SHOREHAM-Class Sloop ordered under the 1929 Programme
from HM Dockyard on 23rd September 1929 and laid down on 19th December of that
year. The ship was launched by the Countess of Darnley on 22nd November 1930 as
the 5th RN warship to carry the name, introduced in 1694 for a 5th Rate and last
used for the Prize SHOREHAM taken in 1746. This sloop was completed on 2nd
November 1931 for service in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea. She remained in the
Persian Gulf until going to Malta to be re-armed in 1938. On completion she
returned to the Persian Gulf. This ship had a very remarkable record of foreign service and did not return to Home waters until July
1946 when she was Paid Off. After a successful WARSHIP WEEK National Savings
campaign in February 1942 this Sloop was adopted by the civil community of
Shoreham, West Sussex.
B a t t l e H o n o u r s
CARTAGENA 1741 - SICILY 1943 - MEDITERRANEAN
1943 - BURMA 1944-45
H e
r a l d i c D
at a
Badge: On a Field Silver, a Lion rampant, facing to the right Blue.
M o t t o
'Make sure'
D e t a i l s o f
W a r S
e r v i c e
(for more ship information,
go
to
Naval History Homepage
and type name in Site Search
1 9 3
9
September Under refit at
Bombay.
On
completion resumed Persian Gulf patrol duty and contraband control.
October Persian Gulf
deployment in continuation.
to
December
1 9 4 0
January Deployed in
Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea.
to
February
March Under refit
at Bombay.
April On
completion deployed for convoy defence in Indian Ocean.
Joined Convoy US 2 in Indian
Ocean for passage to Aden.
(Note: This convoy was taking ANZAC troops to Middle East.
May
Deployed in Red Sea for convoy defence.
Pennant Number for visual signalling purposes changed to U 32.
June
Red Sea deployment in continuation.
23rd Sank
Italian submarine EVANGELISTA TORRICELLI in surface gun engagement
with
HM Destroyers
KANDAHAR
and KINGSTON.
July Red Sea
and Indian Ocean convoy defence duty.
August
15th Joined HM
Cruisers CALEDON, HOBART, CERES and CARLISLE, HM
Destroyers KANDAHAR, KIMBERLEY, HM Australian Sloop PARRAMATTA
and
HM Sloop AUCKLAND, HM Armed Boarding Vessels CHAKDINA, CHAKALA,
LAOMEDON and the Hospital Ship VITA for evacuation of Barbara.
(Note: Over 7,000 people ware embarked In these ships.)
September
3rd
Intercepted mercantile EVROS.
October Under refit
at Bombay.
to
November
December
On completion carried out post refit trials before resuming convoy defence
duties
in
Red Sea and Indian Ocean.
1 9 4 1
January Red Sea and
Indian Ocean convoy defence in continuation.
to
February
March
23rd
Intercepted German freighter ODER near Perim when attempting to take passage
from Italian.
Somali land after British advance in
East Africa.
(Note: Ship scuttled on approach.
April Under
refit in Bombay.
to On
completion pf post refit trials deployed in Persian Gulf.
May
June Persian
Gulf duties in continuation.
to
July
August Nominated for
support of operations in Iraq.
25th Deployed
in support of British military operations in
Iraq at Abadan
(Operation COUNTENANCE)
Sank
Persian Gunboat PALANG.
(Note: These operations were intended to secure the supply route from Persia
for sending
goods
to USSR and made necessary by unrest
in the region.)
September Persian Gulf
deployment in continuation.
October Nominated
for service in Red Sea and took passage to
Suez.
November Deployed at
Suez as AA Guardship.
December Suez deployment
in continuation.
Nominated for return to East Indies for convoy defence duties.
1 9 4 2
January Passage to
Colombo to resume convoy escort duties.
February Deployed in
Indian Ocean for defence of convoys.
(Note: Evacuation of Singapore
had greatly increased work load on escorts.)
March Transferred
to Eastern Fleet on formation
to Indian
Ocean convoy defence in continuation
July
August Nominated for refit
26th Rescued
survivors from mercantile in Indian Ocean after aircraft reported sighting
September Passage to
Bombay for refit.
October Under refit.
to
December
1 9 4 3
January Under refit
to
Nominated for transfer to Mediterranean
February
March On
completion of post refit trials took passage to Alexandria.
April Deployed
in eastern Mediterranean for convoy defence and patrol duties.
to
May
June Eastern Mediterranean
convoy defence and patrol in continuation.
(Note: Through
convoys of MKS series from Egypt to Gibraltar were commenced in June and
escorted by ships
from Alexandria.)
Nominated for
support of planned allied landings in Sicily and allocated for escort of assault
convoy (Operation
HUSKY)
Took part in
preparatory exercises for HUSKY.
July
3rd Sailed from Port
Said as part of escort for military convoy MWS36 during passage to assault
area in Sicily.
(Note: MWS
convoys were designated during 1940 for convoys to Malta from Egypt .)
10th Detached from MWS36
on arrival at BARK Beachhead.
(For details of
HUSKY see Naval Staff History, ENGAGE THE ENEMY MORE CLOSELY by
C Barnett and
INVASION FLEETS by J de Winser,)
On release from
HUSKY support resumed convoy defence duties based at Alexandria
August
3rd Sailed from
Alexandria HM Fleet Minesweepers WHITEHAVEN, HYTHE, ROMNEY, RYE,
HM Australian
Corvettes GAWLER, IPSWICH, LISMORE and MARYBOROUGH as escort
during passage to
Gibraltar (Operation COCKADE).
13th Damaged Fleet
Minesweeper HMS SPEEDY joined convoy for passage to Gibraltar.
Under air attacks
near Alboran by over 30 He111 torpedo bombers during which two were shot
down by
the escort.
Two mercantiles
were hit and taken in tow.
14th HMS RYE and HMS HYTHE
detached from escort after tows had been transferred to tugs.
15th Detached from
MKS21
Returned to
Alexandria
(Note: Ship may
have escorted a through convoy to eastern Mediterranean.)
September On release from
Mediterranean Fleet took passage to resume convoy defence duty in Indian
Ocean.
October Deployed for convoy
defence on west coast of India.
Escorted Convoy
BM71 of 14 ships during passage from Colombo to Bombay with HM Fleet
Minesweeper
CARNATIC (RIN) and HM Trawler BARODA (RIN).
20th Under submarine
attack in position 11.49N 74 54E in Calicut area.
Tanker BRITISH
PURPOSE was hit by torpedo and sustained damage forward.
(Note: This
mercantile was able to steam and took passage to Cochin for repair.
Submarine was not
detected during subsequent anti-submarine operations which may have
been carried out
by a German U-Boat of the MONSUM Group which had been specifically
deployed for
attacks on mercantile traffic in Indian Ocean.
This attack is
not recorded in HITLER’S U-BOAT WAR Vol 2 by C Blair but is referred
to in WAR WITH
JAPAN (HMSO) and included in BRITISH VESSELS LOST OR DAMAGED
AT SEA 1939-45 (HMSO).)
November Deployed for
convoy defence in Bay of Bengal.
to
December
1 9 4 4
January Military
convoy defence in Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea.
to
February.
March Passage to
Capetown for refit.
April Under
refit in HM Dockyard Simonstown.
to
May
June On
completion of post refit trials took passage to Trincomalee to rejoin Eastern
Fleet for
convoy defence duties.
July Deployed
for convoy defence on east coast of India.
to
November
December Nominated for
support of planned military operations in Burma.
1 9 4 5
January
2nd Deployed
in support of landings at Akyab with HM Australian Destroyers NAPIER and
NEPAL,
two Landing Craft (Infantry and Motor Launches (Operation LIGHTNING).
(Note: 1000 men of 3rd Commando Brigade ware landed.)
February On release
from LIGHTNING resumed convoy defence duties.
March Convoy
defence in Bay of Bengal in continuation.
to
Nominated for refit in Durban.
April Took
passage to Durban.
May Under
refit in Durban.
to
June
July On
completion of post refit trials took passage to resume convoy defence duties.
August
Rejoined Eastern Fleet.
P o s
t W a r N o t e s
HMS SHOREHAM was retained in the Eastern Fleet after VJ Day
and required to remain on Station for service in the Persian Gulf. She prepared for this duty at Bombay in
October 1945 and then carried out the peace-time patrol and visits duties in the Gulf for a year. The ship was ordered
back to UK in 1946 and arrived at Devonport to Pay Off in September. Placed on the Disposal List and sold for use as
a mercantlie. She was renamed JORGE FEL JOVEN but does not appear to have been used as a merchant ship
and was sold for breaking-up at Zeebrugge where she arrived in November 1946.
Addendum
CONVOY ESCORT MOVEMENTS of
HMS
SHOREHAM
by Don Kindell
These convoy lists have not been
cross-checked with the text above
|
|
|
|
|
Date convoy sailed
|
Joined convoy as escort
|
Convoy No. |
Left convoy
|
Date convoy arrived
|
|
|
|
|
|
23/06/40
|
02/07/40
|
BN 001
|
unknown
|
12/07/40
|
17/07/40
|
27/07/40
|
BN 002
|
30/07/40
|
05/08/40
|
24/08/40
|
24/08/40
|
BN 003A
|
27/08/40
|
27/08/40
|
25/08/40
|
08/09/40
|
BN 004
|
11/09/40
|
11/09/40
|
14/09/40
|
17/09/40
|
BS 004A
|
18/09/40
|
18/09/40
|
20/09/40
|
23/09/40
|
BS 005
|
28/09/40
|
28/09/40
|
10/09/40
|
23/09/40
|
BN 005
|
26/09/40
|
26/09/40
|
07/11/40
|
07/11/40
|
BS 007A
|
11/11/40
|
11/11/40
|
18/11/40
|
18/11/40
|
BN 009
|
20/11/40
|
25/11/40
|
18/12/40
|
18/12/40
|
BN 011
|
22/12/40
|
25/12/40
|
19/12/40
|
22/12/40
|
BS 011
|
26/12/40
|
27/12/40
|
29/12/40
|
29/12/40
|
BN 011B
|
01/01/41
|
04/01/41
|
01/01/41
|
02/01/41
|
SW 004A
|
unknown
|
unknown
|
17/01/41
|
17/01/41
|
BN 013
|
18/01/41
|
24/01/41
|
01/02/41
|
01/02/41
|
BN 014
|
03/02/41
|
03/02/41
|
01/02/41
|
04/02/41
|
BSF 001
|
07/02/41
|
07/02/41
|
09/02/41
|
09/02/41
|
BN 015
|
unknown
|
unknown
|
24/02/41
|
24/02/41
|
BN 017
|
27/02/41
|
27/02/41
|
11/03/41
|
unknown
|
BS 018A
|
15/03/41
|
15/03/41
|
24/03/41
|
30/03/41
|
BS 021
|
01/04/41
|
01/04/41
|
07/04/41
|
08/04/41
|
BN 023
|
11/04/41
|
16/04/41
|
07/04/41
|
11/04/41
|
BS 023
|
14/04/41
|
14/04/41
|
23/05/41
|
23/05/41
|
BP 004
|
30/05/41
|
30/05/41
|
21/01/42
|
21/01/42
|
CM 025B
|
21/01/42
|
26/01/42
|
11/02/43
|
unknown
|
BP 068
|
unknown
|
unknown
|
06/03/42
|
06/03/42
|
SU 002
|
unknown
|
20/03/42
|
29/04/42
|
29/04/42
|
MB 003
|
unknown
|
03/05/42
|
09/05/42
|
09/05/42
|
BM 017
|
14/05/42
|
14/05/42
|
16/05/42
|
16/05/42
|
MB 005
|
unknown
|
20/05/42
|
24/05/42
|
24/05/42
|
BM 018
|
28/05/42
|
28/05/42
|
06/06/42
|
06/06/42
|
C 017
|
09/06/42
|
09/06/42
|
16/06/42
|
16/06/42
|
C 018
|
19/06/42
|
19/06/42
|
27/06/42
|
27/06/42
|
MB 009
|
02/07/42
|
02/07/42
|
09/07/42
|
09/07/42
|
BM 025
|
13/07/42
|
13/07/42
|
17/07/42
|
17/07/42
|
MB 012
|
21/07/42
|
21/07/42
|
25/07/42
|
25/07/42
|
BM 026
|
29/07/42
|
29/07/42
|
02/09/42
|
02/09/42
|
C 025
|
05/09/42
|
05/09/42
|
09/10/42
|
09/10/42
|
BP 057
|
15/10/42
|
15/10/42
|
19/02/43
|
19/02/43
|
BM 042
|
23/02/43
|
25/02/43
|
17/02/43
|
26/02/43
|
OW 004/1
|
05/03/43
|
05/03/43
|
24/05/43
|
30/05/43
|
GTX 001
|
unknown
|
04/06/43
|
16/06/43
|
23/06/43
|
KMS 016
|
28/06/43
|
28/06/43
|
11/07/43
|
11/07/43
|
MEF 036
|
15/07/43
|
15/07/43
|
26/07/43
|
26/07/43
|
MES 037Y
|
unknown
|
01/08/43
|
03/08/43
|
03/08/43
|
MKS 021
|
14/08/43
|
27/08/43
|
18/08/43
|
18/08/43
|
KMS 023
|
29/08/43
|
30/08/43
|
09/09/43
|
09/09/43
|
GUS 015
|
18/09/43
|
04/10/43
|
27/08/43
|
20/09/43
|
UGS 016
|
23/09/43
|
23/09/43
|
09/10/43
|
09/10/43
|
AB 016
|
17/10/43
|
17/10/43
|
18/10/43
|
18/10/43
|
BM 071
|
23/10/43
|
23/10/43
|
10/11/43
|
10/11/43
|
MB 054
|
15/11/43
|
15/11/43
|
19/11/43
|
19/11/43
|
BM 075
|
24/11/43
|
24/11/43
|
26/11/43
|
26/11/43
|
MB 056
|
01/12/43
|
01/12/43
|
05/12/43
|
05/12/43
|
BM 077
|
10/12/43
|
10/12/43
|
11/12/43
|
11/12/43
|
JC 029
|
18/12/43
|
20/12/43
|
17/12/43
|
17/12/43
|
CJ 009
|
24/12/43
|
24/12/43
|
10/01/44
|
12/01/44
|
CJ 012
|
16/01/44
|
17/01/44
|
19/01/44
|
19/01/44
|
MB 062
|
23/01/44
|
23/01/44
|
31/01/44
|
unknown
|
BM 084
|
unknown
|
unknown
|
13/02/44
|
13/02/44
|
MB 065
|
18/02/44
|
18/02/44
|
20/02/44
|
20/02/44
|
BA 062
|
28/02/44
|
28/02/44
|
08/03/44
|
08/03/44
|
AKD 017A
|
22/03/44
|
22/03/44
|
11/07/44
|
11/07/44
|
KR 011
|
22/07/44
|
22/07/44
|
15/08/44
|
15/08/44
|
AM 006/1
|
18/08/44
|
18/08/44
|
19/08/44
|
23/08/44
|
CJ 038
|
27/08/44
|
27/08/44
|
14/09/44
|
14/09/44
|
BA 078A
|
21/09/44
|
21/09/44
|
03/10/44
|
03/10/44
|
ABF 004A
|
10/10/44
|
10/10/44
|
16/10/44
|
16/10/44
|
BAF 005A
|
23/10/44
|
23/10/44
|
31/01/45
|
31/01/45
|
003C
|
01/02/45
|
01/02/45
|
25/02/45
|
25/02/45
|
009C
|
26/02/45
|
26/02/45
|
19/10/42
|
19/10/45
|
PB 007
|
25/10/42
|
25/10/42
|
|
|
|
|
|
(Note on Convoys)