Allied Warships

HMS Comet (R 26)

Destroyer of the Co class

Navy	The Royal Navy
Type	Destroyer
Class	Co
Pennant	R 26
Built by	Yarrow Shipbuilders Ltd. (Scotstoun, Scotland)
Ordered	12 Sep 1942
Laid down	14 Jun 1943
Launched	22 Jun 1944
Commissioned	6 Jun 1945
End service
History	Scrapped at Troon in November 1962

Commands listed for HMS Comet (R 26)

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and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

	Commander	From	To
1	Lt.Cdr. William Wentworth Fitzroy, RN	26 Feb 1945	30 Oct 1946

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Notable events involving Comet include:

20 Jun 1945
HMS Sea Devil (Lt. D.W. Mills, DSC, RN) conducted A/S exercises at Scapa Flow with HMS Myngs (Capt. P.G.L. Cazalet, DSC, RN) and HMS Comet (Lt.Cdr. W.W. Fitzroy, RN). (1)

16 Jul 1945
HMS Sportsman (Lt.Cdr. N.L.A. Jewell, MBE, DSC, RN) conducted attack exercises off Scapa Flow during which HMS Rodney and ORP Conrad (Capt. S.T. Dzienisiewicz) served as the targets. These ships were escorted by HMS Comet (Lt.Cdr. W.W. Fitzroy, RN), HrMs Van Galen (Lt.Cdr. P.A. Mulock van der Vlies Bik, RNethN) and ORP Garland (Lt. K. Hess). (2)

18 Jul 1945
HrMs Van Galen (Lt.Cdr. P.A. Mulock van der Vlies Bik, RNethN) conducted A/S exercises at Scapa Flow with HMS Saga (T/Lt. P.S. Thirsk, DSC, RNR).

Later gunnery exercises were carried out with HMS Comet (Lt.Cdr. W.W. Fitzroy, RN). (3)

19 Jul 1945
HrMs Van Galen (Lt.Cdr. P.A. Mulock van der Vlies Bik, RNethN) and HMS Zealous (Cdr. R.F. Jessel, DSO, DSC and Bar, RN) conducted torpedo firing exercises at Scapa Flow.

HrMs Van Galen then conducted rangefinding and inclination exercise (RIX) using HMS Bellona (Capt. G.S. Tuck, DSO, RN) as target. HMS Bellona was at anchor though.

In the afternoon, HrMs Van Galen and HMS Comet (Lt.Cdr. W.W. Fitzroy, RN) conducted A/S exercises with HMS Saga (T/Lt. P.S. Thirsk, DSC, RNR). (3)

20 Jul 1945
In the morning, HMS Comet (Lt.Cdr. W.W. Fitzroy, RN), HMS Zest (Lt.Cdr. R.B.N. Hicks, DSO, RN), HMS Zealous (Cdr. R.F. Jessel, DSO, DSC and Bar, RN), HMS Serapis (Lt.Cdr. E.L. Jones, DSC, RN), HMS Oribi (Lt.Cdr. R.S. Hopper, DSC, RN), HrMs Van Galen (Lt.Cdr. P.A. Mulock van der Vlies Bik, RNethN) and ORP Garland (Lt. K. Hess) departed Scapa Flow for exercises in the Pentland Firth. Due to fog the exercises were however cancelled and the destroyers returned to Scapa Flow. (3)

21 Jul 1945
HrMs Van Galen (Lt.Cdr. P.A. Mulock van der Vlies Bik, RNethN) conducted torpedo firing exercises at Scapa Flow during which ORP Garland (Lt. K. Hess) acted as target.

These were followed by A/S exercises together with HMS Comet (Lt.Cdr. W.W. Fitzroy, RN). The A/S target was HMS Saga (T/Lt. P.S. Thirsk, DSC, RNR).

Following the A/S exercises, HrMs Van Galen and HMS Comet conducted rangefinding and inclination exercises (RIX), AA gunnery and towing exercises. (3)

23 Jul 1945
During the morning, HrMs Van Galen (Lt.Cdr. P.A. Mulock van der Vlies Bik, RNethN) and HMS Comet (Lt.Cdr. W.W. Fitzroy, RN) conducted A/S exercises at Scapa Flow with HMS Saga (T/Lt. P.S. Thirsk, DSC, RNR). (3)

24 Jul 1945
In the late afternoon and early evening, HrMs Van Galen (Lt.Cdr. P.A. Mulock van der Vlies Bik, RNethN), HMS Scourge (Lt.Cdr. C.G.H. Brown, DSC, RN) and HMS Comet (Lt.Cdr. W.W. Fitzroy, RN), conducted exercises off Scapa Flow.

On completion of the exercises HrMs Van Galen and HMS Scourge set course for Portsmouth. (3)