| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | Submarine Depot Ship |
| Class | Maidstone |
| Pennant | F 04 |
| Built by | John Brown Shipbuilding & Engineering Company Ltd. (Clydebank, Scotland) |
| Ordered | |
| Laid down | 30 Jun 1937 |
| Launched | 11 Aug 1938 |
| Commissioned | 14 May 1939 |
| End service | |
| History | Based in home waters during the Second World War apart from a brief period in Halifax, Canada in 1941. She left Singapore for the U.K. on 31 March 1971. She arrived back in the U.K. on 7 June 1971. |
Commands listed for HMS Forth (F 04)
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 | Capt. William Derek Stephens, RN | 16 May 1939 | 30 Jan 1940 |
| 2 | Capt. George Cunningham Paton Menzies, RN | 30 Jan 1940 | 19 Jul 1941 |
| 3 | Capt. Eric Barry Kenvyn Stevens, DSO, DSC, RN | 19 Jul 1941 | 12 Sep 1941 |
| 4 | Capt. George Cunningham Paton Menzies, RN | 12 Sep 1941 | 31 Dec 1941 |
| 5 | Capt. Hugh Meynell Cyril Ionides, RN | 31 Dec 1941 | 30 Apr 1943 |
| 6 | Capt. Robert Spencer Warne, RN | 30 Apr 1943 | 5 Feb 1945 |
| 7 | Capt. Benjamin Bryant, DSO, DSC, RN | 5 Feb 1945 | 11 May 1945 |
| 8 | Capt. Lord Ashbourne, DSO, RN | 11 May 1945 | 9 Sep 1945 |
| 9 | Capt. Wilfrid John Wentworth Woods, DSO, RN | 9 Sep 1945 |
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Notable events involving Forth include:
7 Jun 1940
HMS Forth (Capt. G.C.P. Menzies, RN) is docked in No.2 graving dock at the Rosyth Dockyard. (1)
10 Jun 1940
HMS Forth (Capt. G.C.P. Menzies, RN) is undocked. (1)
6 Sep 1940
The submarine depot ship HMS Forth (Capt. G.C.P. Menzies, RN) and the submarine HMS Tuna (Lt.Cdr. M.K. Cavenagh-Mainwaring, RN) departed from Rosyth for Holy Loch. They were escorted by the destroyers HMS Jackal (Cdr. C.L. Firth, RN) and HMS Jaguar (Lt.Cdr. J.F.W. Hine, RN).
They arrived safely in the Clyde at 0600/9. (2)
27 Feb 1941
Around 1330A/27, the troop transport Rimutaka (British, 16576 GRT, built 1923) departed Liverpool for Trinidad. She was escorted by the destroyer HMS Harvester (Lt.Cdr. M. Thornton, DSC, RN).
Around 2300A/27, the submarine depot ship HMS Forth (Capt. G.C.P. Menzies, RN) and the troop transport Batory (Polish, 14287 GRT, built 1936) departed Greenock for Halifax. They were escorted by the destroyers HMS Hesperus (Lt.Cdr. A.A. Tait, RN) and HMS Hurricane (Lt.Cdr. H.C. Simms, RN).
The two groups joined company off Oversay around 0745A/28. They then set course to proceed northwards through the Hebrides.
Around 1900A/28, the destroyer HMS Havelock (Cdr. E.H. Thomas, DSC, RN) joined coming from Loch Ewe.
The destroyers parted company around 1930Z/2 to the south of Iceland in approximate position 61°55'N, 23°40'W. (3)
4 Mar 1941
Around 1100O/4,in approximate position 56°12'N, 37°45'W, the troop transports Batory (Polish, 14287 GRT, built 1936), Rimutaka (British, 16576 GRT, built 1923) and the submarine depot ship HMS Forth (Capt. G.C.P. Menzies, RN) were joined by the battleship HMS Ramillies (Capt. A.D. Read, RN).
Around 0400Q/9, the Rimutaka parted company to proceed to Trinidad where she arrived on 15 March 1941.
Around 1030Q/9, HMS Ramillies, HMS Forth and the Batory arrived at Halifax. (4)
1 Jun 1941
Around 0800P/1, HMS Forth (Capt. G.C.P. Menzies, RN) and HMS Thunderbolt (Lt. C.B. Crouch, DSO, RN) departed Halifax for Saint John (New Brunswick) where they arrived around 1000P/2.
(5)
2 Jun 1941
HMS Forth (Capt. G.C.P. Menzies, RN) and HMS Thunderbolt (Lt. C.B. Crouch, DSO, RN) are docked together in the graving dock at Saint John (New Brunswick). (5)
7 Jun 1941
HMS Forth (Capt. G.C.P. Menzies, RN) and HMS Thunderbolt (Lt. C.B. Crouch, DSO, RN) are undocked.
Around 2045P/7, they left Saint John (New Brunswick) for Halifax. (5)
8 Jun 1941
Around 2230P/8, HMS Forth (Capt. G.C.P. Menzies, RN) and HMS Thunderbolt (Lt. C.B. Crouch, DSO, RN) arrived at Halifax from Saint John (New Brunswick). (5)
24 Oct 1941
HMS Forth (Capt. G.C.P. Menzies, RN) is docked in No.1 graving dock at the Rosyth Dockyard. (1)
7 May 1943
HMS Sceptre (Lt. I.S. McIntosh, MBE, DSC, RN) conducted attack exercises in the Clyde area during which HMS Breda (Capt.(Retd.) A.E. Johnston, RN), HMS Jan van Gelder (Lt. P.D. O'Driscoll, RNR) and HMS Forth (Capt. R.S. Warne, RN) served as the targets. (6)
7 May 1943
HMS Syrtis (Lt. M.H. Jupp, DSC, RN) proceeded to Campbeltown on completion of last night's exercises. That evening she departed again for night attack exercises in the Clyde area during which HMS Forth (Capt. R.S. Warne, RN) served as target. (7)
8 May 1943
HMS Sceptre (Lt. I.S. McIntosh, MBE, DSC, RN) conducted night attack exercises in the Clyde area during which HMS Breda (Capt.(Retd.) A.E. Johnston, RN), HMS Jan van Gelder (Lt. P.D. O'Driscoll, RNR) and HMS Forth (Capt. R.S. Warne, RN) served as the targets. Upon completion of these Sceptre set course for Holy Loch but shortly before arriving there Sceptre was ordered to proceed to Loch Goil instead. (6)
Sources
- Rosyth Dockyard docking register
- ADM 199/373
- ADM 53/114277 + ADM 53/114278 + ADM 199/2224 + ADM 199/2225
- ADM 53/114278 + ADM 53/114930
- ADM 53/114281 + ADM 173/17039
- ADM 173/18003
- ADM 173/18159
ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.