HMS Veteran (D72)

HMS "Veteran" was a V class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was the third ship to carry the name "Veteran". She was launched in 1919 and therefore missed the First World War. She served as a convoy escort in the Second World War before being sunk by the German U-boat "U-404" while rescuing survivors from the SS "New York", a recently torpedoed United States ship. There were no survivors. In May 1940, her pennant number was changed from D72 to I72

Career

Interwar period

When HMS "Veteran" was launched on 26 April 1919, the First World War had already been won. Her career therefore started in times of peace, and she served in the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla in the Atlantic until 1930 when transferred to the Mediterranean Sea. From 1926, she was deployed under China Station.

econd World War

When the war started, HMS "Veteran" was in dockyard hands and did not start her wartime career until November 1939. When it was eventually put into service, it was commanded by Lieut. Cdr J E Broome, a veteran of First World War.

Her initial rôle was anti-submarine duty and convoy escort in home waters and the Southwest Approaches. During this time, she collided with a British submarine and the SS "Horn Shell", the latter of which required her to put in for repairs.

In April 1940, she escorted troopships "Chobry" and "Batory" from Scapa Flow to Norway, joining convoy NP1 "en route". She was then deployed to support the Norwegian Campaign. As part of this rôle, she escorted the aircraft carriers HMS "Glorious" and HMS "Furious".

After the Norwegian evacuation. She was assigned to invasion patrol with HMS "Malcolm" and HMS "Wild Swan", during the operation she sank several invasion barges, but was herself slightly damaged by a mine and required some repair work.

Her next assignment was convoy defence in the Atlantic. In March 1941, she was escorting convoy OB293 when it came under attack by German U-boats. She participated in the anti-submarine operations which sunk "U-70" and may have sunk the illustrious "U-47", which had sunk the battleship HMS "Royal Oak" in a daring attack on Scapa Flow early in the war. However, her rôle was minor and she is credited for neither of these victories. Later that month, on 20 March, she participated in the search for the German warships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. In September 1941, she dropped depth charges on German U-boat "U-207" which had attacked convoy SC42. "U-207" was sunk, and "Veteran" shared credit of her sinking with HMS "Leamington".

In 1942, she was transferred to Canada to instruct the United States Navy in anti-submarine warfare. During this period, she assisted HMS "Le Tiger" in an attack on "U-215" off Boston. Although the attack sunk the U-boat, credit was awarded to "Le Tiger".

In September 1942, she was escorting a number of ships to Great Britain when the convoy came under severe attack from numerous U-boats, two of the ships were destroyed. "Veteran" was rescuing survivors from the SS "New York", which was sunk by "U-96", when she was herself hit by two torpedoes from "U-404". She quickly sank with all hands, as well as a number of survivors from the American ship. Other survivors from SS "New York" were later rescued.

"U-404" was sunk by the Royal Air Force and United States Air Force in July 1943.

Image gallery

References

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* [http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-10DD-09VW-Veteran.htm HMS Veteran, destroyer]
* [http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/5440.html uboat.net]