Allied Warships
HMS Woolston (L 49)
Destroyer of the Admiralty V & W class
HMS Woolston as seen early in the war. Photograph with thanks to Ian Dayment.
Navy | The Royal Navy |
Type | Destroyer |
Class | Admiralty V & W |
Pennant | L 49 |
Mod | Fast escort |
Built by | Thornycroft (Southampton, U.K.) |
Ordered | 9 Dec 1916 |
Laid down | 25 Apr 1917 |
Launched | 27 Jan 1918 |
Commissioned | 26 Jun 1918 |
End service | |
History | Reconstruction to Fast Escort at Chatham Dockyard was completed on 9 October 1939. Sold to be broken up for scrap on 18 February 1947. |
Commands listed for HMS Woolston (L 49)
Please note that we're still working on this section.
Commander | From | To | |
1 | Lt.Cdr. Walter John Phipps, RN | 5 Sep 1939 | 24 Apr 1941 |
2 | Lt.Cdr. Kenneth Walter Michell, RN | 24 Apr 1941 | Sep 1942 |
3 | Lt. Frederick William Hawkins, RN | Sep 1942 | Oct 1943 |
4 | Lt. Jack Broughton Cox, RN | Oct 1943 | May 1945 |
5 | Lt. John Valentine Brothers, RN | May 1945 | mid 1945 |
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Notable events involving Woolston include:
hi i have two more pics of H M S Woolston my dad served on her one pic is her at Bergen Norway at the end of the war showing the skipper and Mayor of Bergen (1)
Note the ineffective .5" machine guns later to be replaced by 20mm Oerlikons.
Twin 4" AA gun turret.
Photographs with thanks to Ian Dayment whose grandfather Albert Hodder (see last photo) served on board Woolston during the war. (1)
21 Oct 1939
HMS Woolston (Lt.Cdr. W.J. Phipps, RN) picks up 4 survivors from the British merchant Orsa that was sunk after hitting a mine about 15 miles 150° from Flamborough Head. The mine was laid on 5 September 1939 by German U-boat U-15.
19 Jul 1940
HMS Triton (Lt.Cdr. E.F. Pizey, DSC, RN) conducts exercises in the Firth of Forth with HMS Woolston (Lt.Cdr. W.J. Phipps, OBE, RN). (2)
24 Aug 1940
HMS Seawolf (Lt. P.L. Field, RN) conducted exercises off Rosyth. These included A/S exercises with HMS Woolston (Lt.Cdr. W.J. Phipps, OBE, RN) and HMS Fleetwood (Cdr. R.W. Moir, RN). Also a practice attack was made on HMS Fleetwood. (3)
13 Jun 1943
HMS Sceptre (Lt. I.S. McIntosh, MBE, DSC, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Scapa Flow with HMS Wallace (Lt. D. Carson, RN), and HMS Viceroy (Lt. T.F. Hallifax, RN) and HMS Woolston (Lt. F.W. Hawkins, RN). (4)
Media links
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Sources
- Personal communication
- ADM 173/16648
- ADM 173/16526
- ADM 173/18004
ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.
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