Allied Warships

HMS Vidette (D 48)

Destroyer of the Admiralty V & W class

NavyThe Royal Navy
TypeDestroyer
ClassAdmiralty V & W 
PennantD 48 
Built byA. Stephen & Sons Ltd. (Glasgow, Scotland) 
Ordered 
Laid down1 Feb 1917 
Launched28 Feb 1918 
Commissioned27 Apr 1918 
End service 
Loss position
 
History

Reconstruction to Long Range Escort at Sheerness Dockyard was finished in January 1943.

Sold to be broken up for scrap on 4 March 1947.

Commanding Officers:
Lt.Cdr. Denys Royds Brocklebank, RN (retired)
15 June 1939 – June 1940

Lt.Cdr. Eric Norman Walmsley, RN
June 1940 – ???
Promoted to Lt.Cdr. on 28 April 1941
DSC awarded on 11 June 1942

HMS Vidette was in Dockyard Control during conversion / refit

Lt. Raymond Hart, DSC, RN
Promoted to Lt.Cdr. on 24 June 1941
Bar to DSC awarded on 19 October 1943
21 December 1942 – 6 November 1943

Cdr. Peter William Gretton, OBE, DSO and Bar, DSC, RN
6 November 1943 – 1 December 1943

Lt.Cdr. Raymond Hart, DSC and Bar, RN
1 December 1943 – March 1944

Lt. Percival John Stoner, RN
March 1944 – 14 April 1944

T/A/Lt.Cdr. George Stephen Woolley, RNVR
14 April 1944 – still in command in April 1945 according to the Navy List

HMS Vidette is not listed as active unit in the July 1945 Navy list 

Commands listed for HMS Vidette (D 48)

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

CommanderFromTo
1Cdr. (retired) Denys Royds Brocklebank, RN15 Jun 1939Jun 1940
2Lt. Eric Norman Walmsley, RN1 Jun 1940???

3Lt.Cdr. Raymond Hart, DSC, RN21 Dec 19426 Nov 1943
4Cdr. Peter William Gretton, DSC, OBE, DSO, RN6 Nov 19431 Dec 1943
5Lt.Cdr. Raymond Hart, DSC, RN1 Dec 1943Mar 1944
6Lt. Percival John Stoner, RNMar 194414 Apr 1944
7T/A/Lt.Cdr. George Stephen Woolley, RNVR14 Apr 1944Apr 1945 ?

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Noteable events involving Vidette include:


6 May 1943
The German submarine U-531 was sunk in the North Atlantic north-east of Newfoundland, in position 52º48'N, 45º18'W, by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS Vidette (Lt. R. Hart, DSC, RN). (see map)

6 May 1943
The German submarine U-630 was sunk in the North Atlantic north-east of Newfoundland, in position 52º31'N, 44º50'W, by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS Vidette (Lt. R. Hart, DSC, RN). (see map)

23 Oct 1943
The German submarine U-274 was sunk in the North Atlantic south-west of Iceland in position 57º14'N, 27º50'W, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS Duncan (Cdr. P.W. Gretton, OBE, DSO, DSC, RN) and HMS Vidette (Lt.Cdr. R. Hart, DSC and Bar, RN), and by depth charges from a British Liberator aircraft (Sqdn. 224/Z). (see map)

29 Oct 1943
The German submarine U-282 was sunk south-east of Greenland, in position 55º28'N, 31º57'W, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS Vidette (Lt.Cdr. R. Hart, DSC and Bar, RN) and HMS Duncan (Cdr. P.W. Gretton, OBE, DSO, DSC, RN) and the British corvette HMS Sunflower (A/Lt.Cdr. J. Plomer, DSC, RCNVR). (see map)

20 Aug 1944
The German submarine U-413 was sunk in the English Channel south of Brighton, in position 50º21'N, 00º01'W, by depth charges from the British escort destroyer HMS Wensleydale (A/Lt.Cdr. W.P. Goodfellow, RNVR) and the British destroyers HMS Forester (Lt. D.C. Beatty, RN) and HMS Vidette (T/A/Lt.Cdr. G.S. Wooley, RNVR). (see map)

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