried
out post refit trials before resuming operational service with Flotilla at Plymouth.
17th Took part in evacuation of allied military and civil personnel
from St Nazaire.
(Operation AERIAL)
20th Returned to St Nazaire to evacuate Polish troops.
25th Resumed Home Fleet duties with Flotilla.
July Deployed with Flotilla for Home Fleet screening
and patrol duties
August
9th Deployed
with other Home Fleet destroyers to supplement escort for HMS VALIANT,
HMS HOOD, HM Aircraft Carrier ARGUS and
HM Cruiser ARETHUSA during return
passage of Force
H ships from Gibraltar.
September Deployed with Home Fleet destroyers
to supplement screen for military convoy
on passage in
NW Approaches to carry out landings in Dakar (Operation MENACE).
1st Assisted
in cover for return passage of HM Cruiser FIJI of Force M after that ship
had been hit
by a torpedo from U32 off the Hebrides.
(Note: Deployments
between July and October may have included anti-invasion
patrol and Fleet
screening. To be confirmed.)
October Deployed with Flotilla in continuation.
to November (Note: Channel area deployment to be confirmed.)
December
3rd Detached
for escort of 20th Destroyer Flotilla during minelay off Ile
de Bas
(Operation GR –later cancelled. See Naval
Staff History (Mining).
4th Resumed
Flotilla duties.
1 9 4 1
January Resumed Flotilla deployment in
continuation in Channel.
February Transferred to Scapa Flow with ships of Flotilla for screening and patrol duties,
March Home Fleet duty with Flotilla in continuation.
13th Nominated
for refit and passage to Rosyth
14th . Taken in hand for refit.
April Under refit.
(Note: Work
included fit of RAF ASV type radar outfit modified for shipborne
use.
This equipment for which the aerial was
fixed to ship’s structure had severe
limitations.
See RADAR AT SEA by D Howse for details of the
development
and use of radar
in the RN.)
May
3rd On completion
of post refit trials resumed Flotilla duties in Home Fleet at Scapa Flow
24th Part
of escort for HM Battleship KING GEORGE V and HM Aircraft Carrier VICTORIOUS
during search
for German battleship BISMARCK after sinking of HMS Battlecruiser HOOD.
For details of the pursuit and sinking
of BISMARCK see BATTLESHIP BISMARCK
by Mullenheim Rechberg, PURSUIT by L
Kennedy and the Naval Staff History.
25th Passage to Hvalfjord, Iceland to refuel.
June Home Fleet Flotilla duties
in continuation.
July
27th Deployed
with HMS TARTAR as screen for HM Cruisers AURORA and NIGERIA
during operation
to assess the potential of using Spitzbergen as a refuelling
base for
escorts used
in defence of convoys on passage to and from North Russia.
August
1st After
evacuation of Norwegian nationals from Bear Island deployed as screen with
HMS TARTAR for same ships during offensive
sweep off Norwegian coast before
taking passage
to return to Scapa Flow.
30th Detached
for escort of HM Aircraft Carrier ARGUS and HM Cruiser SHROPSHIRE
with HMS MATABELE
and HMS SOMALI during passage to Archangel.
Embarked RAF personnel
for passage (Operation STRENGTH).
(Note: HMS ARGUS
was taking HURRICANE aircraft and the ships also carried
personnel for
duty in North Russia. Cover was provided by HMS VICTORIOUS,
HM Cruisers DEVONSHIRE and SUFFOLK, screened by HM Destroyers
ECLIPSE, INGLEFIELD
and ESCAPADE.)
September
7th Aircraft
despatched and ships took passage to Murmansk.
15th On return
to Scapa Flow resumed Flotilla duties.
October Home Fleet duties in continuation
with Flotilla
to November Nominated
for refit
Passage to Tyne.
December
1st Taken
in hand for refit by Hawthorn Leslie shipyard at Hebburn.
1 9 4 2
January Under refit.
(Note: This
may have included machine repair and damage to systems
due to excess
stress when steaming in heavy weather, as in other ships
of the Class.
To be confirmed.)
30th Carried
out post refit trials and took passage to resume Flotilla duties at Scapa Flow
on completion.
February Deployed at Scapa Flow for Home Fleet Flotilla duties.
March Deployed with HM Destroyers ASHANTI, BEDOUIN, ECHO, ECLIPSE,
ESKIMO, FAULKNOR, FURY, GROVE, ICARUS,
INCONSTANT
INTREPID, JAVELIN, LANCASTER, LEDBURY, LOOKOUT, ONSLOW,
TARTAR, VERDUN, WELLS and WOOLSTON as screen for HM Battleships
KING GEORGE V and
DUKE OF YORK, HM Battlecruiser RENOWN. HM
Aircraft Carrier VICTORIOUS, HM Cruisers
KENT and BERWICK providing
Distant Cover for
Russian Convoy PQ12 and returning QP8.
(For details of all Russian convoy
operations see CONVOYS TO RUSSIA by RA Ruegg,
THE RUSSIAN CONVOYS by D Macintyre,
CONVOY! by P Kemp and ARCTIC
CONVOYS by R Woodman.)
8th Detached
with HM Destroyers ONSLOW, FURY, ASHANTI, ECHO and ECLIPSE
to refuel in
Iceland after search for German destroyers,
9th Joined
HM Cruisers TRINIDAD and LIVERPOOL as screen with HMS ECHO and
HMS FURY.
(Note:
The two cruisers were to supply fuel to escorts of convoys deployed in the search
for German
battleship TIRPITZ known to be at sea for an attack on QP8.
TIRPITZ had in fact returned to Vestfjord when it was known that the covering
force included
an aircraft carrier. The attacks made on TIRPITZ by aircraft from
HMS VICTORIOUS were however unsuccessful.)
11th Deployed
with HM Destroyers FAULKNOR, FURY, INTREPID, ICARUS, TARTAR,
BEDOUIN and ESKIMO
in search for enemy ships off Bodo.
Detached from search and returned
to Scapa Flow after problems with steering gear
(Note: Search
for TIRPITZ was unsuccessful.. See above references and ENGAGE THE
ENEMY MORE CLOSELY
by C Barnett.)
April Nominated for escort of return convoy QP10.
10th Escorted
return convoy QP10 with HM Destroyers ECLIPSE, FURY, MARNE
and ORIBI.
12th HMS Cruiser
LIVERPOOL joined escort.
Under attack by U435 which failed. See
HITLER’S U-BOAT WAR by C Blair.
21st Detached from PQ10 with escort on arrival at Rekjavik, Iceland.
26th Deployed
with HM Destroyers BELVOIR, ESCAPADE, FAULKNOR, HURSLEY,
INGLEFIELD, LAMERTON, MARNE,
MARTIN, MIDDLETON, ORIBI and US
destroyers
USS MADISON, USS PLUNKETT, USS WAINWRIGHT and USS WILSON
as screen
for HMS KING GEORGE V, US battleship USS WASHINGTON, HMS
VICTORIOUS, HM Cruisers KENYA, US cruisers USS TUSCALOOSA and WICHITA
Providing Distant
Cover for passage of Russian convoy PQ15.
29th Sailed from Hvalfjord with covering
force and screen.
May
1st Rammed
and sunk in collision by HMS KING GEORGE V in foggy conditions.
Ship broke in two and 169 of ship’s
company were rescued from the forward section and 40
other from
the sea. Those left in the after section which sank very quickly
were killed
when depth charges detonated. For details see above references and THE
TRIBALS by M Bryce.
Addendum
CONVOY ESCORT MOVEMENTS of HMS PUNJABI
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
|
|
|
|
|
|
04/11/39
|
05/11/39
|
ON 001/1
|
07/11/39
|
07/11/39
|
07/11/39
|
07/11/39
|
HN 001
|
10/11/39
|
10/11/39
|
27/03/40
|
29/03/40
|
ON 023/1
|
31/03/40
|
31/03/40
|
31/03/40
|
31/03/40
|
HN 023B
|
04/04/40
|
04/04/40
|
03/08/40
|
04/08/40
|
OA 193
|
04/08/40
|
07/08/40
|
01/03/42
|
06/03/42
|
PQ 012
|
11/03/42
|
12/03/42
|
10/03/42
|
22/03/42
|
PQ 013
|
28/03/42
|
31/03/42
|
21/03/42
|
22/03/42
|
QP 009
|
28/03/42
|
03/04/42
|
10/04/42
|
10/04/42
|
QP 010
|
21/04/42
|
21/04/42
|
10/04/42
|
29/04/42
|
PQ 015
|
01/05/42
|
05/05/42
|
28/04/42
|
29/04/42
|
QP 011
|
01/05/42
|
07/05/42
|
|
|
|
|
|
(Note on Convoys)