H . M . S
. V E G A ( L 4 1 )
"Admiralty V" Class Destroyer ordered in June
1916 from Doxford of Sunderland under 9th Order in
the 1916-17 Build Programme. The ship was laid down on 11th December 1916 and
was launched en 1st September 1917. She was the 2nd RN ship to carry the name
introduced in 1860 for a captured Slave Ship. Build was completed on 12th
December 1917 and she was damaged in 1918 whilst serving with the Fleet. During
1921 she was part of the 6th Destroyer Flotilla, Atlantic Fleet and later was
put in Reserve (See General Information). She was selected for conversion to an
Anti-Aircraft Escort (WAIR) as part of the Re-armament Programme in 1939 and
taken in hand at Chatham Dockyard in May 1939. This ship was adopted by Godalming, Surrey after a successful WARSHIP WEEK National
Savings campaign in December 1941 .
B a t t
l e H o n o u r
NORTH SEA 1940-45
H e r a l d i
c D a t a
Badge : On a Field
Blue, a Lyre Gold thereon in chief a star
Silver
M o t t
o
Praeclare fulgens:
'Shining brightly’
D e t a I l s o f
W a r S e r v i c e
1 9 3 9
September Under
conversion at Chatham
October Post
refit harbour and sea trials.
Nominated for escort of North Sea convoys.
November Joined
Rosyth Escort Force.
December Deployed
as escort for East coast convoys.
1 9 4 0
January East coast convoy defence in
continuation.
to
April
May Detached
for support of military operations in Channel area.
Assisted in evacuation from Ostend and
Zeebrugge.
26th Deployed as Senior Naval Officer's ship
for operation to sink two blockships at
Zeebrugge
(Operation LYSTER).
(Note : Records of ships carrying troops from Dunkirk do not include this ships
and
No
Battle Honour DUNKIRK was awarded to her.)
June Channel deployment in support of military
operations in continuation.
10th Escorted blockships
to block harbour entrance at Dieppe and on completion
provided support
for evacuation of personnel from Le Havre.
17th Deployed in
support of evacuation from St Nazaire and the Bay of
Biscay ports.
(Operation AERIAL).
July Resumed
North
Sea
convoy escort duty.
August North Sea convoy escort In continuation.
to
December
1 9 4 1 t o
1 9 4 4
Deployment
for patrol and convoy escort in North Sea continued.
Fire
control radar (Type 285) fitted for main armament.
An
aircraft warning radar (Type 286P) was installed during 1942 and later a naval
designed surface warning radar for detection of E-Boats and
submarines was also
installed (Type 271).
In
order to provide efficient radio telephone communication between escorts for
contact
with aircraft when under attack by E-Boats or aircraft a
suitable RAF equipment was
made available by 1943.
In
addition radio receivers were fitted to listen to transmissions from E-Boats.
These were
referred to as ‘HEADACHE’ or ‘Y’ Outfits.
For
details of development and use of radar by RN see RADAR AT SEA by D Howse
and further information about East coast convoy defence is
available in THREE
CORVETTES by N Monsarat and THE BATTLE OF THE NARROW SEAS by P
Scott.
1 9 4
5
January North Sea convoy defence and patrol in
continuation.
to
May
June Deployed
in support of re-occupation operations.
to Nominated for reduction to Reserve.
August
P o s t W a r N o t e s
HMS VEGA Paid-off and was reduced to Reserve after VJ Day and
later placed on the Disposal List. The ship was sold to BISCO for breaking up by Clayton and Davies at Dunston on Tyne on 4th March 1947. She arrived in tow at
the breakers on 26th March that year.
Addendum
CONVOY ESCORT MOVEMENTS of
HMS VEGA
by Don Kindell
Date convoy
Joined
convoy
Convoy
No.
Left convoy Date
convoy
sailed as
escort
arrived
28/12/39 28/12/39 FS 0060 29/12/39 29/12/39
02/02/40 02/02/40 FS 0085 04/02/40 04/02/40
11/02/40 11/02/40 FS 0093 13/02/40 13/02/40
18/02/40 18/02/40 FS 0099 20/02/40 20/02/40
29/02/40 29/02/40 FS 0109 02/03/40 02/03/40
04/03/40 04/03/40 FN 0111 06/03/40 06/03/40
08/03/40 08/03/40 FS 0116 10/03/40 10/03/40
11/03/40 11/03/40 FN 0118 13/03/40 13/03/40
15/03/40 15/03/40 FS 0122 17/03/40 17/03/40
18/03/40 18/03/40 FN 0123 20/03/40 20/03/40
18/03/40 18/03/40 FN 0124 20/03/40 20/03/40
28/03/40 28/03/40 FS 0132 30/03/40 30/03/40
11/04/40 11/04/40 FS 0143 13/04/40 13/04/40
18/04/40 18/04/40 FS 0149 20/04/40 20/04/40
18/06/40 18/06/40 FS 0198 20/06/40 20/06/40
25/06/40 25/06/40 FS 0204 27/06/40 27/06/40
28/06/40 28/06/40 FN 0207 30/06/40 30/06/40
02/07/40 02/07/40 FS 0210 03/07/40 03/07/40
05/07/40 05/07/40 FN 0214 07/07/40 07/07/40
02/08/40 02/08/40 FS 0239 03/08/40 03/08/40
09/08/40 09/08/40 FS 0247 11/08/40 11/08/40
16/08/40 16/08/40 FS 0254 18/08/40 18/08/40
26/08/40 26/08/40 FS 0263 28/08/40 28/08/40
29/08/40 29/08/40 FN 0266 31/08/40 31/08/40
05/09/40 05/09/40 FN 0273 07/09/40 07/09/40
10/09/40 10/09/40 FS 0277 11/09/40 11/09/40
13/09/40 13/09/40 FN 0279 15/09/40 15/09/40
18/09/40 18/09/40 FS 0285 21/09/40 21/09/40
21/09/40 21/09/40 FN 0287 23/09/40 23/09/40
25/09/40 25/09/40 FS 0291 27/09/40 27/09/40
28/09/40 28/09/40 FN 0293 30/09/40 30/09/40
05/10/40 05/10/40 FS 0301 07/10/40 07/10/40
08/10/40 08/10/40 FN 0303 10/10/40 10/10/40
13/10/40 13/10/40 FS 0308 17/10/40 17/10/40
16/10/40 16/10/40 FN 0310 18/10/40 18/10/40
23/10/40 23/10/40 FN 0316 25/10/40 25/10/40
01/11/40 01/11/40 FS 0325 03/11/40 03/11/40
04/11/40 04/11/40 FN 0327 06/11/40 06/11/40
09/11/40 09/11/40 FS 0332 11/11/40 11/11/40
27/03/43 27/03/43 CW 166 28/03/43 28/03/43
28/03/43 28/03/43 CE 164 29/03/43 29/03/43
(Note
on Convoys)
