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HMS Vortigern (D37)
Encyclopedia
HMS Vortigern was a V Class
destroyer
of the Royal Navy
. She served in both World Wars, and was sunk in 1942.
, of Cowes
, Isle of Wight
during the First World War under the 1916-17 Programme Build (9th Order), and was laid down on 17 January 1917. She was launched on 5 October 1917 and commissioned on 21 January 1918. She has been the only ship of the Royal Navy so far to be named HMS Vortigern, after Vortigern
, an early British ruler.
in 1919, later serving with the 1st Destroyer Flotilla. She was eventually placed in reserve
, but was reactivated in 1939 in order to take part in the August Fleet Review of the ships of the reserve by HM King George VI
.
and tasked with escorting convoys and carrying out anti-submarine patrols
in the South Western Approaches
and the English Channel
. She was engaged in these duties for the rest of 1939. In January 1940 Vortigern was nominated to join the 13th Destroyer Flotilla based at Gibraltar
. On 13 January, she and HMS Velox escorted the outbound convoy OG-14F to Gibraltar. On their arrival on 15 January, both destroyers were detached to join the flotilla. Vortigern spent the period between February and June escorting convoys between Britain and Gibraltar.
On 3 July she was present at the attack on the French fleet at Mers-el-Kébir (Operation Catapult). On 6 July she formed part of the escort with the ships of the 13th and 8th Destroyer Flotillas for the battlecruiser
HMS Hood
, the battleship
HMS Valiant
, the aircraft carrier
HMS Ark Royal
and the cruiser
s HMS Arethusa
and HMS Enterprise
for the air attacks on the French battleship Dunkerque
. Vortigern then joined the destroyers HMS Faulknor
, Foxhound
, Fearless
, HMS Forester
, Escort
, Douglas Active
, Velox and Wrestler on 8 July as they screened the capital ships preparing for air attacks from HMS Ark Royal on Italian targets on Cagliari
. The operation was abandoned after the force came under heavy air attacks, and Vortigern took passage to Britain on 12 July.
She deployed in August on convoy defence duties in Home waters, covering convoys sailing in the North Western Approaches to and from the Clyde
. She was taken in hand in September for a refit, and to be converted into a Short Range Escort. The work lasted until November, and after completing trials Vortigern joined the 12th Destroyer Flotilla based at Rosyth
, and deployed to escort convoys in the North Sea
. On 9 December whilst escorting one convoy, Vortigern came under attack by a German seaplane off Aldeburgh
. She continued patrols and convoy escort duties all throughout 1941 and into 1942.
on 15 March, whilst defending a coastal convoy against attack by E-boat
s. She was torpedoed by the E-boat S104, and sank with the loss of 110 lives. Only 14 survivors were rescued. Eleven bodies were recovered from the sea by the Cromer
lifeboat H F Bailey III. The wrecksite is designated as a Protected Place under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986
.
V and W class destroyer
The V and W class was an amalgam of six similar classes of destroyer built for the Royal Navy under the War Emergency Programme of the First World War and generally treated as one class...
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 in both World Wars, and was sunk in 1942.
Construction and commissioning
Vortigern was ordered from J. Samuel WhiteJ. Samuel White
J. Samuel White was a British shipbuilding firm based in Cowes, taking its name from John Samuel White . It came to prominence during the Victorian era...
, of Cowes
Cowes
Cowes is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east Bank...
, Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
during the First World War under the 1916-17 Programme Build (9th Order), and was laid down on 17 January 1917. She was launched on 5 October 1917 and commissioned on 21 January 1918. She has been the only ship of the Royal Navy so far to be named HMS Vortigern, after Vortigern
Vortigern
Vortigern , also spelled Vortiger and Vortigen, was a 5th-century warlord in Britain, a leading ruler among the Britons. His existence is considered likely, though information about him is shrouded in legend. He is said to have invited the Saxons to settle in Kent as mercenaries to aid him in...
, an early British ruler.
Wartime and interwar service
Vortigern served throughout the remaining months of the war, and was redeployed to the Baltic SeaBaltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
in 1919, later serving with the 1st Destroyer Flotilla. She was eventually placed in 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....
, but was reactivated in 1939 in order to take part in the August Fleet Review of the ships of the reserve by HM King George VI
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
.
Second World War
With the outbreak of war Vortigern was deployed with the 17th Destroyer Flotilla, based at PlymouthPlymouth
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...
and tasked with escorting convoys and carrying out anti-submarine patrols
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 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 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...
. She was engaged in these duties for the rest of 1939. In January 1940 Vortigern was nominated to join the 13th Destroyer Flotilla based 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...
. On 13 January, she and HMS Velox escorted the outbound convoy OG-14F to Gibraltar. On their arrival on 15 January, both destroyers were detached to join the flotilla. Vortigern spent the period between February and June escorting convoys between Britain and Gibraltar.
On 3 July she was present at the attack on the French fleet at Mers-el-Kébir (Operation Catapult). On 6 July she formed part of the escort with the ships of the 13th and 8th Destroyer Flotillas for the battlecruiser
Battlecruiser
Battlecruisers were large capital ships built in the first half of the 20th century. They were developed in the first decade of the century as the successor to the armoured cruiser, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleship...
HMS Hood
HMS Hood (51)
HMS Hood was the last battlecruiser built for the Royal Navy. One of four s ordered in mid-1916, her design—although drastically revised after the Battle of Jutland and improved while she was under construction—still had serious limitations. For this reason she was the only ship of her class to be...
, the battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
HMS Valiant
HMS Valiant (1914)
HMS Valiant was a Queen Elizabeth-class battleship of the British Royal Navy. She was laid down at the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan on 31 January 1913 and launched on 4 November 1914...
, 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...
HMS Ark Royal
HMS Ark Royal (91)
HMS Ark Royal was an aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy that served during the Second World War.Designed in 1934 to fit the restrictions of the Washington Naval Treaty, Ark Royal was built by Cammell Laird and Company, Ltd. at Birkenhead, England, and completed in November 1938. Her design...
and 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...
s HMS Arethusa
HMS Arethusa (26)
HMS Arethusa was the name ship of her class of light cruisers built for the Royal Navy. She was built by Chatham Dockyard , with the keel being laid down on 25 January 1933...
and HMS Enterprise
HMS Enterprise (D52)
HMS Enterprise was one of two Emerald-class light cruisers of the Royal Navy. She was built by John Brown Shipbuilding & Engineering Company Ltd., with the keel being laid down on 28 June 1918. She was launched on 23 December 1919, and commissioned 7 April 1926...
for the air attacks on the French battleship Dunkerque
French battleship Dunkerque
The Dunkerque was the first unit of a new class of warships of the French Navy built in the 1930s, officially rated as battleships, or even «navires de ligne» , as Dunkerque and Strasbourg constituted, from the commissionig of Strasbourg to some days after Mers-el Kebir, the «1ère Division de Ligne»...
. Vortigern then joined the destroyers HMS Faulknor
HMS Faulknor (H62)
HMS Faulknor was a F class destroyer flotilla leader of the British Royal Navy in commission from 1934. The ship had a particularly active operational role during World War II, being awarded 11 battle honours, and was known as "The hardest worked destroyer in the Fleet"...
, Foxhound
HMS Foxhound (H69)
HMS Foxhound was an Interwar standard that served the Royal Navy from 1935 to 1944.She was laid down on 21 August 1933 at John Brown Shipbuilding & Engineering Company Ltd. Clydebank and launched on 12 October 1934...
, Fearless
HMS Fearless (H67)
HMS Fearless was an E class destroyer built for the Royal Navy, that was commissioned in 1934, and saw service early in World War II before being sunk in July 1941.-Construction:...
, HMS Forester
HMS Forester (H74)
HMS Forester was a F class destroyer of the British Royal Navy, commissioned in 1935, that saw service in World War II, seeing action in Norway, in the Mediterranean, on the Russian and Atlantic Convoys, and during the Normandy landings before being sold for scrap in early 1946.-Construction:The...
, Escort
HMS Escort (H66)
HMS Escort was an E-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s. Although assigned to the Home Fleet upon completion, the ship was attached to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1935–36, during the Abyssinia Crisis...
, Douglas Active
HMS Active (H14)
HMS Active, the tenth Active , launched in 1929, was an A class destroyer. She served in World War II, taking part in the sinking of four submarines. She was broken up in 1947....
, Velox and Wrestler on 8 July as they screened the capital ships preparing for air attacks from HMS Ark Royal on Italian targets on Cagliari
Cagliari
Cagliari is the capital of the island of Sardinia, a region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name Casteddu literally means castle. It has about 156,000 inhabitants, or about 480,000 including the outlying townships : Elmas, Assemini, Capoterra, Selargius, Sestu, Monserrato, Quartucciu, Quartu...
. The operation was abandoned after the force came under heavy air attacks, and Vortigern took passage to Britain on 12 July.
She deployed in August on convoy defence duties in Home waters, covering convoys sailing in the North Western Approaches to and 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....
. She was taken in hand in September for a refit, and to be converted into a Short Range Escort. The work lasted until November, and after completing trials Vortigern joined the 12th Destroyer Flotilla based at Rosyth
Rosyth
Rosyth is a town located on the Firth of Forth, three miles south of the centre of Dunfermline. According to an estimate taken in 2008, the town has a population of 12,790....
, and deployed to escort convoys in the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
. On 9 December whilst escorting one convoy, Vortigern came under attack by a German seaplane off Aldeburgh
Aldeburgh
Aldeburgh is a coastal town in Suffolk, East Anglia, England. Located on the River Alde, the town is notable for its Blue Flag shingle beach and fisherman huts where freshly caught fish are sold daily, and the Aldeburgh Yacht Club...
. She continued patrols and convoy escort duties all throughout 1941 and into 1942.
Sinking
Vortigern was sunk off CromerCromer
Cromer is a coastal town and civil parish in north Norfolk, England. The local government authority is North Norfolk District Council, whose headquarters is in Holt Road in the town. The town is situated 23 miles north of the county town, Norwich, and is 4 miles east of Sheringham...
on 15 March, whilst defending a coastal convoy against attack by E-boat
E-boat
E-boats was the designation for Motor Torpedo Boats of the German Navy during World War II. It is commonly held that the E stood for Enemy....
s. She was torpedoed by the E-boat S104, and sank with the loss of 110 lives. Only 14 survivors were rescued. Eleven bodies were recovered from the sea by the Cromer
Cromer lifeboat station
Cromer Lifeboat Station is an RNLI station located in the town of Cromer in the English county of Norfolk. The station operates two lifeboats - one for inshore work and the other for offshore work....
lifeboat H F Bailey III. The wrecksite is designated as a Protected Place under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986
Protection of Military Remains Act 1986
The Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom which provides protection for the wreckage of military aircraft and designated military vessels. The Act provides for two types of protection: protected places and controlled sites. Military aircraft are...
.
External links
- Service history of HMS Vortigern
- Vortigern at Uboat.net
- SI 2008/0950 Designation under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986