Allied Warships

HMS Verdun (L 93)

Destroyer of the Admiralty V & W class

Navy	The Royal Navy
Type	Destroyer
Class	Admiralty V & W
Pennant	L 93
Mod	Fast escort
Built by	Hawthorn Leslie & Co. (Hebburn-on-Tyne, U.K.)
Ordered	30 Jun 1916
Laid down	13 Jan 1917
Launched	21 Aug 1917
Commissioned	3 Nov 1917
End service
History	Reconstruction to Fast Escort at Chatham Dockyard completed on 11 July 1940. Pennant number was D 93 changed to L 93 upon completion of this reconstruction. Scrapped in 1947.

Commands listed for HMS Verdun (L 93)

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	Commander	From	To
1	Lt.Cdr. Francis Jack Cartwright, RN	20 May 1940	Nov 1940
2	Cdr. Alfred Charles Behague, RN	Nov 1940	12 Jul 1941
3	Lt.Cdr. William Spooner Donald, DSC, RN	12 Jul 1941	4 May 1943
4	Lt.Cdr. Derry Parsons, RD, RNR	4 May 1943	Mar 1945
5	Lt. Ronald Cameron Henley, RN	Mar 1945	mid 1945

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Notable events involving Verdun include:

19 Jun 1942
HMS Manchester (Capt. H. Drew, DSC, RN), HMS Somali (Capt. J.W.M. Eaton, DSO, DSC, RN), HMS Ashanti (Cdr. R.G. Onslow, DSO, RN) and HMS Offa (Lt.Cdr. R.A. Ewing, RN) returned to Scapa Flow escorting HMS Anson (Capt. H.R.G. Kinahan, CBE, RN) after taking over the escort duties from the destroyers Verdun (Lt.Cdr. W.S. Donald, DSC, RN) and HMS Vanity (Lt.Cdr. W.B.R. Morrison, RN). (1)

3 Jun 1943
HrMs O 14 (Lt.Cdr. H.A.W. Goossens, RNN) conducted A/S exercises in the Firth of Forth with Verdun (Lt.Cdr. D. Parsons, RD, RNR), HMS Lady Beryl, HMS Polka (T/Lt. I.A. Thorpe, MBE, RNVR) and HMS Berkshire (Skr. G. Bruce, RNR). (2)

22 Sep 1944
HMS Malaya (Cdr. D.H. Fuller, RN) departed Plymouth for Rosyth. She was being escorted by HMS Hart (Cdr. (retired) M.B. Sherwood, DSO and Bar, RN), HMS Lark (Cdr. H.L. Pryse, DSC, RNR) and HMS Skate (Lt. J.H. Macalister, RNVR).

At 1145/22 they were joined by HMS Affleck (Cdr.(Retd.) C. Gwinner, DSO and Bar, DSC, RN), HMS Garlies (Lt.Cdr. R.L. Calpe, DSC, RN) and HMS Gore (Lt. J.V. Reeves-Brown, DSC, RN).

At 1325/24, HMS Cassandra (Cdr. P.F. Powlett, DSO and Bar, DSC, RN) and HMS Cambrian (Lt.Cdr. H.T. Harrel, RN) took over from HMS Hart and HMS Lark. [The other escorts apparently had been detached by this time.]

At 1650/24, Verdun (Cdr. D. Parsons, RD, RNR) and HMS Vega (Lt. C.G. Forsberg, RN) took over from HMS Cassandra and HMS Cambrian.

Around 0945/25, HMS Malaya arrived off Rosyth. (3)