User:Rgdem999/HMS Wishart (1919)

HMS Wishart(D67/I67) was an Admiralty modified W class destroyer built for the Royal Navy. She was one of two destroyers ordered in April 1918 from Thornycroft under the 13th Order for Destroyers of the Emergency War Program of 1918-19. She was the first Royal Navy ship to commemorate a 17th-18th century naval commander, Admiral Sir James Wishart, Member of Parliament (MP) of Edinburgh and Portsmouth.

She was adopted by the community of Port Talbot, Glamorgan after the Warship Week National Savings Campaign in February 1942.

Construction
HMS Wishart’s keel was laid on 18th of May, 1918 at the Thornycroft Shipyard at Woolston. She was launched on 18th of July, 1919. She was 300 feet overall (312 ft between the perpendiculars) in length with a beam of 29.5 feet. Her mean draught was 9 feet, and would reach 11.25 feet under full load. She had a displacement of 1,140 tons standard and up to 1,550 full load.

She was propelled by three Yarrow type water tube boilers powering Curtis-Brown geared steam turbines developing 27,000 SHP driving two screws for a maximum designed speed of 34 knots. She was oil-fired and had a bunkerage of 320 to 370 tons. This gave a range of between 3500 nautical miles at 15 knots and 900 nautical miles at 32 knots.

She shipped four BL 4.7 in (120-mm) Mk.I guns, mount P Mk.I naval guns in four single center-line turrets. The turrets were disposed as two forward and two aft in super imposed firing positions. She also carried two QF 2 pdr Mk.II "pom-pom" (40 mm L/39) mounted abeam between funnels. Abaft of the 2nd funnel, she carried six 21-inch Torpedo Tubes in two triple mounts on the center-line.

Inter-War years
HMS Wishart was commissioned into the Royal Navy on the 10th of October 1919 with the pennant number D67. After commissioning she was assigned to the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla of the Atlantic Fleet. The Flotilla served in Home waters from May 1920 to July 1923 when the Flotilla was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet. In 1926 she moved on to China Station where she helped rescue foreign nationals during the Nanking Incident in March 1927.

In 1930 as the new A Class destroyers entered service she was placed in reserve at the Nore. Following a refit at Chatham in 1931, she joined the 8th Destroyer Flotilla on China Station. The 8th Flotilla transferred to the Mediterranean during the Abyssinian Crisis.

In December 1934 Lord Louis Mountbatten took command and she was transferred to the 1st Flotilla, Mediterranean Fleet. The crew of the Wishart won the ‘Cock of the Walk’ award during the 1935 Naval Regatta due to his inspired leadership.

Back in Home waters, HMS Wishart became the Emergency Destroyer at the Nore in August 1936. On the 27th of April 1937 she was Guardship at Greenwich for the opening of the National Maritime Museum by King George VI. In June 1938 she rejoined the Mediterranean Fleet on the Neutrality Patrol.

13th Destroyer Flotilla
In September 1939 the ship was allocated to the 13th Destroyer Flotilla based at Gibraltar for trade defence. On the 27th of December 1939 she intercepted the German merchantman Glucksberg (ran aground near Chipiona light vessel, Spain). At the end of May 1940 her pennant number was changed to I67 for visual signalling.

In June 1940, the 13th Flotilla was allocated to escort duties of major units on the formation of Force H. From July to December she escorted Force H in various Malta resupply operations. During Operation Collar, Force H briefly engaged major units of the Italian Navy at the Battle of Spartivento (27 Nov 1940). January 1941 her area of operations changed from the western Mediterranean to the Atlantic convoy defence out of Gibraltar.

From April to the end of May 1941 she was detached to Freetown in the Sierra Leon convoy defence area providing local escort then returning to Gibraltar in June. She escorted Force H for Operation Tracer on the 13th. On the 27th during an anti-submarine patrol West of Gibraltar, she scored her first victory against the Axis submarine forces sinking the Italian submarine ITALIAN SUBMARINE Glauco in position 35o00’N, 12o41’E.

SRE Conversion
July saw her return to the UK for conversion to a long range escort (LRE). Due to her boiler room arrangements she was found unsuitable for LRE conversion as there was no way to increase her fuel load, therefore she was converted to a short range escort (SRE). She was under refit and conversion until December. To augment the earlier changes, the replacement of the after bank of torpedo tubes with a single QF 12 pounder 12 cwt naval gun and the landing of 'Y' gun for additional space for depth charge gear and stowage, a Type 271 centimetric target indication Radar was added on the bridge and a Type 286P air warning radar was installed on the main mast.

Return to the 13th Flotilla
February 1942 upon completion of her workups and post refit trials she returned to the 13th Flotilla at Gibraltar. From March to October she was again escorting Force H in various Malta resupply operations. On the 2nd of May she scored her second victory against Axis submarines by sharing the credit for the sinking of U-74 with HMS Wrestler and a Sutherland aircraft of 202 Squadron (RAF) in position 37o16N 00o01E.

In November 1942 she escorted military convoys for Operation Torch – Allied landings in North Africa. She assisted in rescue operations for the troopships Thomas Stone and Strathallan after they had been torpedoed.

In June 1943 she was supporting Operation Husky – the invasion of Sicily. She deployed with the Eastern Task Force and was present during the landings of the British 8th Army.

In February 1944 she scored her final victory against the Axis submarine force. U-761 was attacked by two Catalina’s of US Navy Squadron VP 63, one Ventura of US Navy Squadron VB 127 and a Catalina of 202 Squadron (RAF). The German submarine had been detected through the use of Magnetic Anomaly Detection (MAD) equipment on the American Catalina’s. The RAF Catalina had to abort due to a fuel leak; however HMS Wishart and HMS Anthony responded and forced U-761 to the surface with 30 depth charges. U-761 was sunk in position 35o55'N, 05o45'W.

She was paid off into reserve and placed on the disposal list upon her arrival in the UK in February 1945. On 20 March she was sold for breaking up to T J Ward at Inverkeithing.

Wartime Commanders
A list of her Commanding Officers during World War II is available at Uboat.net.

Disposition
HMS Wishart arrived at the breaker’s yard after VJ-Day.

1987 Honour
In 1987 Gibraltar issued four stamps honouring important ships that served at Gibraltar during World War II. HMS Wishart’s crest appeared on an 18 pence stamp.