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Allied Warships

HMS Wallace (L 64)

Destroyer of the Shakespeare class


HMS Wallace as Fast Escort armed with 4-inch Anti Aircaft guns

NavyThe Royal Navy
TypeDestroyer
ClassShakespeare 
PennantL 64 
Built byThornycroft (Southampton, U.K.) 
OrderedApr, 1917 
Laid downAug, 1917 
Launched26 Oct, 1918 
Commissioned29 Jan, 1919 
End service20 Mar, 1945 
Loss position
 
HistoryReconstructed as Fast Escort, reconstruction completed on 14 June 1939.

HMS Wallace served mainly on British east coast escorting coastal convoy's except for a brief period in 1943 when she went to the Mediterranean for the invasion of Sicily. On 16 March 1945 she collided with HMS Farndale off the Humber and considered not worth repairing she was paid off. Being sold to be broken up for scrap 4 days later.

Commanding Officers:
Lt.Cdr. William Maurice Lloyd Astwood, RN
22 August 1939 - 21 February 1940

Cdr. Ballin Illingworth Robertshaw, RN
21 February 1940 – 11 September 1940

Lt.Cdr. Edward Gavin Heywood-Lonsdale, RN
11 September 1940 – 16 February 1943

Lt. Denis Guy Douglas Hall-Wright, RN
16 February 1943 – 18 May 1943

Lt. Duncan Carson, RN
18 May 1943 – 20 January 1944

Lt.Cdr. Robert Sydney Hopper, DSC, RN
20 January 1944 - March 1945 


Noteable events involving Wallace include:

1 Sep, 1939
The Polish destroyers Burza (Lt.Cdr. S. Nahorski, ORP), Grom (Lt.Cdr. A. Hulewicz, ORP) and Blyskawica (Cdr. W. Kodrebski, ORP) were met in the North Sea by British aircraft and the British destroyers HMS Wallace (Lt.Cdr. W.M.L. Astwood, RN) and HMS Wanderer (Cdr R.F. Morice, RN). They were escorted to Leith.

13 Sep, 1939
HMS Wallace (Lt.Cdr. W.M.L. Astwood, RN) is damaged in a in a collision off Lowestoft with the British merchant Redriff (1577 GRT). Wallace is under repair until 23 October.


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