HMS St. Kitts (D18)

HMS "St. Kitts" (D18) was a Battle-class destroyer of the Royal Navy (RN). She was named in honour of the Battle of St. Kitts which took place in 1782. So far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name. "St. Kitts" was built by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson Limited on the Tyne. She was launched on the on 4 October 1944 and commissioned on the on 21 January 1946.

"St. Kitts" joined the 5th Destroyer Flotilla of the Home Fleet upon commission. In 1948, "St. Kitts" deployed to the Arctic to join the carrier HMS "Vengeance", along with a variety of other ships, including other "Battle"-class destroyer during experiments in that region. In 1953, "St. Kitts" took part in the large Fleet Review at Spithead to celebration the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. "St. Kitts" was positioned in the middle of her sister-ships HMS "Camperdown" and HMS "Barfleur". "St. Kitts" was subsequently placed in Reserve.

In 1954, "St. Kitts" joined the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla, also part of the Home Fleet. In 1955, "St. Kitts", still with the 3rd Flotilla, deployed to the Mediterranean, and took part in the Suez Crisis, which had occurred after the nationalisation of the Suez Canal by the Egyptian leader Nasser. During Operation Musketeer, the invasion of Egypt, "St. Kitts" performed a variety of duties, including escorting the carrier HMS "Eagle", as-well as performing naval bombardment of Port Said. That same year, "St. Kitts", along with the rest of the Flotilla, left the Mediterranean to join the Home Fleet. In 1957, "St. Kitts" was decommissioned, being scrapped in 1962 at Sunderland.

References

*Colledge