| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | Destroyer |
| Class | I |
| Pennant | D 03 |
| Built by | John Brown Shipbuilding & Engineering Company Ltd. (Clydebank, Scotland) |
| Ordered | 14 Nov 1935 |
| Laid down | 16 Mar 1936 |
| Launched | 26 Nov 1936 |
| Commissioned | 3 May 1937 |
| End service | |
| Loss position | |
| History | Sold to be broken up for scrap on 29 October 1946.
Commanding Officers: Lt.Cdr. Eric Norman Walmsley, DSC, RN Lt.Cdr. Richard Dyer, RN Lt.Cdr. David Drummond Bone, RN Cdr. Michael Wentworth Ewart-Wentworth, RN (retired) |
Commands listed for HMS Icarus (D 03)
Please note that we're still working on this section.
| Commander | From | To | ||
| 1 | Lt.Cdr. Colin Douglas Maud, RN | 3 May 1937 | Sep 1942 ? | |
| 2 | Lt.Cdr. Eric Norman Walmsley, DSC, RN | 27 Oct 1942 | Apr/May 43 | |
| 3 | Lt.Cdr. Richard Dyer, RN | 31 May 1943 | 11 Dec 1944 | |
| 4 | Lt.Cdr. David Drummond Bone, RN | 11 Dec 1944 | Jun 1945 | |
| 5 | Cdr. (retired) Michael Wentworth Ewart-Wentworth, RN | Jun 1945 | 10 Oct 1945 | |
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Noteable events involving Icarus include:
29 Nov 1939
The German submarine U-35 was sunk in the North Sea, in position 60º53'N, 02º47'E, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS Icarus (Lt.Cdr. C.D. Maud, RN), HMS Kingston (Lt.Cdr. P. Somerville, RN) and HMS Kashmir (Cdr. H.A. King, RN). (see map)
13 Mar 1940
The German submarine U-44 was hit by a mine around 13 March 1940, in minefield Field No 7. laid on 3 March 1940 by the British destroyers HMS Express (Cdr. J.G. Bickford, DSC, RN) HMS Esk (Lt.Cdr. R.J.H. Couch, RN), HMS Icarus (Cdr. C.D. Maud, DSC, RN) and HMS Impulsive (Lt.Cdr. W.S. Thomas, RN).
10 Apr 1940
On 10 April 1940 the German merchant ship Alster was captured by the British destroyer HMS Icarus (Cdr. C.D. Maud, DSC, RN) in the Vestfjord, north of Bodö and was escorted to Britain by the British trawler HMS Ullswater (~
(Sub-Lt. D.R. Stavert, RN). The vessel was renamed Empire Endurance by the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). NOTES:- Empire Endurance. History: built as German Alster for Norddeutscher Lloyd, Bremen. On 18 March 1940 taken over by Kriegsmarine and used as troop transport in operation Weserübung, the invasion of Norway.
31 Aug 1940
On 31 August 1940 a group of destroyers sailed from Immingham on a minelaying mission off the Dutch coast. The minelayers were from the 20th Destroyer Flotilla and consisted of the destroyers HMS Express (Cdr. J.G. Bickford, DSC, RN), HMS Esk (Lt.Cdr. R.J.H. Couch, DSC, RN), HMS Icarus (Cdr. C.D. Maud, DSC, RN), HMS Intrepid (Cdr. R.C. Gordon, RN) and HMS Ivanhoe (Cdr. P.H. Hadow, RN). The minelayers were escorted by members of the 5th Destroyer Flotilla consisted of the destroyers HMS Kelvin (Cdr. J.H. Allison, DSO, RN), HMS Jupiter (Cdr. D.B. Wyburd, RN) and HMS Vortigern (Lt.Cdr. R.S. Howlett, RN). Aerial reconnaissance detected a German force and the ships of the 20th and 5th DF were ordered to intercept, beliving wrongly that the German ships were part of an invasion force. HMS Express struck a mine and was badly damaged, HMS Esk went to her assistance and hit mine and sank immediately, HMS Ivanhoe also went to her assistance and hit a mine and was badly damaged, so much so she she had to be sunk by HMS Kelvin. The following day they were joined by the light cruisers HMS Aurora (Capt. L.H.K. Hamilton, DSO, RN) and HMS Galatea (Capt. B.B. Schofield, RN) and while returning to base HMS Galatea struck another mine and was slightly damaged off Cleaner Shoal Buoy near the Humber light vessel.
21 May 1941
The British battlecruiser Hood (Capt. R. Kerr, CBE, RN, flying the flag of Vice-Admiral L.E. Holland, CB, RN) and the battleship Prince of Wales (Capt. J.C. Leach, MVO, RN) were ordered to proceed to Hvalfjord, Iceland as the German battleship Bismarck and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen were spotted by air reconnaissance at Bergen, Norway. As there were indications that these two were contemplatibf a raid on the ocean trade routes.
The two British capital ships were escorted by the destroyers HMS Electra (Cdr. C.W. May, RN), HMS Anthony (Lt.Cdr. J.M. Hodges, RN), HMS Echo (Lt.Cdr. C.H.deB. Newby, RN), HMS Icarus (Lt.Cdr. C.D. Maud, DSO, RN), HMS Achates (Lt.Cdr. Viscount Jocelyn, RN) and HMS Antelope (Lt.Cdr. R.B.N. Hicks, DSO, RN).
6 Mar 1944
After unsuccessful attempts at towing the boat to port the German submarine U-744 was sunk at 1830hrs on 6 March 1944 in the North Atlantic, in position 52º01'N, 22º37'W, after being torpedoed by the British destroyer HMS Icarus (Lt.Cdr. R. Dyer, RN). U-744 was attacked for over 30 hours by depth charges from HMS Icarus, the Canadian frigate HMCS St. Catharines (T/Lt.Cdr. A.F. Pickard, RCNR with Cdr. P.W. Burnett, DSC, RN escort group commander onboard), Canadian corvettes HMCS Fennel (A/Lt.Cdr. W.P. Moffat, RCNVR), HMCS Chilliwack (T/A/Lt.Cdr. C.R. Coughlin, RCNVR), Canadian destroyers HMCS Chaudiere (A/Lt.Cdr. C.P. Nixon, RCN), HMCS Gatineau (A/Lt.Cdr. H.V.W. Groos, RCN) and the British corvette HMS Kenilworth Castle (Lt. J.J.Allon, RNR). (see map)
21 Jan 1945
The German submarine U-1199 was sunk in the English Channel near the Scilly Isles, in position 49º57'N, 05º42'W, by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS Icarus (Lt.Cdr. D.D. Bone, RN) and the British corvette HMS Mignonette (Lt. H.H. Brown, DSC, RNR). (see map)