Escort destroyer of the Hunt (Type III) class
| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | Escort destroyer |
| Class | Hunt (Type III) |
| Pennant | L 73 |
| Built by | Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd. (Wallsend-on-Tyne, U.K.): Wallsend |
| Ordered | |
| Laid down | 23 Jun, 1941 |
| Launched | 5 Mar, 1942 |
| Commissioned | 10 Oct, 1942 |
| End service | |
| Loss position | |
| |
| History | Scrapped at Grays on 22 November 1956.
Commanding Officers:
Lt. G.E.C.T. Baines, RN
28 August 1942 – 13 July 1943
Lt. Geoffrey John Kirkby, DSC and Bar, RN
13 July 1943 – 2 February 1945
Promoted to A/Lt.Cdr. on 1 November 1944
2nd Bar to DSC awarded on 14 November 1944
Lt.Cdr. Evelyn Francis Hamilton-Meikle, MBE, RN
2 February 1945 - still in command in October 1945 according to the Navy List |
| Noteable events involving Melbreak include: 11 Jul, 1943
The British escort destoyers HMS Melbreak (Lt. G.E.C.G. Baines, RN), HMS Wensleydale (Lt. W.P. Goodfellow, RNVR) and the Norwegian escort destroyer HNoMS Glaisdale (Lt. D.E. Kjeholt, RNN) intercept a German convoy off Quessant, France. In the resulting battle the German minesweeper M-153 (874 tons) is sunk by the Glaisdale but Melbreak in turn is heavily damaged by the German torpedo boats T-24 and T-25. |
