Allied Warships

HMS Vimy (D 33)

Destroyer of the Admiralty V & W class

NavyThe Royal Navy
TypeDestroyer
ClassAdmiralty V & W 
PennantD 33 
Built byWilliam Beardmore & Co. (Dalmuir, Scotland) 
Ordered 
Laid down15 Mar 1917 
Launched28 Dec 1917 
Commissioned19 Mar 1918 
End service 
Loss position
 
History

Reconstruction to Long Range Escort at Portsmouth Dockyard was finished in June 1941. This ship was the first of the V & W-class destroyers to be converted to a Long Range Escort.

Scrapped in February 1948.

Commanding Officers:
Lt.Cdr. Ivo Thomas Clark, RN
15 June 1939 - 8 November 1939

Lt.Cdr. Colin George Walter Donald, RN
8 November 1939 – 23 May 1940+

Lt.Cdr. Michael Wentworth Ewart-Wentworth, RN
May 1940 – 20 July 1940

Lt.Cdr. Dermod James Boris Jewitt, RN
20 July 1940 - ???

HMS Vimy was in Dockyard Control during conversion / refit

Lt.Cdr. Henry Graham Dudley de Chair, RN
20 May 1941 – 1 December 1942
DSC awarded on 22 December 1942

Lt.Cdr. Richard Been Stannart, VC, RNR
1 December 1942 – 28 March 1943

Lt.Cdr. John Neil Kelly Knight, RN
28 March 1943 – 24 June 1944

Lt.Cdr. Karl Henry John Lynch Phipps, RN
24 June 1944 – still in command in April 1945 according to the Navy List

HMS Vimy is not listed as active unit in the July 1945 Navy list

 

Commands listed for HMS Vimy (D 33)

Please note that we're still working on this section.

CommanderFromTo
1Lt.Cdr. Ivo Thomas Clark, RN15 Jun 19398 Nov 1939
2Lt.Cdr. Colin George Walter Donald, RN8 Nov 193923 May 1940 (+)
3Lt.Cdr. Richard George Kirby Knowling, RN23 May 194028 May 1940 (+)
4Lt. Adrian Paul Northey, RN28 May 194030 May 1940
5Lt.Cdr. Michael Wentworth Ewart-Wentworth, RN30 May 194020 Jul 1940
6Lt.Cdr. Dermod James Boris Jewitt, RN20 Jul 1940

7Lt.Cdr. Henry Graham Dudley de Chair, RN20 May 19411 Dec 1942
8Lt.Cdr. Richard Been Stannard, VC, RD, RNR1 Dec 194228 Mar 1943
9Lt.Cdr. John Neil Kelly Knight, RN28 Mar 194324 Jun 1944
10Lt.Cdr. Karl Henry John Lynch Phibbs, RN24 Jun 1944Apr 1945 ?

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Noteable events involving Vimy include:


21 Sep 1941
The Italian submarine Luigi Torelli (offsite link) is heavily damaged by depth charges from HMS Vimy (Lt.Cdr. H.G.D. de Chair, RN) while escorting the convoy HG-73 in the North Atlantic.

The loss of the Italian submarine Alessandro Malaspina (offsite link) that is often credited to HMS Vimy is incorrect. Her fate was revised in March 2004 by Dr. Axel Niestlè and Eric Zimmerman.

3 Sep 1942
The German submarine U-162 was sunk in the mid-Atlantic north-east of Trinidad, in position 12º21'N, 59º29'W, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS Vimy (Lt.Cdr. H.G.D. de Chair, RN) HMS Pathfinder (Cdr. E.A. Gibbs, DSO and Bar, RN) and HMS Quentin (Lt.Cdr. A.H.P. Noble, DSC, RN). (see map)

4 Feb 1943
The German submarine U-187 was sunk in the North Atlantic, in position 50º12'N, 36º35'W, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS Vimy (Lt.Cdr. R.B. Stannart, VC, RNR) and HMS Beverley (Lt.Cdr. R.A Price, RN). (see map)

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