Allied Warships

HMS Onslow (G 17)

Destroyer of the O class

NavyThe Royal Navy
TypeDestroyer
ClassO 
PennantG 17 
Built byJohn Brown Shipbuilding & Engineering Company Ltd. (Clydebank, Scotland) 
Ordered3 Sep 1939 
Laid down1 Jul 1940 
Launched31 Mar 1941 
Commissioned8 Oct 1941 
End service 
Loss position
 
HistoryTransferred to Pakistan on 30 November 1949 being renamed Tippu Sultan.

Commanding Officers:
Capt. Harold Thomas Armstrong, DSC, RN
6 August 1941 – 28 November 1942
Bar to DSC awarded on 14 October 1941

Capt. Robert St. Vincent Sherbrooke, DSO, RN
28 November 1942 – 3 June 1943
VC awarded on 12 January 1943

Capt. James Abernethy McCoy, DSO, RN
3 June 1943 – 9 September 1944

Capt Hugh Waters Shelley Browning, OBE, RN
9 September 1944 – 6 September 1945
DSC awarded on 19 June 1945

Capt. St John Aldrich Micklethwait, DSO and 2 Bars, RN
6 September 1945 – still in command in October 1945 according to the Navy List 

Former nameHMS Pakenham

Commands listed for HMS Onslow (G 17)

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CommanderFromTo
1Capt. Harold Thomas Armstrong, DSC, RN6 Aug 194128 Nov 1942
2Capt. Robert St. Vincent Sherbrooke, DSO, RN28 Nov 19423 Jun 1943
3Capt. James Abernethy McCoy, DSO, RN3 Jun 19439 Sep 1944
4Capt. Hugh Waters Shelley Browning, RN9 Sep 19446 Sep 1945
5Capt. St. John Aldrich Micklethwait, DSO, RN6 Sep 1945Oct 1945 ?

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Noteable events involving Onslow include:


31 Dec 1941
The German submarine U-87 torpedoed and damages the British merchant Cardita about 110 miles bearing 307 from St.Kilda in position 59º18'N, 12º50'W. The vessel foundered in 3 January 1942 in position in 59º42'N, 11º58'W.

HMS Onslow (Capt H.T. Armstrong, DSC, RN) later picks up 23 of the crew.

14 Sep 1942
The German submarine U-589 was sunk in the Arctic Ocean south-west of Spitzbergen, in position 75º40'N, 20º32'E, by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS Onslow (Capt H.T. Armstrong, DSC, RN) and depth charges from a Swordfish aircraft of the escort carrier HMS Avenger (Sqdn 825). (see map)

31 Dec 1942
As part of the escort of convoy JW51B bound to Murmank, she was involved in the action when the convoy was attacked by the German heavy cruiser Hipper in the Barents Sea. Onslow was badly damaged, with a high toll in dead and wounded. Among the wounded was her CO, Captain Sherbrooke, who lost an eye in the battle and suffered other injuries, and was awarded the Victoria Cross for the successful defence of the convoy, that suffered no losses of merchant ships.

12 Jan 1945
The British heavy cruiser HMS Norfolk (Capt. J.G.Y. Loveband, RN with Rear-Admiral R.R. McGrigor, CB, DSO, RN aboard) and the light cruiser HMS Bellona (Capt. C.F.W. Norris, DSO, RN) escorted by the destroyers HMS Onslow (Capt. H.W.S. Browning, OBE, RN), HMS Orwell (Lt.Cdr. J.R. Gower, DSC, RN) and HMS Onslaught (Cdr. the Hon. A. Pleydell-Bouverie, RN) attack a German convoy of Egersund, Norway. Two German merchants, the Bahia Camarones (8551 GRT) and the Charlotte (4404 GRT) and the minelayer M 273 were sunk.

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