| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | ASW Trawler |
| Class | [No specific class] |
| Pennant | 4.258 |
| Built by | Cochrane & Sons Shipbuilders Ltd. (Selby, U.K.) |
| Ordered | |
| Laid down | |
| Launched | 15 Oct 1936 |
| Commissioned | Sep 1940 |
| End service | |
| History | Completed in December 1936. Returned to her owner in October 1945. |
Commands listed for HMS Stella Polaris (4.258)
Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.
| Commander | From | To | |
| 1 | Skr.Lt. Sidney John Ward, DSC, RD, RNR | 30 Sep 1940 | 11 Jul 1941 |
| 2 | Skr. Thomas Normandale, RNR | 11 Jul 1941 | 31 Mar 1944 |
| 3 | T/S.Lt. Barry Mervyn Stacey, SANF(V) | 31 Mar 1944 | 14 Mar 1945 |
| 4 | T/Lt. David Hamilton Graham, RNZNVR | 14 Mar 1945 |
You can help improve our commands section
Click here to Submit events/comments/updates for this vessel.
Please use this if you spot mistakes or want to improve this ships page.
Notable events involving Stella Polaris include:
21 Dec 1940
Around 0915A/21, HMS Tigris (Lt.Cdr. H.F. Bone, DSO, DSC, RN) departed from Holy Loch escorted by HMS Stella Polaris (Skr.Lt. S.J. Ward, DSC, RD, RNR) for her 5th war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Bay of Biscay.
HMS Stella Polaris parted company around 0600A/23 near Land's End. (1)
23 Mar 1942
The damaged armed merchant cruiser HMS Queen of Bermuda (A/Capt.(Retd.) A.D. Cochrane, RN) departed Halifax under tow for the Brooklyn Navy Yard at New York. She is to proceed through the Cape Cod Canal.
Escort for the tow is provided by the auxiliary A/S trawlers HMS Bedfordshire (Lt. R.B. Davis, RNR), HMS Coventry City (T/Lt. J.C. Grose, RNR), HMS Kingston Ceylonite (A/Skr.Lt. W.M. Smith, RNR), HMS Lady Elsa (T/Lt. S.G. Phillips, RNVR) and HMS Stella Polaris (Skr. T. Normandale, RNR).
The tow arrived in Long Island sound on 29 March 1942. The trawlers then proceeded to New York arriving later the same day. HMS Queen of Bermuda was towed to the New York Navy Yard on 31 March 1942 as this was not possible earlier due to the weather conditions. (2)
8 Jul 1943
Convoy DN 51.
This convoy departed Durban on 8 July 1943.
This convoy was made up of the following merchant vessels; Danio (Norwegian, 3496 GRT, built 1924), Empire Brook (British, 2852 GRT, built 1941), Empire Lake (British, 2852 GRT, built 1941), Ima (Norwegian (tanker), 6842 GRT, built 1930), Inge Maersk (South African (tanker), 9397 GRT, built 1939, former Danish), Nestor (British, 14629 GRT, built 1913) and Sinclair H-C (American (tanker), 7875 GRT, built 1942).
On departure from Durban the convoy was escorted by the destroyer HMAS Nizam (Cdr. C.H. Brooks, RAN), corvette HMS Genista (T/A/Lt.Cdr. R. Leigh-Wood, RNVR) and the auxiliary A/S trawlers HMS Coventry City (T/Lt. J.C. Grose, RNR) and HMS Stella Polaris (Skr. T. Normandale, RNR).
The convoy was to be dispersed on the 8th but due to very bad weather conditions only three merchant vessels and two escorts made it in company to the dispersal point.
Sources
- ADM 199/1845
- ADM 53/116477 + ADM 199/2237
ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.