Allied Warships

HMS Zealous (R 39)

Destroyer of the Z class

Navy	The Royal Navy
Type	Destroyer
Class	Z
Pennant	R 39
Built by	Cammell Laird Shipyard (Birkenhead, U.K.)
Ordered	12 Feb 1942
Laid down	5 May 1943
Launched	28 Feb 1944
Commissioned	9 Oct 1944
End service
History	Purchased by Israel 1955. Renamed K-40 INS Eilat. Sunk on 21 October 1967 while on patrol after being hit by Egyptian missile boats that were hiding inside the port of Port Said. 47 men lost.

Commands listed for HMS Zealous (R 39)

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	Commander	From	To
1	Cdr. Richard Frederick Jessel, DSO, DSC, RN	20 Jul 1944	26 Jul 1946

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Notable events involving Zealous include:

26 Oct 1944
HMS Virulent (Lt. S.J. Fovargue, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Scapa Flow with HMS Caesar (Capt. G.N. Brewer, DSO, RN), HMS Zealous (Cdr. R.F. Jessel, DSO, DSC and Bar, RN), HMS Bute (T/A/Lt.Cdr. T. Costley, RNVR) and HMS Macbeth (A/Skr.Lt. R.C. Green, DSC, RNR). (1)

29 Oct 1944
HMS Virulent (Lt. S.J. Fovargue, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Scapa Flow with HMS Cassandra (Cdr. P.F. Powlett, DSO and Bar, DSC, RN), HMS Cambrian (Lt.Cdr. H.T. Harrel, RN) and HMS Zealous (Cdr. R.F. Jessel, DSO, DSC and Bar, RN). (1)

16 Nov 1944
During the morning HMS Taciturn (Lt.Cdr. E.T. Stanley, DSO, DSC, RN) conducts A/S exercises with HMS Onslaught (Cdr. The Hon. A. Pleydell-Bouverie, RN) and HMS Zealous (Cdr. R.F. Jessel, DSO, DSC and Bar, RN). During the afternoon A/S exercises were carried out with ships from the local defence. (2)

17 Nov 1944
During the morning HMS Taciturn (Lt.Cdr. E.T. Stanley, DSO, DSC, RN) conducts A/S exercises with HMS Zealous (Cdr. R.F. Jessel, DSO, DSC and Bar, RN) and HMS Zodiac (Lt.Cdr. H.R. Rycroft, DSC, RN). (2)