Allied Warships

HMS Vanessa (D 29)

Destroyer of the Admiralty V & W class

Navy	The Royal Navy
Type	Destroyer
Class	Admiralty V & W
Pennant	D 29
Mod	Long range escort
Built by	William Beardmore & Co. (Dalmuir, Scotland)
Ordered	30 Jun 1916
Laid down	16 May 1917
Launched	16 Mar 1918
Commissioned	27 Apr 1918
End service
History	Reconstruction to Long Range Escort at the Green and Silley Weir shipyard, London was finished in June 1942. Sold to be broken up for scrap on 4 March 1947.

Commands listed for HMS Vanessa (D 29)

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	Commander	From	To
1	Lt.Cdr. John Henry Plumer, RN	31 Jul 1939	12 Feb 1940
2	Lt.Cdr. Eric Alonzo Stocker, RN	12 Feb 1940	7 Jan 1941
3	Lt. John Humphrey Albert Stucley, RN	7 Jan 1941	late 1941

4	Lt. Charles Edward Sheen, RN	31 Mar 1942	21 Feb 1944
5	Lt. Barry John Anderson, RN	21 Feb 1944	4 Oct 1944
6	T/A/Lt.Cdr. Arthur St. George Walton, RNVR	4 Oct 1944	Jan 1945 ?

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Notable events involving Vanessa include:

16 Mar 1918
HMS Vanessa was launched by Mrs. Frederick Elvy. (1)

13 Jul 1940
Shortly after leaving Dover, escorting a convoy HMS Vanessa (Lt.Cdr. E.A. Stocker, DSC, RN) was damaged by near misses during a German air attack. Vanessa's propellers were damaged and put out of action by a bomb exploding 6 yards astern. Vanessa was towed to Sheerness by HMS Griffin (Lt.Cdr. J. Lee-Barber, RN). Repairs to Vanessa were completed on 4 November 1940.

19 Jun 1941
HMS Vanessa is damaged by a German aircraft while on patrol in the North Sea. She suffered a direct amidships, blowing up boilers, the fore funnel was blasted overboard, and the deck opened up. Eleven ratings and the engineer officer were killed and many of the crew were injured and burned. The damaged destroyer collided with anti-submarine trawler HMS Turquoise. Vanessa was towed to Yarmouth by destroyer HMS Vesper.

22 May 1942
HMS H 28 (Lt. J.S. Bridger, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Lough Foyle with HMS Beagle (Cdr. R.C. Medley, RN), HMS Scarborough (Lt.Cdr. E.B. Carnduff, RN), HMS Sandwich (Lt.Cdr. H. Hill, RD, RNR), HMS Leamington (Lt. B.M.D. I'Anson, RN), HMS Sardonyx (Lt.Cdr. A.F.C. Gray, RNR), HMS Columbine T/Lt. A.L. Turner, RNR) and HMS Vanessa (Lt. C.E. Sheen, RN). (2)

26 Dec 1942
German U-boat U-357 was sunk in the North Atlantic north-west of Ireland, in position 57°10'N, 15°40'W by the British destroyers HMS Hesperus (Cdr. D.G.F.W. MacIntyre, DSO, RN) and HMS Vanessa (Lt. C.E. Sheen, RN). U-357 was forced to the surface by depth charges and was rammed by HMS Hesperus.

2 Mar 1943
HMS H 44 (Lt. P.S. Beale, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Lough Foyle with HMS Vanessa (Lt. C.E. Sheen, RN), HMS Whitehall (Cdr. C.L.de H. Bell, RD, RNR), HMS Heather (T/Lt. W.L. Turner, RNR) and HNoMS Rose. (3)

17 Oct 1943
HrMs O 9 (Lt. J.B.M.J. Maas, RNN) participated in A/S exercises off Tobermory together with HMS Chelmer (T/A/Lt.Cdr. R.A. Cherry, RNR), HMS Grassholm (T/Lt. J.A. Antonsen, RNR), HMS Vanessa (Lt. C.E. Sheen, DSC, RN) and HMS Northern Sun (T/Lt. H. Meredith, RNVR), (4)