Allied Warships

HMS Enterprise (D 52)

Light cruiser of the E class


HMS Enterprise in December 1943

NavyThe Royal Navy
TypeLight cruiser
ClassE 
PennantD 52 
Built byJohn Brown Shipbuilding & Engineering Company Ltd. (Clydebank, Scotland) 
Ordered 
Laid down28 Jun 1918 
Launched23 Dec 1919 
Commissioned7 Apr 1926 
End service 
Loss position
 
HistorySold to be broken up for scrap on 11 April 1946.
Arrived at Newport to be scrapped at Cashmore on 21 April 1946.

Commanding Officers:
Capt. Henry Jack Egerton, RN
23 August 1939 - March 1940

Capt. John Campbell Annesley, DSO, RN
March 1940 – February 1942

Capt. George Eric Maxia O’ Donnell, DSO, RN
February 1942 – July 1943

Capt. Harold Taylor Wood Grant, RCN
July 1943 – 2 October 1944
DSO awarded on 5 January 1944

Capt. Sydney Keith Smyth, RN (retired)
2 October 1944 – 24 October 1944

Lt.Cdr. William Desmond Revell Bravington, RN (retired)
24 October 1944 – 10 April 1945

A/Capt. Stephen Barry, RN
10 April 1945 - ???

Cdr. George Alan Kenneth McCombe, VRD, RNVR
??? – still in command in October 1945 according to the Navy List 

Commands listed for HMS Enterprise (D 52)

Please note that we're still working on this section.

CommanderFromTo
1Capt. Henry Jack Egerton, RN23 Aug 1939Mar 1940
2Capt. John Campbell Annesley, DSO, RNMar 1940Feb 1942
3Capt. George Eric Maxia O’ Donnell, DSO, RNFeb 1942Jul 1943
4Capt. Harold Taylor Wood Grant, RCNJul 19432 Oct 1944
5Capt. (retired) Sydney Keith Smyth, OBE, RN2 Oct 194424 Oct 1944
6Lt.Cdr. (retired) William Desmond Revell Bravington, RN24 Oct 194410 Apr 1945
7Cdr. (retired) Stephen Barry, RN10 Apr 1945???

8Cdr. George Alan Kenneth McCombe, RNVR???Oct 1945 ?

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Noteable events involving Enterprise include:


1939-40: Convoy escorts with the Halifax Escort Force. carried £10 million in gold to Canada.

1 Jan 1940
Allocated to the Home Fleet for the Norwegian Campaign. In April-May supported Army operations in the Narvik area.

19 Apr 1940
HMS Enterprise (Capt. J.C. Annesley, DSO, RN) was fired upon by U 65 but the torpedoes missed.

1 Jun 1940
In June 1940 she was reassigned to Force "H", operating out of Gibraltar.

9 Jul 1940

This photograph show HMS Valiant (nearest to the camera) and HMS Resolution and is most likely taken during an Italian air attack (by SM 79 bombers) against Force H on 9 July 1940. The photograph is taken from HMS Enterprise.

Photograph with thanks to John Hancocks whose father Lt.(E) J.P. Hancocks served at HMS Enterprise during that time.

1 Dec 1940
By the end of 1940 was operating in the South Atlantic, unsuccesfully hunting for Thor, then transferred to the Indian Ocean when Admiral Scheer appeared there but, again, she had no success.
In 1942 she was in the East Indies & Australian waters, operating with sistership Emerald in the Eastern Fleet.
From the end of 1942 to 10/43 was under refit in the UK, being then allocated to the Home Fleet, mainly for the purpose of hunting down blockade runners in Biscay.

28 Dec 1943
HMS Enterprise (Capt. H.T.W. Grant, RCN) attempting the interception of the arriving German blockade runner Alsterufer in the Bay of Biscay with HMS Glasgow (Capt. C.P. Clarke, RN), ran into the freighter's covering group, consisting of the German destroyer Z 27 and the German torpedo boats T 22, T 25 and T 26.

In a spirited gun action, the heavier British artillery had the better of the Germans and only T 22 was able to return to port.

5 Jan 1945
Placed in reserve but later reactivated for trooping duties. Returned to the UK on 13 January 1946, handed over for scrapping on 11 April and arrived at Newport on 21 April.

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