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.

22 Feb 1940

Convoy HX 22.

This convoy departed Halifax on 22 February 1940 and arrived at Liverpool 9 March 1940.

Upon departure from Halifax the convoy was made up of the following merchant ships: Anglo Indian (British, 5609 GRT, built 1938), Anthea (British, 5186 GRT, built 1924), Aspasia Nomikos (Greek, 4855 GRT, built 1938), Athelprincess (British (tanker), 8882 GRT, built 1929), Athelsultan (British (tanker), 8882 GRT, built 1929), Bradford City (British, 4953 GRT, built 1936), Carras (Greek, 5234 GRT, built 1918), Chama (British (tanker), 8077 GRT, built 1938), Chesapeake (British (tanker), 8955 GRT, built 1928), Counsellor (British, 5068 GRT, built 1926), Darcoila (British, 4084 GRT, built 1926), Director (British, 5107 GRT, built 1926), Elona (British (tanker), 6192 GRT, built 1936), Erodona (British (tanker), 6207 GRT, built 1937), Gracefield (British, 4631 GRT, built 1928), Hanseat (Panamanian (tanker), 7932 GRT, built 1929), Hoperidge (British, 5222 GRT, built 1939), Hopestar (British, 5267 GRT, built 1936), Humber Arm (British, 5758 GRT, built 1925), James McGee (Panamanian (tanker), 9859 GRT, built 1917), King Neptune (British, 5224 GRT, built 1928), Laguna (British, 6466 GRT, built 1923), Lindenhall (British, 5248 GRT, built 1937), Nailsea Moor (British, 4926 GRT, built 1937), Newton Moore (British, 5673 GRT, built 1937), Norman Monarch (British, 4718 GRT, built 1937), Nyanza (British, 4974 GRT, built 1928), Orduna (British, 15507 GRT, built 1914), Reginolite (British (tanker), 9069 GRT, built 1926), San Ambrosio (British (tanker), 7410 GRT, built 1935), San Fernando (British (tanker), 13056 GRT, built 1919), Scherazade (French (tanker), 13467 GRT, built 1935), Strategist (British, 6255 GRT, built 1937) and Yang-Tse (French, 8150 GRT, built 1915).

The convoy had been escorted by the battleship HMS Royal Sovereign (Capt. H.B. Jacomb, RN) and the destroyers HMCS Skeena (Lt.Cdr. E.P. Tisdall, RCN) and HMCS Restigouche (Lt.Cdr. H.N. Lay, RCN).

The Canadian destroyers parted company with the convoy on 23 February.

HMS Royal Sovereign parted company with the convoy on 2 March. She then set course to return to Halifax while the convoy continued eastwards without escort.

On 6 March the convoy was joined by the destroyers HMS Vanoc (Lt.Cdr. J.G.W. Deneys, RN), HMS Veteran (Cdr. J.E. Broome, RN), HMS Walpole (Lt.Cdr. H.G. Bowerman, RN) and HMS Wren (Cdr. H.T. Armstrong, RN).

Before the convoy arrived the Counsellor hit a mine and sank.

The convoy arrived at Liverpool on 9 March 1940.

5 May 1940
At 0900/5 the troopships Ulster Prince (3791 GRT, built 1930) and Royal Scotsman (3244 GRT, built 1936) departed the Clyde for Mosjoen and Bodo, respectively. They were escorted by the destroyers HMS Veteran (Cdr. J.E. Broome, RN), HMS Viscount (Lt.Cdr. M.S. Townsend, OBE, RN) and HMS Firedrake (Lt.Cdr. S.H. Norris, DSC, RN).

At 0400/6 the destroyers HMS Nubian (Cdr. R.W. Ravenhill, RN) and HMS Juno (Cdr. W.E. Wilson, RN) to make rendez-vous at 1030/6 after which HMS Viscount was to proceed to Scapa Flow where she arrived at 1400/6.

The Mosjoen and Bodo groups parted company at 1540/8. The Ulster Prince proceeded to Mosjoen escorted by HMS Veteran and HMS Juno arriving there on the 9th. At 1400/10, HMS Juno was ordered to leave the Ulster Prince and proceed to Scapa Flow at high speed. She arrived at Scapa Flow at 1130/11. HMS Veteran then took the Ulster Prince back to the Clyde arriving there at 0330/13 having made a stop to fuel at Sullom Voe on the 11th.

The Royal Ulsterman proceeded to Bodo escorted by HMS Firedrake and HMS Nubian. HMS Firedrake conducted a reconnaissance of the Ranenfjord to look for reported enemy activity. The Royal Ulsterman and HMS Nubian arrived at Bodo in the evening of the 9th. Shortly afterwards they were rejoined by HMS Firedrake. They all departed Bodo at 0200/10 and proceeded to Scapa Flow. HMS Firedrake went ahead and arrived there at 2210/11 followed later, at 0030/12, by the Royal Ulsterman and HMS Nubian. (2)

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.

7 Jun 1940

Evacuation of the 'Narvik / Harstad / Tromso area'.

1st Evacuation convoy from Harstad.

The merchant vessels Acrity (403 GRT, built 1934), Blackheath (4637 GRT, built 1936), Conch (8376 GRT (tanker), built 1931), Coxwold (1124 GRT, built 1938), Cromarty Firth (538 GRT, built 1937), Harmattan (4558 GRT, built 1930), Oligarch (6897 GRT (tanker), built 1918) and Theseus (6527 GRT, built 1908).

They were escorted by the destroyer HMS Arrow (Cdr. H.W. Williams, RN) and sloop HMS Stork (Cdr. A.C. Behague, RN). The destroyers HMS Veteran (Cdr. J.E. Broome, RN) and HMS Vanoc (Lt.Cdr. J.G.W. Deneys, RN) also briefly escorted the convoy but they were soon detached.

Later the destroyer HMS Walker (Lt.Cdr. A.A. Tait, RN) joined the escort as did the heavy cruiser HMS Sussex (Capt. R.V. Symonds-Tayler, DSC, RN) and light cruiser HMS Newcastle (Capt. J. Figgins, RN).

The convoy arrived at Scapa Flow around 0500/14. It had been attacked by German aircraft on the 9th but no damage was sustained.

9 Jun 1940
At 1245 hours, the battleship HMS Rodney (Capt. F.H.G. Dalrymple-Hamilton, RN, flying the flag of Admiral of the Fleet C.M. Forbes, KCB, DSO, RN), battlecruiser HMS Renown (Capt. C.E.B. Simeon, RN, flying the flag of Vice-Admiral W.J. Whitworth, CB, DSO, RN) escorted by the destroyers HMS Inglefield (Capt. P. Todd, RN), HMS Electra (Lt.Cdr. S.A. Buss, MVO, RN), HMS Escort (Lt.Cdr. J. Bostock, RN), HMS Zulu (Cdr. J.S. Crawford, RN) and HMS Kelvin (Lt.Cdr. J.L. Machin, RN) departed Scapa Flow to provide cover for convoys coming down from Norway and to search for the reported German capital ships. A sixth destroyer, HMS Amazon (Lt.Cdr. N.E.G. Roper, RN), which had been en-route from the Clyde to Scapa Flow, apparently joined at sea.

At 1345/10, HMS Amazon was detached to fuel at Sullom Voe.

On June, 10th the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal (Capt. C.S. Holland, RN) was ordered to join this force which she did at 1525/10. She had the destroyers HMS Ashanti (Cdr. W.G. Davis, RN), HMS Mashona (Cdr. W.H. Selby, RN) and HMS Highlander (Cdr. W.A. Dallmeyer, RN) with her.

At 1925/10, HMS Mashona was detached to join the destroyer HMS Campbell (Lt.Cdr. R.M. Aubrey, RN) and escort this destroyer, which had to proceed at the most economical speed due to fuel shortage, to Sullom Voe where they arrived at 0745/12.

At 1020/11, HMS Ashanti and HMS Highlander were detached to Scapa Flow. They were ordered to proceed through positions 64'N, 05'W and 61'N, 05'W.

The destroyers HMS Fearless (Cdr. K.L. Harkness, RN), HMS Escapade (Cdr. H.R. Graham, RN), HMS Antelope (Lt.Cdr. R.T. White, RN), and HMS Amazon departed Sullom Voe at 2230/11th to join the Home Fleet at sea which they did at 0830/12. [HMS Amazon did not join the Home Fleet so either she did not sail or returned.] At 2100/12, the destroyer HMS Forester (Lt.Cdr. E.B. Tancock, RN) sailed from Scapa Flow to make rendez-vous with the Home Fleet in position 63'N, 04'W at 1300/13. The destroyers HMS Mashona, HMS Campbell and HMS Veteran (Cdr. J.E. Broome, RN) departed Sullom Voe at 0400/13 to do the same. They joined the Home Fleet at 1725/14 with the exception of HMS Campbell which joined HMS Ark Royal's screen at 2230/13.

Between 0007 and 0015/13, HMS Ark Royal flew off fifteen Skuas to attack German warships at Trondheim. Seven of them returned around 0330 hours, eight had been lost.

Around 0430/13, HMS Electra collided with HMS Antelope in thick fog which the Fleet had just entered. HMS Inglefiel stood by HMS Antelope while HMS Zulu took HMS Electra in tow. All set course for Scapa Flow.

At 0600/13, HMS Ark Royal was detached to proceed to Scapa Flow escorted by HMS Escort and HMS Kelvin. HMS Campbell joined them at 2230/13. They arrived at Scapa Flow wit at 1545/14.

At 1130/13, the destroyers HMS Tartar (Capt. C. Caslon, RN), HMS Maori (Cdr. H.T. Armstrong, RN), HMS Bedouin (Cdr. J.A. McCoy, DSO, RN) and HMS Ashanti (Cdr. W.G. Davis, RN) departed Scapa Flow to make rendez-vous with the Home Fleet in position 65'N, 04'W. They joined at 0840/14.

At 0950/14, HMS Escapade was detached from the screen of the Home Fleet to join HMS Electra that was being towed by HMS Zulu..

At 0100/15, HMS Forester and HMS Veteran were detatched from the Home Fleet to proceed to the Faroes for escort duty.

At 0330/15, HMS Antelope, escorted by HMS Inglefield arrived at Scapa Flow.

At 1715/15, HMS Rodney, HMS Renown, HMS Tartar, HMS Mashona, HMS Maori, HMS Bedouin, HMS Ashanti and HMS Fearless arrived at Scapa Flow.

At 1430/16, HMS Electra, in tow of the tug HMS Brigand and escorted by HMS Zulu and HMS Escapade arrived at Scapa Flow. (2)

16 Jun 1940
HMS Kelvin (Lt.Cdr. J.L. Machin, RN) is ordered to proceed to the Faroes and to join HMS Veteran (Cdr. J.E. Broome, RN) which was to escort a group of escaped Norwegian warships to Rosyth. (2)

18 Jun 1940
HMS Veteran (Cdr. J.E. Broome, RN) and HMS Kelvin (Lt.Cdr. J.L. Machin, RN) arrived at Rosyth with the escaped Norwegian warships. (2)

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). (3)

1 Mar 1941

Convoy SL 67.

This convoy departed Freetown on 1 March 1941 and arrived at Liverpool on 26 March 1941.

This convoy was made up of the following merchant vessels; Alphard (Dutch, 5483 GRT, built 1937), Anadyr (British, 5321 GRT, built 1930), Ashworth (British, 5227 GRT, built 1920), Banffshire (British, 6479 GRT, built 1912), Baron Belhaven (British, 6591 GRT, built 1925), Baron Cawdor (British, 3638 GRT, built 1935), Beaconstreet (Detached to Gibraltar on 11 March) (British, 7467 GRT, built 1927), Bolton Castle (British, 5203 GRT, built 1939), British Captain (British (tanker), 6968 GRT, built 1923), British Diligence (British (tanker), 8408 GRT, built 1937), British Hope (Detached to Gibraltar on 11 March) (British (tanker), 6951 GRT, built 1928), British Integrity (British (tankr), 8412 GRT, built 1927), British Security (British (tanker), 8470 GRT, built 1937), Celtic Monarch (British, 5824 GRT, built 1929), City of Cairo (British, 8034 GRT, built 1915), City of Dunkirk (British, 5861 GRT, built 1912), City of Kimberley (British, 6169 GRT, built 1925), City of Nagpur (British, 10146 GRT, built 1922), City of Rangoon (British, 6635 GRT, built 1914), Clan Macbean (British, 5000 GRT, built 1918), Copeland (British (rescue vessel), 1526 GRT, built 1923), Deebank (British, 5060 GRT, built 1929), Defender (British, 8258 GRT, built 1915), Dunkwa (British, 4752 GRT, built 1927), Friesland (Dutch, 2662 GRT, built 1930), Godfrey B. Holt (British, 3585 GRT, built 1929), Guido (British, 3921 GRT, built 1920), Harmodius (British, 5229 GRT, built 1919), Harpefjell (Norwegian, 1333 GRT, built 1939), Helder (Dutch, 3629 GRT, built 1920), Henrik Ibsen (British, 4671 GRT, built 1906), Hindpool (British, 4897 GRT, built 1928), Inneroy (Norwegian (tanker), 8260 GRT, built 1936), King Edwin (British, 4536 GRT, built 1927), Lahore (British, 5304 GRT, built 1920), Llangollen (British, 5056 GRT, built 1928), Martaban (British, 4161 GRT, built 1934), Mendoza (British, 8233 GRT, built 1919), Nagina (British, 6551 GRT, built 1921), Nardana (British, 7974 GRT, built 1919), Nebraska (British, 8261 GRT, built 1920), Ogmore Castle (British, 2481 GRT, built 1919), Peisander (British, 6225 GRT, built 1925), Queen Anne (British, 4937 GRT, built 1937), Recorder (British, 2276 GRT, built 1902), Roxane (British (tanker), 7813 GRT, built 1929), Sansu (British, 5446 GRT, built 1939), Sire (British, 5664 GRT, built 1938), Solfonn (Norwegian (tanker), 9925 GRT, built 1939), Taxiarchis (Greek, 4221 GRT, built 1913), Tielbank (British, 5084 GRT, built 1937), Tunisia (British, 4337 GRT, built 1927), Turkistan (British, 6935 GRT, built 1939), Umberleigh (British, 4950 GRT, built 1927), Urbino (British, 5198 GRT, built 1918), Winsum (Dutch, 3224 GRT, built 1921) and Zamalek (British (rescue vessel), 1567 GRT, built 1921).

On departure from Freetown the convoy was escorted by the armed merchant cruiser HMS Cicilia (Capt.(Retd.) V.B. Cardwell, OBE, RN), corvette HMS Asphodel (Lt.Cdr.(Retd.) K.W. Stewart, RN) and the auxiliary A/S trawlers HMS Kelt (T/Lt. W.T. Hodson, RNVR), HMS Spaniard (Lt.Cdr. F.J. Webster, RNR) and HMS Turcoman (Skr. A.G. Day, RNR).

At 1700/3 the battleship HMS Malaya (Capt. A.F.E. Palliser, DSC, RN) and the destroyers HMS Faulknor (Capt. A.F. de Salis, RN) and HMS Forester (Lt.Cdr. E.B. Tancock, DSC and Bar, RN) joined the escort of the convoy.

At 1800/4 the three A/S trawlers parted company with the convoy.

In the early morning hours of 8 March 1941 the convoy was attacked by the German submarines U-105 and U-124. Five ships of the convoy were sunk, these were the Harmodius, Hindpool, Lahore, Tielbank and Nardana.

At 1330/8 HMS Forester, which was well to the west of the convoy, briefly sighted the German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau steaming towards the convoy. The German ships were also sighted around the same time by HMS Malaya's Swordfish aircraft. Following the report of the sighting HMS Malaya and HMS Faulknor left the convoy to join HMS Forester to put themselves between the convoy and the enemy.

At 1645/8 hours HMS Malaya and the Scharnhorst sighted each other and the German battlecruisers turned away being chased briefly by HMS Malaya and the destroyers. As Malaya's speed was much lower contact was soon lost and the battleship and the destroyers then returned to the convoy. At 1900 hours they rejoined the convoy

In the afteroon of March, 10th, the battlecruiser HMS Renown (Capt R.R. McGrigor, RN, flying the flag of Vice-Admiral J.F. Somerville, KCB, DSO, RN) and aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal (Capt. C.S. Holland, RN) joined the escort of the convoy. HMS Malaya then parted company with the convoy and set course for Gibraltar.

At 1730/11, HMS Asphodel parted company with the convoy with the tankers Beaconstreet and British Hope which she then escorted to Gibraltar.

At 1000/13, HMS Faulknor and HMS Foresight parted company with the convoy and set course for Gibraltar.

At 1000/19, HMS Kenya (Capt. M.M. Denny, CB, RN) joined the convoy to take over the escort. At 1600/19, HMS Renown, HMS Ark Royal and HMS Cilicia parted company with the convoy.

On 21 March the escort of the convoy was reinforced with the destroyers HMS Havelock (Cdr. E.H. Thomas, DSC, RN), HMS Hesperus (Lt.Cdr. A.A. Tait, RN), HMS Hurricane (Lt.Cdr. H.C. Simms, RN), HMS Veteran (Cdr. W.T. Couchman, OBE, RN), HMS Verity (Cdr. R.H. Mills, RN), HMS Wolsey (Lt.Cdr. C.H. Campbell, RN), HMS Salisbury (Lt.Cdr. H.M.R. Crichton, RN), HNoMS Mansfield (Cdr. F. Ulstrup, RNorN), the corvettes HMS Arbutus (T/Lt. A.L.W. Warren, RNR), HMS Camellia (Lt.Cdr. A.E. Willmott, RNR) and the catapult ship HMS Pegasus (Capt.(Retd.) P.G. Wodehouse, RN). HMS Kenya parted company with the convoy in the afternoon.

HMS Havelock and HMS Verity parted company with the convoy on 24 March as did HMS Veteran on the 25th.

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). (4)

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). (5)

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. (6)