HMS Ardent was an A-class

A class destroyer

The A class was a flotilla of eight destroyers built for the Royal Navy as part of the 1927 naval programme. A ninth ship, Codrington, was built to an enlarged design to act as the flotilla leader...

 destroyer

Destroyer

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

 of the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

. She served during the Second World War in Home waters and off the Norwegian coast

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

, before becoming an early war loss when she was sunk by the German

Kriegsmarine

The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...

 warship

Warship

A warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat. Warships are usually built in a completely different way from merchant ships. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more maneuvrable than merchant ships...

s and on 8 June 1940 whilst escorting the aircraft carrier

Aircraft carrier

An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...

 .

Construction and commissioning

HMS Ardent was ordered on 6 March 1928 from the yards of Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company

Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company

Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Limited, often referred to simply as Scotts, was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Greenock on the River Clyde.- History :...

, Greenock

Greenock

Greenock is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in United Kingdom, and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 under the 1927 Naval Estimates. She was laid down on 30 July 1928 and was launched a year later on 26 June 1929. She was commissioned on 14 April 1930. After carrying out acceptance trials throughout March 1930, she was assigned on 23 March to operate with the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla, with the Mediterranean Fleet. Whilst working up, her No. 4 gun mounting was found to be defective and Ardent returned to Chatham for a replacement. The repairs were not completed until May, and she did not sail for her new station at Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

 until 19 May.

Early career

Ardent was deployed throughout June to September 1930, carrying out exercises and taking part in Fleet visits programmes. By October, however, her continued deployment was in question due to the recurrence of a number of defects. She put into the Royal Dockyard at Malta on 31 October to undergo repairs. She was not taken in hand for a survey until 1 December. By January 1931, her complement was reduced in anticipation of a long programme of repairs, which eventually lasted until September. During this time, she was paid off and reduced to the reserve

Reserve fleet

A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed, and thus partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; an equivalent expression in unofficial modern U.S....

. With the completion of repairs, Ardent was nominated to be recommissioned and to subsequently rejoin the 3rd Flotilla. She was recommissioned on 4 November, and after a period of working up rejoined the flotilla in December.

1932-1933 was spent carrying out Fleet Exercises and Visits Programmes as well as Flotilla exercises and independent visits. She also took part in combined exercises with the Home Fleet at Gibraltar

Gibraltar

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...

 each year in Spring. Ardent returned to the UK in January 1934 to undergo another refit. She was paid off in February and subsequently recommissioned to rejoin the flotilla. She spent March-July 1934 working up and on duties in home waters, before taking passage to Malta to rejoin the flotilla. The rest of the year was spent in the Mediterranean, in deployments and exercises. 1935 was much the same, with a brief visit to the Coronation Review at Spithead

Spithead

Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds, except those from the southeast...

 in June with the Mediterranean Fleet.

Ardent continued to deploy with the flotilla throughout 1936, but by August the Italian military operations in Abyssinia

Second Italo-Abyssinian War

The Second Italo–Abyssinian War was a colonial war that started in October 1935 and ended in May 1936. The war was fought between the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy and the armed forces of the Ethiopian Empire...

, and the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War

Spanish Civil War

The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...

 caused an increased state of readiness amongst the ships of the Mediterranean Fleet. On 8 September, Ardent and other ships of the flotilla were deployed on non-intervention patrols off the Spanish coast, and provided assistance to British citizens in Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

. She returned to Malta on 17 October. After carrying out a few exercises off Malta, Ardent resumed her Spanish patrols, including providing humanitarian aid to refugees, on 29 November. These activities would keep her occupied throughout December and into 1937.

In January-February 1937, she was deployed as the Senior Naval Officer’s ship at Barcelona

Barcelona

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

. In March, Ardent returned to the UK, and on 14 March was taken in hand at Sheerness

Sheerness

Sheerness is a town located beside the mouth of the River Medway on the northwest corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 12,000 it is the largest town on the island....

 for a long refit. The refit lasted until March 1938, and included the installation of anti-submarine detection equipment (ASDIC/Sonar

Sonar

Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...

). After the refit had been completed Ardent was nominated to serve with the Devonport Local Flotilla, along with her sister destroyers and , along with the older destroyer . After post refit trials in April, Ardent was recommissioned with a reduced complement to serve with the Plymouth Command

Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth

The Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth was a senior commander of the Royal Navy for hundreds of years. Plymouth Command was a name given to the units, establishments, and staff operating under the admiral's command. In the nineteenth century the holder of the office was known as Commander-in-Chief,...

. She served with this command as a training and emergency destroyer, and on 24 September her complement was increased as a result of the Munich crisis

Munich Agreement

The Munich Pact was an agreement permitting the Nazi German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. The Sudetenland were areas along Czech borders, mainly inhabited by ethnic Germans. The agreement was negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe without...

. She was also prepared for war service. By October, the crisis seemed to have abated, and on 11 October her complement was again reduced and she resumed her local flotilla duties. On 17 October, she entered Devonport Dockyard

HMNB Devonport

Her Majesty's Naval Base Devonport , is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy . HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England...

 for repairs. She was back in service on 15 November and in December she was deployed at Devonport for boy's training, whilst remaining ready for emergency duty. This was how she would spend the first half of 1939. In July, she was again undergoing repair, and in August she was moved to her war station with the 18th Destroyer Flotilla, for convoy defence and anti-submarine patrol

Anti-submarine warfare

Anti-submarine warfare is a branch of naval warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, or other submarines to find, track and deter, damage or destroy enemy submarines....

 in the English Channel

English Channel

The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...

. On 23 August, with war looming, she was joined with a full complement and prepared for war.

Wartime career

On the outbreak of the Second World War

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Ardent joined the flotilla at Portland

Isle of Portland

The Isle of Portland is a limestone tied island, long by wide, in the English Channel. Portland is south of the resort of Weymouth, forming the southernmost point of the county of Dorset, England. A tombolo over which runs the A354 road connects it to Chesil Beach and the mainland. Portland and...

 to cover the first troop convoys to France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, through the South Western Approaches

Western Approaches

The Western Approaches is a rectangular area of the Atlantic ocean lying on the western coast of Great Britain. The rectangle is higher than it is wide, the north and south boundaries defined by the north and south ends of the British Isles, the eastern boundary lying on the western coast, and the...

 and in the Channel. In October, she was transferred to the Western Approaches Command

Western Approaches Command

Commander-in-Chief, Western Approaches was the commander of a major operational command of the Royal Navy during World War II. The admiral commanding, and his forces, sometimes informally known as 'Western Approaches Command,' were responsible for the safety of British shipping in the Western...

 but was later transferred to Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

. She sailed for Liverpool in January 1940, and began deployments in the Irish Sea

Irish Sea

The Irish Sea separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man...

, and the South Western Approaches. On 30 January, she was patrolling west of Ushant

Ushant

Ushant is an island at the south-western end of the English Channel which marks the north-westernmost point of metropolitan France. It belongs to Brittany and is in the traditional region of Bro-Leon. Administratively, Ushant is a commune in the Finistère department...

 when she received an urgent SOS

SOS

SOS is the commonly used description for the international Morse code distress signal...

 from , which had been escorting a convoy which had come under attack by a U-boat

U-boat

U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...

, which had already sunk the tanker

Tanker (ship)

A tanker is a ship designed to transport liquids in bulk. Major types of tankship include the oil tanker, the chemical tanker, and the liquefied natural gas carrier.-Background:...

 . Ardent carried out a hunt for the U-boat with destroyers , , Fowey and Sunderland

Short Sunderland

The Short S.25 Sunderland was a British flying boat patrol bomber developed for the Royal Air Force by Short Brothers. It took its service name from the town and port of Sunderland in northeast England....

 aircraft of 228 Squadron

No. 228 Squadron RAF

No. 228 Squadron RAF was a unit that during the greatest part of its existence flew over water, doing so in World War I, World War II and beyond, performing anti-submarine, reconnaissance and air-sea rescue tasks.-Formation and World War I:...

, RAF Coastal Command

RAF Coastal Command

RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force . Founded in 1936, it was the RAF's premier maritime arm, after the Royal Navy's secondment of the Fleet Air Arm in 1937. Naval aviation was neglected in the inter-war period, 1919–1939, and as a consequence the service did not receive...

. They eventually forced the attacking U-boat — — to surface, whereupon she was attacked by aircraft and forced to scuttle herself. Forty-one of the crew were rescued by Fowey and Whitshed. The next day, Ardent joined Whitshed in escorting the cruiser

Cruiser

A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...

  into Plymouth

Plymouth

Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...

 on her return from her battle with the .

Ardent remained deployed in the Western Approaches throughout February, before spending March escorting convoys from the Clyde

River Clyde

The River Clyde is a major river in Scotland. It is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third longest in Scotland. Flowing through the major city of Glasgow, it was an important river for shipbuilding and trade in the British Empire....

 to Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. In April, she was transferred to the Home Fleet after the German invasion of Norway

Operation Weserübung

Operation Weserübung was the code name for Germany's assault on Denmark and Norway during the Second World War and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign...

 to carry out convoy escort duties. On 14 April, she was deployed with Codrington and Achates as part of the escort for military convoy NP1, on passage to Norway with troops for the planned landings at Narvik

Narvik

is the third largest city and municipality in Nordland county, Norway by population. Narvik is located on the shores of the Narvik Fjord . The municipality is part of the Ofoten traditional region of North Norway, inside the arctic circle...

. On 4 May, Ardent damaged the underwater dome of her sonar outfit and had to return to the UK. She was taken in hand for the replacement of the dome on6 May, and returned to active duty on 18 May. On 22 May, she escorted the troopship

Troopship

A troopship is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime...

  as she took troops to the Faroe Islands

Faroe Islands

The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...

 to replace the Royal Marines

Royal Marines

The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...

 that had been landed there in April as part of Operation Valentine

British occupation of the Faroe Islands in World War II

The British occupation of the Faroe Islands in World War II, also known as "Operation Valentine," was implemented immediately following the German invasion of Denmark and Norway....

. On 31 May, she and the destroyers , , and escorted the aircraft carrier

Aircraft carrier

An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...

s and from the Clyde to the Norwegian coast to carry out air operations in support of the evacuation of allied forces from Norway, in Operation Alphabet

Operation Alphabet

Operation Alphabet was an evacuation, authorized on May 24, 1940, of Allied troops from the harbour of Narvik in northern Norway marking the success of Nazi Germany's Operation Weserübung of April 9 and the end of the Allied campaign in Norway during World War II...

. She remained as the carriers' escort throughout early June, with a period spent refuelling at Harstad

Harstad

is the second largest city and municipality by population, in Troms county, Norway – the city is also the third largest in North Norway. Thus Harstad is the natural centre for its district. Situated approximately north of the Arctic Circle, the city celebrated its 100th anniversary in...

.

Final battle

Ardent was detached from Ark Royal on 8 June, and joined Acasta in escorting Glorious back to Scapa Flow

Scapa Flow

right|thumb|Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern endScapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy. It is about...

. En route, the three ships were discovered by the German warships and . Ardent and Acasta laid a protective smokescreen to hide the British ships, and engaged the German ships with her 4.7 in (119.4 mm) main armament, which proved to be ineffective at the range of the targets. Despite coming under heavy fire from the much larger guns of the Germans, Ardent carried out a torpedo attack. She managed to score a single hit with her 4.7 in (119.4 mm) gun, but was struck repeatedly by enemy shells. Ardent eventually capsized with the loss of 10 officers and 142 ratings. Acasta and Glorious were also sunk in the engagement. Only two of Ardents survivors remained to be picked up by a German seaplane

Seaplane

A seaplane is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. Seaplanes that can also take off and land on airfields are a subclass called amphibian aircraft...

 five days after the sinking. One of the two later died from exposure, leaving AB

Able Seaman (rank)

In the British Royal Navy in the middle of the 18th century, the term able seaman referred to a seaman with at least two years' experience at sea...

Roger Hooke, who crewed 'X' Gun, as Ardents only survivor. Hooke was eventually repatriated to Britain in 1943 on account of ill health.

External links

• HMS Ardent at U-boat.net.
• HMS Ardent at the Scharnhorst web site.