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foreign crew on HMS Wells (pennant I-95)
Posted by: Mark C. Jones ()
Date: July 10, 2007 03:59PM

I have found reference in an old book that the British 'Town' Class destroyer HMS Wells (ex US Navy Tillman DD-135) was at some point crewed by a mixed-nationality group. The quote reads, "Another of the overage destroyers, the former U.S.S. Tillman, now H.M.S. Wells, has been manned by refugees from Fascism of many nationalities. At one time her officers and crew spoke French, Spanish, Danish, Italian and German." The source of this quote is p. 234 of the book Lend Lease: Weapon for Victory by Edward R. Stettinius, Jr. (New York: MacMillan, 1944).

War-time books often contained errors or exagerations for propaganda purposes. I can find no mention of a mixed-nationality crew in the very thorough book on British 'Town' Class destroyers by Arnold Hague, which includes fairly detailed operational histories of each ship. Other ships in the 'Town' class that were manned at some point by Canadians, Norwegians, Dutchmen or Soviets are mentioned as having foreign crews, so perhaps HMS Wells did not have a multinational crew.

I would appreciate learning of any information about this ship's crew, especially if it is from a published source or a document in a museum or archive.

Sincerely,

Mark C. Jones

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Subject Written By Posted
foreign crew on HMS Wells (pennant I-95) Mark C. Jones 07/10/2007 03:59PM
Re: foreign crew on HMS Wells (pennant I-95) LESLEY 05/27/2009 12:38PM


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