W (WAGER)-Class
Fleet destroyer ordered from Hawthorn Leslie at Newcastle with 7
others of this Class as the 9th Emergency Flotilla on 3rd December 1941. The
ship was laid down on 31st July 1942 and launched on 30th August 1943 as the
2nd RN ship to carry the name. Her build was completed on 20th July
1944. Following a successful WARSHIP WEEK National Savings campaign in March
1942 this destroyer was adopted by the civil community of the New Forest in Hampshire.
B a t t l
e H o n o u r s
ZEEBRUGGE 1918
-
OSTEND 1918 - ATLANTIC 1939-40
- NORWAY 1940 - OKINAWA 1945
H e r a l d i
c D a t a
Badge: On a Field Blue, a head Proper
with wind issuant
from the south.
M o t t
o
Tot itenara tot vent: 'Every voyage has its gales'
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 4 4
July
Contractors trials and commissioning for service in 27th Destroyer
Flotilla.
20th Build completion and commenced
Acceptance Trials
24th Accepted for service in 27th
Destroyer Flotilla.
On
completion of trials and storing took passage to Scapa Flow.
August Worked
up at Scapa Flow with Home Fleet.
Deployed as screen for ships of Home Fleet during air operations against
shipping off Norway.
September Prepared
for service with Flotilla in Eastern Fleet.
17th Sailed from Scapa
Flow to Gibraltar with HM Destroyer WRANGLER as screen for HM Aircraft
Carrier FORMIDABLE.
October
14th Sailed from Gibraltar with HM
Destroyers KEMPENFELT, WAKEFUL, WESSEX and
WRANGLER for passage to Ceylon
Retained for
Mediterranean Fleet duties in Mediterranean on arrival in Alexandria
November
13th Deployed as part of screen for HM
Battleship KING GEORGE V during bombardment of
Milos.
On release from Mediterranean Fleet detachment resumed passage to join
Flotilla at Trincomalee.
23rd Transferred to British Pacific Fleet
with ships of 27th Destroyer Flotilla on formation.
December Prepared
for British Pacific Fleet operations with US Navy in SW Pacific.
17th Deployed with HM Destroyers
KEMPENFELT, WAKEFUL, WESSEX and WRANGLER as
screen for H M Aircraft Carriers
INDOMITABLE and ILLUSTRIOUS, H M Cruisers
ARGONAUT, BLACK PRINCE and NEWCASTLE during attacks on oil
installations at
Pangkalan Brandan. (Operation
ROBSON).
18th Replenished from RFA tanker WAVE
KING.
20th With screen during carrier air
attacks on Belawan Deli.
(Note: Raids were diverted to this secondary target because of weather
conditions at
Pangkalan Brandan. For details
see OPERATION PACIFIC by Edwyn Gray , THE
FORGOTTEN FLEET by J Winton
and WAR WITH JAPAN (HMSO).)
23rd Returned to Trincomalee
with Force 67..
1 9 4 5
January
16th Sailed with British Pacific Fleet as
Force 63 for transfer to US 5th Fleet in Australia.
20th Refuelled from Force 69 in Indian Ocean.
24th Deployed with HM Destroyers GRENVILLE,
UNDINE, URSA .UNDAUNTED, KEMPENFELT,
WAKEFUL, WAGER and WHELP as destroyer screen for H M Battleship KING
GEORGE V,
HM Aircraft Carriers ILLUSTRIOUS, INDEFATIGABLE, INDOMITABLE and
VICTORIOUS,
H
M Cruisers ARGONAUT, BLACK PRINCE and EURYALUS during air attacks on oil
refinery
at
Pladjoe, north of Palembang, Sumatra (Operation MERIDIAN I).
26th Replenished from Force 69.
29th Part of screen for Task Force 63
during air attacks on oil refineries at Soengi-
Gerong, Sumatra (Operation MERIDIAN n).
(Note: This operation was not judged an unqualified success. See
references above.)
Under air attacks during which HMS ILLUSTRIOUS was damaged by AA fire
from
HMS EURYALUS..
30th Refuelled from Task Force 69-
February
4th Arrived at Fremantle with Force 63
10th Prepared for joint operations in
Pacific on arrival at Sydney.
(Note: Exercises included use of
US Navy signalling and manoeuvring procedures.)
Allocation for service with the US Navy in SW Pacific was delayed
pending approval
in Washington by US Chiefs of Staff
(For
details see TASK FORCE 57 by P Smith and above references.
28th Sailed from Sydney for Forward British Base at Manus, Admiralty Islands
March Exercises continued on passage.
7th Arrived at Manus with ships of Force
113.
Nominated for escort duty of Fleet Train, Task Force 112.
15th Approval given for BPF after long delays
.
See above THE FORGOTTEN FLEET by John Winton and above references.
17th Deployed
with HM Frigate FINDHORN and HM Sloop CRANE in Task Unit 112.12 as the
screen for HM Escort Carrier STRIKER, Replenishment Tankers SAN
AMBROSIO,
CEDARDALE and SAN ADOLOPHO.
20th Arrived at Ulithi
to join 5th Fleet.
April
Fleet Train screening duties in continuation.
(Note: Ship was detached when
required for screening of Task Force 57 ships. during
Operation ICEBERG I.)
20th Task Force 57 returned to Leyte.
(Note Transferred to Task
Force 57 for screening duties during rest period at Manus.
Task
Force 57 then comprised:-
Task
Group 57.1 HM Battleships KING GEORGE V and HOWE.
Task
Group 57.2 HM Aircraft Carriers INDOMITABLE,
VICTORIOUS,
FORMIDABLE and INDEFATIGABLE.
Task
Group 57.4 H M Cruisers SWIFTSURE, UGANDA (RON), GAMBIA (RNZN)
and
BLACK PRINCE.
Task
Group 57.8 HM Destroyers GRENVILLE, URSA, UNDINE, URCHIN,
URANIA, UNDAUNTED, QUILLIAM (RAN), QUEENBOROUGH (RAN),
QUIBERON, QUICKMATCH, QUALITY, KEMPENFELT, WHIRLWIND and
WESSEX.
May
1st Sailed from Manus with
TG57.8 to continue attacks on Sakishima Gunto.
(Operation ICEBERG II).
4th Deployed for screening
duties with TG57.8 during air operations off Sakishima
Gunto.
22nd Detached with HM Destroyer KEMPENFELT to escort HMS FORMIDABLE to Sydney.
(Note:
HMS FORMIDABLE needed repair to damage sustained during the air operations and
these two destroyers were due for refit.)
June
Under refit.
to (Note: The
ship did not join Task Force 37 when ships of the BPF
were transferred to the 3rd
July US
Fleet for operations off Japan. See above references).
August
15th Returned to RN control after
Japanese surrender.
Nominated for support of re-occupation
of Hong
Kong
and joined RN Task Force 111.
Passage
to Subic Bay with HMS INDOMITABLE, HMS SWIFTSURE,
HMS EURYALUS,
HMS BLACK
PRINCE, HMS KEMPENFELT, HMS URSA
and HMAS QUADRANT
27th Deployed with HM Light Fleet
Aircraft Carrier VENERABLE and above ships as Task
Group 111.2 and took passage from Subic
Bay to
Hong Kong.
September Deployed with ships of
Flotilla at
Hong Kong.
(For
details of the problems faced in the
Far East after VJ Day see Final Report by the Supreme
Commander
SEAC (HMSO)).
Post War Notes
HMS WHIRLWIND remained in the
Far
East for support of repatriation operations until December
1945 and returned to
Chatham. On
arrival on 15th January 1946 she was kept in commission. During 1947 she was
deployed at Rosyth for training purposes. After selection for conversion to
a Type 15 Anti-submarine Frigate the ship was withdrawn from operational service. When conversion was completed at Newcastle in 1953
the ship re-commissioned for service in the 5th Frigate Squadron and was deployed in Home Waters and
the
Mediterranean. She took part in the
support of military operations in
Cyprus and
the ill-fated
Suez
operations. In July of 1961 she re-commissioned for service in the West
Indies with the 8th Frigate Squadron until
1966 when placed on the Disposal List. This ship was selected for use as a target
for weapon trials and towed from
Portsmouth to
Pembroke Dock on 12th September 1969. Whilst moored in Cardigan
Bay. prior to trials use she foundered during gales and became a
total loss.