H . M . S
. C A E S A R ( R 0 7 )
Ca-class Fleet Destroyer of the 11th Emergency
Flotilla built by John Brown of Clydebank and to be fitted for use as a Flotilla Leader with additional accommodation
for the Staff Officers. The ship was laid down on 3rd April 1943 and was intended to carry the name RANGER)
but before her launching on 14th February 1944 this was changed to CAESAR to conform with the new naming
policy . She was the sixth Royal Navy warship to carry the name, first introduced in 1642 and previously
been carried by a battleship sold in 1921. After completion en 5th October 1944 she joined the Home Fleet
to work-up for operational service.
B a t t l e H o n o u r s
GLORIOUS FIRST
OF JUNE 1794 - CUT
OF GIBRALTAR 1801 - STRACHAN'S
ACTION 1805 - BASQUE ROADS 1809 -
WALCHEREN 1809 - BALTIC 1854
H e r a l d i c D a t a
Badge : On a Field Blue. the
head of Caesar, gold.
M o t t o
Veni, vidi vici : ' I
came, I saw I conquered’
D e t a i l s o f
W a r S e r v i c e
1 9 4 4
September
Builders trials and commissioning.
October
Passage to Clyde for full power trials
5th Build completed trials and
commenced Acceptance Trials.
(Note :
Recommendations made for changes to ventilation in Gearing Room and Type 293
radar office. See BRITISH DESTROYERS by Edgar March).
Carried out
work-up at Scapa Flow with ships of Home Fleet.
November
Joined 7th Destroyer Flotilla Home Fleet after work-up at Scapa Flow.
14th Part of escort for HM Escort
Aircraft Carrier PURSUER and H M Cruiser EURYALUS
with HM Destroyers
NUBIAN, VENUS and ZEPHYR during air attacks on shipping off
Tromso.
(Note : German
Patrol craft V6413 was sunk during this operation..
For
details of Hone Fleet operations in this period see ENGAGE THE ENEMY MORE
CLOSELY by Corelli Bamett).
29th Part of escort for HM Cruiser
BELLONA, HM Escort Carriers CAMPANIA and NAIRANA
with snips of the 7th Flotilla
and HM Destroyers ONSLOW, OBEDIENT, OFFA, ORIBI,
ONSLAUGHT and
ORWELL.
(Note : These
ships were being deployed to provide cover for passage of Russian Convoy
JW62
to Kola Inlet. For details off all Russian Convoy operations see ENGAGE THE
ENEMY MORE CLOSELY
by Corelli Bamett, CONVOY ! by P Kemp, CONVOYS TO
RUSSIA by RA Ruegg RUSSIAN CONVOYS by R Woodhead and THE RUSSIAN
CONVOYS by B Schoefield).
December
1st Joined escort of JW62.
Convoy under threat
from STOCK Group of U-Boats which failed to make contact.
2nd Diversion of convoy avoided
attacks from GRUBE U- Boat Group.
7th Detached on arrival of JW62
at Kola Inlet without loss.
10th Part of escort for returning Convoy RA52
with same ships.
11th Sister destroyer HMS CASSANDRA
hit by torpedo from U365 and badly damaged.
12th HM Norwegian Corvette TUNSBERG
CASTLE sunk by mine with heavy loss of life.
13th U365 sunk by aircraft from HMS
NAIRANA.
19th Detached after arrival of convoy
at Loch Ewe without loss of any mercantiles.
1 9 4 5
January
Deployed with 7th Flotilla in tone Fleet and later transferred to
Atlantic for convoy
to
defence in Western
Approaches.
March
April
Nominated for foreign service
May
Refit and preparation for service with Eastern Fleet
to
July
August
Passage to Trincomalee with Flotilla
P o s t W a r N o t e s
HMS CAESAR was deployed with HM Cruiser SUSSEX with HM
Destroyers CARRON and CAVALIER to cover the
passage
of a military convoy taking 5th Indian Division to Soerabaya. The ship
returned
to UK to reduce to Reserve in 1946. In January 1951 it was decided
that ships of the CAESAR Class in Reserve should be modernised and work
was slowly progressed. This ship completed modernisation at Rosyth in
1960 and was commissioned for operational service in the 8th Destroyer
Squadron. Her service, mainly in the Far East, ended in June 1965 when
she Paid-off and was placed on the Disposal
List. After being de-equipped at Chatham the ship was sold to BISCO in
1966 for demolition by Hughes Bolcow and arrived in tow at the
Breaker’s yard in Blyth on 6th January 1967.
DRAFT