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H . M . S . U
R A N I A ( R 0 5 )
“U” Class Destroyer ordered from Vickers-Armstrong
at Barrow under the Emergency War Programme on 12th June 1941 with HMS URCHIN for the
9th Emergency Flotilla. The ship was laid down as Yard Number 832 on 18th June 1942
She was launched on 19th May 1943 as the second
Royal Navy ship to bear the name, introduced for a Prize TORTUE
taken in 1797. Her
Build was completed on 18th January 1944. After a successful WARSHIP
WEEK National Savings campaign in March
1942 the ship had been adopted by the civil community of Heston, then in the
County of Middlesex.
B a t t l e H o n o u r s
NORMANDY 1944
- OKINAWA 1945
H e r a l d i c D a t a
On a Field Blue, a crescent
white within a circle of estoiles.
D e t a i l s o f
W a r S e r v i c e
1 9 4 4
January
Contractors trials and commissioned for service in the 25th Destroyer
Flotilla
Home Fleet.
18th Build completion and
commenced Acceptance Trials.
Passage to Scapa Flow after completion of trials, storing and
calibration of the
weapon systems.
Worked-up for operational
service with ships of the Home Fleet.
February
On completion took passage to the Mediterranean for convoy defence and
for
support of military
operations.
March
Deployed in Mediterranean
Nominated for support of
planned allied landings and Normandy.
(Operation NEPTUNE ).
April Return passage to UK to rejoin Home
Fleet.
Allocated for service in
Force “G” of Eastern Task Force with HM Destroyers
GRENVILLE, ULSTER,
ULYSSES, UNDAUNTED, UNDINE, URCHIN and
URSA of 25th Flotilla and
deployed in English Channel
(For details of activities
prior to and during assault landings see OPERATION
NEPTUNE by K Edwards and
LANDINGS IN NORMANDY (HMSO).)
May Channel deployment in
continuation.
2nd Took part in Final
Rehearsal for NEPTUNE with ships of Flotilla.
(Exercise FABIUS – Forces
“O”, “S”, “J” and “G” of Eastern Task Force were
all involved.)
3rd Exercise involved
berthing, loading and sailing of ships and craft.
4th Provided support for
landings at Hayling Island by Force “G”.
18th Took part in defence
exercise off Brighton.
(Note : This involved ships
of Forces “S”, “G” and “J” and included simulated
attacks by
E-Boats, submersibles, aircraft and minelaying craft.)
On completion remained in
Channel area and prepared for support duties.
June Deployed in Solent area prior to
landings.
4th Operation delayed 24 hours.
(Note : Force “G” craft
were assembled in West Solent)
5th
Sailed from Assembly area as escort for Convoy G9 with HM Destroyers
JERVIS and ULYSSES.
6th Passage through swept channel.
Provided naval gunfire
support during assault landings on GOLD Beaches.
On completion of Assault
Phase deployed in Eastern Task Force area for patrol
to intercept enemy surface
craft attempting to attack Channel traffic.
15th
Passage to Portsmouth.
16th
Escorted HM Cruiser ARETHUSA with HM Destroyer SCOURGE during
passage from Portsmouth to
assault area with HM King George VI embarked.
17th
Resumed interception patrol and support after return passage to
Portsmouth
escorting HMS ARETHUSA.
30th
On completion of NEPTUNE remained in Channel area.
July Deployed for patrol in Bay of
Biscay and SW Approaches for interception of
craft attempting to
evacuate German troops from French ports.
August Resumed Home Fleet duties with Flotilla
based at Scapa Flow for screening
of major Fleet units and
patrol.
September Home Fleet deployment in continuation.
Nominated for service in
British Pacific Fleet with Flotilla after refit.
October Under refit at Southampton.
to Prepared for foreign service.
November (Note : British Pacific Fleet was formally
created on 22nd November in Ceylon.)
Took passage to Trincomalee for duty with 25th Destroyer Flotilla.
December On arrival nominated for duty in Force 63
for screening of major units during
air operations in Indian Ocean.
1 9 4 5
January Nominated for screening duties with
Flotilla for
planned attack on oil installations in Sumatra.
1st
Sailed from Trincomalee with HM Destroyers
KEMPENFELT, WHELP,
WAGER, GRENVILLE, UNDAUNTED,
UNDINE and URSA as screen
for HM Aircraft Carriers
IMPLACABLE, INDEFATIGABLE and
VICTORIOUS, HM Cruisers SUFFOLK, CEYLON, ARGONAUT and
BLACK PRINCE as part of Force
63 during air attacks on oil refineries at
Pankalan
Brandan, Sumatra.
(Operation LENTIL :(Part of
Operation OUTFLANK – See WAR WITH
JAPAN, Volume VI (HMSO). For
details of operations in Indian Ocean see
OPERATION PACIFIC by E Gray and THE FORGOTTEN FLEET by J Winton.)
(Note : Ships of both
Eastern Fleet and British Pacific Fleet took part.)
4th
Remained with screen during air attacks from flying off position NE of Simalur Island.
On completion returned with
screen for Force 63.
7th
Arrived at Trincomalee with Force 63. Took
passage to Sydney.
(Note : Did not take part
with ships of both Fleets in Operation MERIDIAN).
February On arrival at Sydney prepared for service
with US Navy in SW Pacific.
10th
Main body of BPF ships arrived at Sydney.
Allocated for service with
newly designated Task Force 113 for RN ships
serving with US Navy.
Pennant Number for visual signalling purposes
changed to D27
28th
Took passage from Sydney with ships of Task Force 113 for advanced base
at Manus,
Admiralty Islands.
(Note : Extensive exercises
including manoeuvring using US signalling procedures
were carried out
ion passage,)
March
7th Arrived at Manus
with Task Force 113.
18th Sailed from forward RN Base
at Manus in Admiralrty
Islands to join US Fifth
Fleet at US Base in Ulithi. after delay in receiving approval of US Chiefs of
Staff
for participation of RN
ships in operations against Japan in SW Pacific.
20th Arrived at Ulithi
and allocated for service with US 5th Fleet in operations off
Sakishima
Group against airfields which were supporting Japanese defence of
US attack on Okinawa
(Operation ICEBERG ONE)
23rd Sailed from Ulithi
to join US Task Force 58 off Sakishima Gunto Group and
designated as Task Force 57.
See above references and TASK FORCE 57 by
Peter C Smith.)
(Note : Task Force 57 on
sailing comprised :
Task Unit
57.1 HM Battleships KING GEORGE V and
HOWE.
Task Unit
57.2 HM Aircraft Carriers INDOMITABLE
and ILLUSTRIOUS
VICTORIOUS and INDEFATIGABLE.
. Task Unit 57.5 HM Cruisers SWIFTSURE, GAMBIA (RNZN),
BLACK PRINCE and ARGONAUT.
Task Unit
57.8 HM Cruiser EURYALUS, HM
Destroyers GRENVILLE,
ULSTER, UNDINE, URANIA, UNDAUNTED,
QUICKMATCH (RAN), QUIBERON (RAN),
QUEENBOROUGH,
QUALITY, WHELP and WAGER.
(Note : HMS URSA of Flotilla was in dock in Malta.)
25th Refuelled from British Fleet Train (Task
Force 112).
26th
Joined operations by ships of US Task Force 58 in operational area.
Deployed with screen for
Task Force 57 ships during first attacks by British aircraft.
28th Withdrew for replenishment.
31st Deployed with screen during 2nd series of
Task Force 57 air operations.
April
1st Under sustained air attacks during which
HMS INDEFATIGABLE was hit and
damaged by a KAMIKAZE
aircraft and HMS KING GEORGE V and HMS
INDOMITABLE came under
machine gun attacks.
2nd Withdrew with Task Force ships and screen
for refuelling from Fleet Train.
6th Returned to continue air operations after
delay in replenishment.
Under further air attacks
and detached with HMS ARGONAUT which was
to act as a Radar Picket
to give advance warning of approach of low flying
aircraft.
7th Carried out search for pilot of ditched
British aircraft who was found to have
died before arrival.
8th Deployed for screening duties during
replenishment.
9th Transferred with ships of Task Force 57 to
carry out attacks on airfields in
Formosa (Operation
ICEBERG OOLONG).
10th Passage to Formosa with screen.
12th Deployed with screen during air attacks on
airfields at Schinchiku and
Matsuyama
which had been delayed for 24 hours by weather.
(See above references
for details of the successful operations.)
13th Returned with screen to replenish in Area
COOTIE)
14th Detached from Task Force with HMS QUALITY
(RAN) for escort to Leyte
of HMS ILLUSTRIOUS which
was being withdrawn due to damage when
KAMIKAZE aircraft
crashed alongside ship on 6th April.
See above references.
(Note : Other ships of Task Force 57
remained with Task Force 58
to continued air attacks on Sakishima Gunto.)
20th Return passage to rejoin Task Force for
screening during passage to Leyte
on completion of ICEBERG
ONE)
23rd Arrived at Leyte
for replenishment and maintenance.
May
1st Sailed from Leyte
with ships of Task Force 57 to continue air attacks with
Task Force 58 on Sakishima Gunto (Operation
ICEBERG TWO).
(Note : Task Unit 2
included HM Aircraft Carrier FORMIDABLE in place
of HMS ILLUSTRIOUS.
Task Unit 3
included HM Cruiser UGANDA (RCN) in place of
HMS
ARGONAUT which had been withdrawn for refit and HMS
EURYALUS formerly in Task Unit 8.)
Task Unit 8
included HMS URSA, HMS URCHIN, HMS WHIRLWIND
and HMS
WESSEX. HMS ULSTER having been damaged and HMS
WHELP and HMS WAGER being deployed
elsewhere.)
4th Deployed with screen after replenishment
in Area MOSQUITO on 3rd May.
After first series of
air operations detached with HMS KING GEORGE V, HMS
HOWE, HMS SWIFTSURE, HMS BLACK PRINCE,
HMS GAMBIA (RNZN),
HMS UGANDA (RCN) and
ships of Flotilla to carry out bombardment of shore
targets in Miyako Shima.
Deployed as screen with
HMS GRENVILLE, HMS UNDAUNTED, HMS URSA
HMS UNDINE and HMS
URCHIN during bombardment.
Rejoined aircraft
carriers of Task Force when they came under very heavy and
sustained air attacks
including suicide bombers.
(Note : HMS FORMIDABLE
and HMS INDOMITABLE were both damaged,)
6th Replenished with ships of Task Force.
8th Resumed screening duties in operational
area.
During further air attacks HMS
VICTORIOUS and HMS FORMIDABLE were
hit and although
damaged and some casualties remained in service.
10th Replenished with Task Force in Area
COOTIE.
12th Returned to operational area with Task Force
for screening duties.
14th Replenished with Task Force in Area COOTIE
16th Returned to operational area with Task
Force for screening duties.
18th Replenished with Task Force during which
an accident in HMS FORMIDABLE
when aircraft guns were
fired caused fires and damage in hangar.
20th Resumed screening duties in operational
area.
(Note : During this
period HMS QUILLIAM collided with HMS INDOMITABLE
and had to
be withdrawn.)
22nd Replenished with ships of Task Force in
Area COOTIE.
Withdrawal from
operations agreed with US Admiral Halsey.
24th Deployed with screen for final series of
operations in Sakishima Gunto.
25th Took passage with Task Force 57 ships for Manus.
(Note :HMS KING GEORGE
V detached with destroyer screen for passage to Guam.
27th Transferred with ships of Task Force 57 to
3rd US Fleet and redesignated
Task Force 37 under new
US Navy Command structure for SW Pacific.
June Deployed with screen for Task
Force 37 during passage from Manus to Sydney.
Maintenance and Leave
period in Sydney prior to deployment with US 3rd
Fleet Task Forces off
Japan..
28th Sailed from Sydney as screen for
ships of Task Force 37 during
passage to Manus.
(Note : Task Force
37 comprised :
HMS KING GEORGE V.
HM
Aircraft Carriers VICTORIOUS and IMPLACABLE.
(HMS INDEFATIGABLE was delayed by defect)
HM Cruisers NEWFOUNDLAND, BLACK
PRINCE,
EURYALUS, ACHILLES, UGANDA (RCN) and
GAMBIA.
HM
Destroyers GRENVILLE, UNDINE, URANIA, URCHIN,
ULYSSES, UNDAUNTED, QUIBERON (RAN), QUALITY
(RAN), QUICKMATCH (RAN), QUADRANT
(RAN),
TROUBRIDGE, TENACIOUS, TERMAGANT,
TEAZER
and TERPSICHORE.)
July
4th Arrived at Manus
with Task Force.
6th Sailed from Manus
for operational area off Japan.
13th Replenished from Fleet Train with
ships of Task Force.
16th Arrived in operational area for
screening duties during operations.
(Note : Task Force
was deployed with Task Forces of 5th US Fleet
comprising four separate groups. See above references.)
17th Deployed with screen for first
joint RN/USN operations against
airfields at
Sendai, Masuda and Matsushima.
18th Task Force bombarded targets in
South Honshu.
19th Returned with screen and major
units to rendezvous with Fleet Train
to refuel
23rd Deployed as part of screen for
Task Force 37 when joint RN/USN
Fleets to resume
operations against targets in Japan.
(Note : Delay had
been caused by lack of fuel from British sources
and also discussions with CinC of 3rd US Fleet relating to
future
policy. For details see references.)
24th Deployed with screen during flying
operations against airfields and
shipping in the Inland
Sea,
(Note : Task Force 37 was again restricted to
subsidiary targets.
See references.)
26th Screen deployment in continuation
during replenishment.
(Note : Special
arrangements were made by US Navy to assist with
provision of spares and deficiencies in oil stock available were
again evident.)
28th Deployed with screen during air
operations against subsidiary targets.
29th Detached from Task Force with HM
Destroyers UNDINE and ULYSSES
as screen for HMS
KING GEORGE V during bombardment of industrial
area of Hammamatsu , Honshu as Task Unit 37.1.2 with US Task Unit
34.8..
Involved in minor
collision with HMS ULYSSES which sustained damage.
Escorted HMS ULYSSES
during investigation.
Rejoined Task Unit
with HMS ULYSSES when damage reassessed.
30th On completion of bombardment
returned with Task Unit to rejoin Task
Force 37 ships for screening
during continued air operations against
airfields in SW
Honshu and shipping.
31st Screen deployment during
refuelling.
August
4th Replenished from major units
before Task Force resumed flying
operations.
5th Deployed with screen during air operations
6th Operations by UK/USN Task Forces
suspended during atom bomb
attack at
Hiroshima.
12th Left operational area as screen
for British Pacific Fleet ships during
passage to Manus.
(Note : Owing to
lack of fuel Task Force 37 had to be withdrawn from
final
operations off Japan except for a Token Force which was
retained as part of
Task Force 38 and designated Task Group
38.5
comprising:
HMS KING GEORGE V, HMS INDEFATIGABLE,
HMS GAMBIA (RNZN),
HMS NEWFOUNDLAND,
HM Destroyers TROUBRIDGE, TERMAGANT,
TENACIOUS, TEAZER, BARFLEUR, NAPIER (RAN),
NIZAM
(RAN), WAKEFUL and WRANGLER.)
P o s t W a r N o t e s
HMS URANIA returned to
Sydney from Manus and reverted to overall RN control
with other RN ships. Ships in the
Flotilla remained in the Pacific area for support duties and visits to ports in Australia
and New Zealand. On return to UK in early 1946 the ship was Paid-off and placed in
Reserve at Devonport. In November 1950 she refitted in a Tyneside shipyard and was laid up at
Harwich on completion. As part of a modernisation programme
this destroyer was selected for conversion to a
Type 15 Ant-submarine Frigate and arrived
at Belfast for conversion by
Harland and Wolff in April
1953. In 1955 she recommissioned
for service in the 6th
Frigate Squadron and deployed mainly in the Mediterranean until 1957 including taking part in
Operation MUSKETEER at Suez in 1956. After brief service with the 2nd Frigate Squadron she
paid off again in 1958 and was placed in Devonport Reserve pending refit at Rosyth the next year. On completion of trials the ship
returned to Reserve at
Devonport and was never
brought forward for service although refitted once more at
Rosyth
in 1962 and returned to
Reserve. Transferred to Portsmouth in 1967 she was placed on the Disposal List in 1971 and
sold for to Metal Industries at Faslane where she
arrived in tow on 2nd February 1971 for
demolition. |
DRAFT