| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | Sloop |
| Class | Egret |
| Pennant | L 86 / U 86 |
| Built by | Thornycroft (Southampton, U.K.) |
| Ordered | |
| Laid down | 7 Sep 1937 |
| Launched | 12 Sep 1938 |
| Commissioned | 2 Mar 1939 |
| End service | |
| Loss position | |
| History | Scrapped 29 November 1958. Commanding Officers: HMS Pelican in Dockyard Control during repairs Cdr. Gerald Vaughan Gladstone, RN Cdr. James Gordon Gould, RN Cdr. Godfrey Noel Brewer, RN Cdr. John Standley Dalison, DSO, RN Lt. Charles Edward Sheen, DSC, RN |
Commands listed for HMS Pelican (L 86 / U 86)
Please note that we're still working on this section.
| Commander | From | To | ||
| 1 | Cdr. Lennox Albert Knox Boswell, RN | 20 Jan 1939 | Jan 1941 | |
| 2 | Cdr. Gerald Vaughan Gladstone, RN | 16 Sep 1941 | Nov 1942 | |
| 3 | Cdr. James Gordon Gould, RN | Nov 1942 | 2 Apr 1943 | |
| 4 | Cdr. Godfrey Noel Brewer, RN | 2 Apr 1943 | 8 Sep 1943 | |
| 5 | Cdr. John Standley Dalison, DSO, RN | 8 Sep 1943 | May 1944 | |
| 6 | Lt. Charles Edward Sheen, DSC, RN | May 1944 | Oct 1945 ? | |
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Noteable events involving Pelican include:
11 Jul 1942
The German submarine U-136 was sunk in the Atlantic west of Madeira, Portugal, in position 33º30'N, 22º52'W by the Free French destroyer Léopard (Lt.Cdr. Richard), the British frigate HMS Spey (Cdr. H.G. Boys-Smith, DSO and Bar, RNR) and the British sloop HMS Pelican (Cdr. G.V. Gladstone, RN). (see map)
6 May 1943
The German submarine U-438 was sunk in the North Atlantic north-east of Newfoundland, in approximate position 52º00'N, 45º10'W, by depth charges from the British sloop HMS Pelican (Cdr. G.N. Brewer, RN). (see map)
14 Jun 1943
The German submarine U-334 was sunk in the North Atlantic south-west of Iceland, in position 58º16'N, 28º20'W, by depth charges from the British frigate HMS Jed (Lt.Cdr. H.C. Freaker, DSO, RNR) and the British sloop HMS Pelican (Cdr. G.N. Brewer, RN). (see map)
23 Aug 1943
On the 23th August 1943 the 40th Escort Group (Cdr. Dallison), consiting of the sloops HMS Landguard, HMS Bideford, HMS Hastings and the frigates HMS Exe, HMS Moyola and HMS Waveney were deployed on a u-boat hunt off Cape Ortegal. The whole operation was covered by the British light cruiser HMS Bermuda.
On the 25th August the Canadian 5th Support Group (Cdr. Tweed), consiting of the British frigates HMS Nene, HMS Tweed and the Canadian corvettes HMCS Calgary, HMCS Edmundston and HMCS Snowberry were deployed to relieve the 40th Escort Group. While this was in progress the ships were attacked at 1415 hrs by 14 Dornier Do-217's and 7 Ju-88's. with the new German weapon, the Henschel Glider Bombs, (the "Hs293 A-1"). Designed by the German Professor Herbert Wagner. HMS Landguard and HMS Bideford were the first of the Allied and R.N. ships to be attacked and damaged by them. This being the first time of their being brought into action against Allied ships. Several sailors were injured on HMS Bideford and one sailor was killed.
Another two days later on the 27th August 1943 the Canadian 5th Support group was relieved by the 1st Support group (Cdr. Brewer) consisting of the sloops HMS Pelican, HMS Egret and the frigates HMS Jed, HMS Rother, HMS Spey and HMS Evenlode. Also the covering cruiser HMS Bermuda was relieved by the Canadian destroyer HMCS Athabaskan and the British destroyer HMS Grenville. These ships were also attacked by the Germans. This time with 18 Dornier Do-217’s also carring Henschel Glider Bombs. HMCS Athabaskan was heavily damaged and HMS Egret was sunk with the loss of 194 of her crew. After this loss the u-boat hunt was blown off.
14 Apr 1944
The German submarine U-448 in the North Atlantic north-east of the Azores, in position 46º22'N, 19º35'W, by depth charges from the Canadian frigate HMCS Swansea (A/Cdr. C.A. King, DSO, DSC, RCNR) and the British sloop HMS Pelican (Cdr. J.S. Dalison, DSO, RN). (see map)