| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | Escort destroyer |
| Class | Hunt (Type I) |
| Pennant | L 92 |
| Built by | Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. (Greenock, Scotland) |
| Ordered | 11 Apr 1939 |
| Laid down | 27 Jul 1939 |
| Launched | 13 Feb 1940 |
| Commissioned | 23 Oct 1940 |
| End service | |
| History | Scrapped at llanelly on 1 December 1956. |
Commands listed for HMS Pytchley (L 92)
Please note that we're still working on this section.
| Commander | From | To | |
| 1 | Lt.Cdr. Harold Unwin, DSC, RN | 26 Sep 1940 | Apr 1943 |
| 2 | Lt. Robert Hugh Hodgkinson, RN | Apr 1943 | 18 Jul 1944 |
| 3 | T/A/Lt.Cdr. Duncan Howard Foulds, DSC, RNVR | 18 Jul 1944 | 2 Aug 1945 |
| 4 | T/A/Lt.Cdr. John Richard Clarke, DSC, RNVR | 2 Aug 1945 | late 1945 |
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Notable events involving Pytchley include:
12 Dec 1940
After a delay of 24 hours due to a reported enemy submarine the British battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth (Capt. C.B. Barry, DSO, RN) departed Portsmouth for Rosyth where she was to complete her refit.
She was escorted by the destroyers HMS Kashmir (Cdr. H.A. King, RN), HMS Kipling (Cdr. A. St. Clair-Ford, RN), HMS Jupiter (Lt.Cdr. N.V.J.T. Thew, RN) and HMS Punjabi (Cdr. J.T. Lean, DSO, RN) and the escort destroyers HMS Cattistock (Lt.Cdr R.A. Ewing, RN), HMS Cleveland (Lt.Cdr. W.S. Clouston, RN), HMS Fernie (Lt.Cdr. R.McC.P. Jonas, RN) and HMS Holderness (Lt.Cdr. D.E. Holland-Martin, DSC, RN).
Around 1600/13 the original escort was relieved by the destroyer HMS Brilliant (Lt.Cdr. F.C. Brodrick, RN) and the escort destroyers HMS Exmoor (Lt.Cdr. R.T. Lampard, RN), HMS Pytchley (Lt.Cdr. H. Unwin, DSC, RN) and HMS Southdown (Cdr. E.R. Condor, DSO, DSC, RN).
At 1630/14 the light cruiser HMS Nigeria (Capt. J.G.L. Dundas, RN) and the AA cruiser HMS Curacoa (Capt. C.C. Hughes-Hallett, RN) joined the escort.
The battleship and her escort arrived at Rosyth around 1330/15.
17 Nov 1941
HrMs O 14 (Lt.Cdr. G. Quint, RNN(R)) conducted A/S exercises at / off Scapa Flow with HMS Beaufort (Lt.Cdr. S.O’G Roche, RN), HMS Pytchley (Lt.Cdr. H. Unwin, DSC, RN), HMS Sharpshooter (Lt.Cdr. D. Lampen, RN) and HMS Wheatland (Lt. R.deL. Brooke, RN).
(1)
20 Nov 1941
HrMs O 14 (Lt.Cdr. G. Quint, RNN(R)) conducted A/S exercises at / off Scapa Flow with HMS Pytchley (Lt.Cdr. H. Unwin, DSC, RN) and HMS Beaufort (Lt.Cdr. S.O’G Roche, RN). (1)
22 Nov 1941
HrMs O 14 (Lt.Cdr. G. Quint, RNN(R)) conducted A/S exercises at / off Scapa Flow with HMS Pytchley (Lt.Cdr. H. Unwin, DSC, RN). (1)
25 Nov 1941
HrMs O 14 (Lt.Cdr. G. Quint, RNN(R)) conducted A/S exercises at / off Scapa Flow with HMS Pytchley (Lt.Cdr. H. Unwin, DSC, RN) and HMS Beaufort (Lt.Cdr. S.O’G Roche, RN). (1)
10 Jan 1942
HMS H 44 (Lt. A.W. Langridge, RN) departed Sheerness for Falmouth. She was escorted by HMS Pytchley (Lt.Cdr. H. Unwin, DSC, RN) until 2145 hours. (2)
14 Aug 1945
HMS Upshot (Lt. A.J. Boyall, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Plymouth with HMS Holmes (T/A/Lt.Cdr. P.S. Boyle, RNVR) and HMS Pytchley (T/A/Lt.Cdr. J.R. Clarke, DSC and Bar, RNVR). (3)
Sources
- File 2.12.03.6388 (Dutch Archives, The Hague, Netherlands)
- ADM 173/17258
- ADM 173/20194
ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.