Destroyer HMS Whitehall | World War II Database

HMS Whitehall

Country	United Kingdom
Ship Class	V and W-class Destroyer
Builder	Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd, Wallsend-on-Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom
Laid Down	1 Jun 1918
Launched	11 Aug 1919
Commissioned	9 Jul 1924
Decommissioned	1 Jul 1945
Displacement	1140 tons standard; 1550 tons full
Length	300 feet
Beam	30 feet
Draft	11 feet
Machinery	3 Yarrow type water-tube boilers, Brown-Curtis steam turbines, 2 shafts
Bunkerage	320-370t oil
Power Output	30000 SHP
Speed	32 knots
Range	3,500nm at 15kt, 900nm at 32kt
Crew	134
Armament	4x119mm L/45 BL Mk.I, 2x40mm L/39 QF 2pdr Mk.II 'pom-pom', 2x3x21in torpedo tubes

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

Whitehall was a Admiralty Modified W-subclass destroyer of the V and W-class. She was among the most advanced destroyers during WW1. Her first action experience of WW2 took place on 1 Jun 1940, when she was damaged by German aircraft during the Dunkirk, France evacuation; she was repaired at Plymouth, England, United Kingdom until 26 Aug. After a few patrols, she was drydocked for modernization. As she returned to active service in Aug 1942, she was assigned to the Long Rage Escort group under the command of Lieutenant Commander R. S. Stafford. On 8 Oct 1942, Lieutenant Commander Charles Leigh de Hauteville Bell took command, who oversaw the 31 Oct 1943 sinking of the German submarine U-306 by Whitehall and corvette HMS Geranium's depth charges east of the Azores. In Nov 1943, Lieutenant Commander P. James Cowell took command of the ship. On 30 Jan 1944, together with destroyer HMS Meteor, she sank the German submarine U-314 in the Barents Sea southeast of Bear Island, Norway. On 2 Sep, together with a Swordfish aircraft, sloops HMS Mermaid and HMS Peacock, and destroyer HMS Keppel, she sank the German submarine U-394 southeast of Jan Mayen Island, Norway. She was removed from the active list in Jul 1945 and was sold for scrapping in Oct 1945.

Source: uboat.net.

HMS Whitehall Operational Timeline