Type III HUNT Class Escort Destroyer
ordered from J. S. White at Cowes under 1940 War Emergency Programme on 28th
July 1940. The ship was laid down on 23rd June 1941 as Job No J6126 and
launched on 12th September 1942. She was the 1st RN warship to carry the name
and had been adopted by the civil community of South Moulton in the County of
Devonshire after a successful WARSHIP WEEK National Savings campaign. Build
completion date was 21st January 1943.
B a t t l
e H o n o u r s
SICILY 1943 - SALERNO 1943
- ADRIATIC 1944 - SOUTH
FRANCE 1944.
H e r a l
d i
c D a t a
Badge: On a Field barry
wavy of four White and Blue a goat's head erased Black gorged
with a chain
Gold, suspended therefrom by a link chain, a bugle horn also Gold.
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 3
January Contractor's trials and
commissioned for service.
21st Build completion and
commenced Acceptance Trials
Passage to
Tobermory on completion of trials and storing.
February Worked-up for operational
service.
Nominated for
escort of military convoy during passage to Gibraltar.
March Prepared for foreign service.
16th Joined HM Destroyers
BADSWORTH, DOUGLAS, GOATHLAND, WHADDON. Polish
KRAKOWIAK. HM
Sloops WOODPECKER and WREN in Clyde as escort for joint Convoy
WS28 to Indian
Ocean and KMF11 to Mediterranean.
21st Joint convoy divided
of Gibraltar after arrival of HM Destroyers MALCOLM, WITCH,
QUADRANT and
WOLVERINE joined to escort WS28 Section to Freetown.
Remained with
KMF11 Section escort during passage to Gibraltar.
22nd Took passage to Malta
to join 60 Destroyer Division.
April Deployed with
Flotilla based in Malta for escort and patrol duty in western and central
Mediterranean.
May Escorted convoys in
support of military operation in North Africa.
Took part in blockade of Cape Bon to intercept
craft evacuating German troops from the Tunisian
coast (Operation RETRIBUTION).
June Nominated for support
of allied landings in Sicily as part of Escort Group W in Support Force
East.
(Operation HUSKY
- See ENGAGE THE ENEMY MORE CLOSELY by Corelli Barnett, Naval
Staff History and
BRITISH INVASION FLEETS by J H de Winser.)
Deployed for
Convoy defence and patrol based in Malta.
July Passage to Sfax
7th Sailed from Sfax as
part of escort for military convoy SBS1 with Group.
10th Detached from SBS1
and carried out naval gunfire support, patrol and support duties.
August Deployed for escort of
convoys and supplemented defence of ships off Sicily
Nominated for
convoy defence and support of planned allied landings in Italy
(Operation
AVALANCHE – See above references for details.)
September Preparation for Salerno
landings.
Part of Escort
for troop convoys.
9th Deployed with Escort
Group (Operation AVALANCHE - See above references).
16th Provided naval
gunfire support and AA defence off Salerno beaches.
Deployed for
patrols to intercept E-Boats attempting to interfere with landings.
October Deployed for convoy
escort and patrol in central Mediterranean.
to Supported military
operations off west coast of Italy.
December
1 9 4 4
January Escort and support of
military operations in Western Mediterranean.
to (See WAR IN THE
MEDITERRANEAN (HMSO)
June
July Under refit in Malta
Nominated for
escort duty under US Command for planned landings in South of France.
(Operation
DRAGOON - For detail see ENGAGE THE ENEMY MORE CLOSELY and
INVASION OF THE
SOUTH OF FRANCE (HMSO).
August On completion transferred
to 5th Destroyer Flotilla based in Malta.
Passage to Naples
for escort duty.
13th Escorted US military
convoy SM2 with HM Escort Destroyers ALDENHAM, BLACKMORE,
BEAUFORT,
BELVOIR, WHADDON, LAUDERDALE and Greek PINDOS.
15th Arrived in Assault
Area.
Reverted to
control of CinC Mediterranean on release from DRAGOON.
Resumed duty with
5th Flotilla.
September Deployed in Adriatic in
support of military operations, convoy defence and for interception
to enemy supply
shipping.
October (See THE LAST DESTROYER by FA Mason for details of
Aegean deployments.)
November Adriatic deployment in continuation.
7th Bombarded E-Boat
base and installations at Lussino Island at Bar on mainland of Yugoslavia.
December Transferred to UK to
reinforce defence of coastal convoys.
Passage to UK.
(Note: U-Boat
attacks were being concentrated on convoy focal point in English Channel and
North Sea using SCHNORKEL fitted submarines
See SEEK AMD
STRIKE by W Hackmann, BUSINESS IN GREAT
WATERS by
J Terraine and
HOLD THE NARROW SEA by P Smith.).
1 9 4 5
January Nominated for service
with 18th Destroyer Flotilla, Eastern Fleet but attached to 21st Destroyer
to Flotilla based at
Sheerness for coastal convoy defence and patrol in North Sea and eastern
April
English
Channel.
(Note: Atlantic
convoys to east coast ports were being re-routed through Channel as the
threat of air attacks from French
bases had been eliminated).
(See HOLD THE
NARROW SEA by P Smith).
May After VE Day left 21st
Destroyer Flotilla and prepared for foreign service with Eastern Fleet.
to
June
July Passage to
Trincomalee via Mediterranean
August Arrived in Ceylon after
VJ Day and not deployed operationally.
P o s t W a r
N o t e s
HMS EGGESFORD
remained in Ceylon until October 1945 when she returned to UK and joined the Rosyth Training Flotilla.. On 25th November 1946 the ship
paid off and reduced to Reserve status at Portsmouth. Laid-up there until
1952 when transferred to Penarth. Following
discussions with the Federal German Government this destroyer was
sold for service in German navy with HM Escort Destroyers OAKLEY, ALBRIGHTON, HM Sloops ACTAEON, HART,
FLAMINGO and MERMAID in January 1957. Renamed BROMY. She
was refitted at Pembroke Dock before being commissioned for service as a
weapons training ship on 14th May 1959. Removed from the Active List in 1979
she was scrapped in Germany.
Addendum
CONVOY ESCORT MOVEMENTS
of HMS
EGGESFORD
by Don Kindell
These convoy lists have not been cross-checked
with the text above
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Date convoy sailed
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Joined convoy as escort
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Convoy No.
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Left convoy
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Date convoy arrived
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23/01/43
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23/01/43
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PW 283
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25/01/43
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25/01/43
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15/03/43
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15/03/43
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KMF 011
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25/03/43
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23/03/43
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24/03/43
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24/03/43
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KMF 011X
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25/03/43
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25/03/43
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25/03/43
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26/03/43
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MKF 011
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26/03/43
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05/04/43
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28/03/43
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28/03/43
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ET 016
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30/03/43
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01/04/43
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31/05/43
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05/06/43
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KMS 015
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08/06/43
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14/06/43
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28/07/43
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05/08/43
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GUS 011
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06/08/43
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26/08/43
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13/08/44
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13/08/44
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SM 002A
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15/08/44
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15/08/44
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06/09/44
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06/09/44
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SM 007
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unknown
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09/09/44
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14/09/44
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14/09/44
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SRM 010
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unknown
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unknown
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(Note on Convoys)
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