Allied Warships

HMS Veteran (D 72)

Destroyer of the Admiralty Modified W class

Navy	The Royal Navy
Type	Destroyer
Class	Admiralty Modified W
Pennant	D 72
Mod	Short range escort
Built by	John Brown Shipbuilding & Engineering Company Ltd. (Clydebank, Scotland)
Ordered	Apr 1918
Laid down	30 Aug 1918
Launched	26 Aug 1919
Commissioned	13 Nov 1919
Lost	26 Sep 1942
Loss position	54° 34'N, 25° 44'W

History	On 26 September 1942 HMS Veteran (Lt.Cdr Trevor Henry Garwood, RN) was torpedoed and sunk by U-404 in position 54º34'N, 25º44'W while escorting convoy RB-1. When torpedoed she was rescuing survivors of the American passenger ship New York. She was lost with all hands together with rescued survivors from the American passenger ships Boston and New York. The convoy was attacked by three wolf packs totalling 17 U-boats. Hit by U-boat Sunk on 26 Sep 1942 by U-404 (Bülow).
U-boat Attack	See our U-boat attack entry for the HMS Veteran

Commands listed for HMS Veteran (D 72)

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

	Commander	From	To
1	Cdr. John Egerton Broome, RN	11 Oct 1939	4 Dec 1940
2	Cdr. Walter Thomas Couchman, RN	4 Dec 1940	6 Jul 1941
3	Cdr. William Edward James Eames, RN	6 Jul 1941	19 Aug 1942
4	Lt.Cdr. Trevor Henry Garwood, RN	19 Aug 1942	26 Sep 1942 (+)

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Notable events involving Veteran include:

28 Nov 1939
HMS L 27 (Lt. P.J. Cowell, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Portsmouth with HMS Veteran (Cdr. J.E. Broome, RN) and MA/SB's. (1)

7 Feb 1940
HMS H 43 collided wit HMS Veteran (Cdr. J.E. Broome, RN) off Plymouth.

14 May 1940
Around 2100 hours, the aircraft carriers HMS Furious (Capt. T.H. Troubridge, RN) and HMS Glorious (Capt. G. D’Oyly-Hughes, DSO and Bar, DSC, RN) departed the Clyde for operations off Norway. They were escorted by the destroyers HMS Diana (Lt.Cdr. E.G. Le Geyt, RN), HMS Veteran (Cdr. J.E. Broome, RN), HMS Viscount (Lt.Cdr. M.S. Townsend, OBE, RN) and HMS Witherington (Lt.Cdr. J.B. Palmer, RN). HMS Witherington was however soon replaced by HMS Amazon (Lt.Cdr. N.E.G. Roper, RN).

23 May 1940
The aircraft carriers HMS Furious (Capt. T.H. Troubridge, RN) and HMS Glorious (Capt. G. D’Oyly-Hughes, DSO and Bar, DSC, RN) and their destroyer escort made up of HMS Diana (Lt.Cdr. E.G. Le Geyt, RN), HMS Amazon (Lt.Cdr. N.E.G. Roper, RN), HMS Veteran (Cdr. J.E. Broome, RN) and HMS Viscount (Lt.Cdr. M.S. Townsend, OBE, RN) arrived at Scapa Flow.

3 Dec 1940
HMS H 32 (Lt. R.L. Alexander, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Lough Foyle with HMS Veteran (Cdr. J.E. Broome, RN). (2)

4 Apr 1941
The British merchant Harbledown is torpedoed and sunk by German U-boat U-94 south-south-west of Iceland in position 58°24'N, 23°20'W. HMS Veteran (Cdr. W.T. Couchman, OBE, RN) later picks up 25 survivors.

1 May 1941
HMS Veteran (Cdr. W.T. Couchman, OBE, RN) picks up 91 survivors from the British passenger ship Nerissa that was torpedoed and sunk by German U-boat U-552 south-east of Rockall in position 55°57'N, 10°08'W.

10 Jun 1941
HMS Veteran (Cdr. W.T. Couchman, OBE, RN) picks up 29 survivors from the British merchant Ainderby that was torpedoed and sunk by German U-boat U-552 130 nautical miles west by north of Bloody Foreland in position 55°30'N, 12°10'W.

6 Sep 1941
HMS H 50 (Lt. N. Marriott, DSC, RN) conducted exercises off Lough Foyle with HMS Veteran (Cdr. W.E.J. Eames, RN) and HMS Saladin (Lt.Cdr. L.J. Dover, RN). (3)

11 Sep 1941
German U-boat U-207 was sunk in the Denmark Strait south-east of Angmassalik, Greenland, in position 63°59'N, 34°48'W, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS Leamington (Lt.Cdr. H.G. Bowerman, RN) and HMS Veteran (Cdr. W.E.J. Eames, RN).

28 Feb 1942
HrMs O 10 (Lt. Baron D.T. Mackay, RNN) participated in A/S exercises off Lough Foyle together with HMS Northern Spray (T/Lt. G.T. Gilbert, RNVR), HMS Saladin (Lt.Cdr. G.V. Legassick, RNR) and HMS Veteran (Cdr. W.E.J. Eames, DSC, RN). (4)

3 Jul 1942
HMS Veteran took over the attack on U-215 from the British ASW Trawler HMS Le Tiger with depth charges and Hedgehog. U-215 was sunk but credited to Le Tiger. (5)