LIBYA
1941
H
e r a l d i c D a t a
No
details of a Badge
are recorded in the Official Record but
an “unofficial” Badge may have been
used..
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
August
Laid-up in Reserve at Singapore.
to
November
December
Nominated for service and
brought forward from Reserve.
(Note: Sister
ships HMS HUNTLEY and HMS WIDNES had
also been
nominated.
1
9 4 0
January
Commissioned for service at Singapore. Manned
from Devonport Depot.
to
On completion of trials
took passage to join East Indies
Station.
April
(Note: HMS
HUNTLEY and HMS WIDNES had already
sailed for Aden. As this ship
was
a Coal Burner this passage
involved
coaling at sea in the Indian
Ocean and
in company
with a Collier.)
May
Deployed for convoy
escort and patrol based at Aden.
to
(Note: The area in which
the ship was deployed extended from the
southern part of the
September
Red Sea to the Persian Gulf.
Pennant
Number for visual signalling purposes
changed to J90)
October Joined
HM Cruiser LEANDER, HM
Destroyer KIMBERLEY, HM Sloops
AUCKLAND (RNZN), INDUS (RIN) and
YARRA (RAN) with HMS HUNTLEY as
escort for
Convoy BN7 (32 ships) during passage in
Red Sea.
21st
Convoy under attack by four
Italian destroyers
during which HMS KIMBERLEY
engaged the
destroyer FRANCISCO NULLO and drove the
enemy
ship ashore.
(Note:
HMS KIMBERLEY was subsequently damaged
by shore
batteries and disabled
but towed to
Port Sudan by HMS LEANDER. See Naval
Staff History)
November
Transferred
to 2nd Minesweeping Flotilla and took
passage to Alexandria.
December
Joined
sister ships HMS BAGSHOT,
HMS FAREHAM and HMS STOKE with
HMS
HUNTLEY and HMS
WIDNES in Flotilla and deployed for
support
of
military operations in Eastern
Mediterranean.
1 9 4 1
January
Convoy
escort and support duties in
continuation.
to
(Note: Ships of the Flotilla also
carried stores and personnel between
Egypt
April
and Tobruk, Mersa
Matruh and
Bardia to support
local garrisons.)
May
Detached
for duty with Crete Patrol Force and
took passage to Suda Bay.
(Note:
This deployment was part of the
Mediterranean Fleet support of the
defence of
Crete after the evacuation of allied
troops from Greece.)
HMS WIDNES
also transferred to Crete Patrol was
damaged in air
attacks and
had to be abandoned. She was later
salvaged used
by
Germany
as Patrol Vessel UJ2109.
This British minesweeper was
sunk by
British destroyers in October 1943. See
Naval Staff
History)
June
Resumed duties with 2nd
Minesweeping Flotilla at Alexandria
after the
fall
of Crete.
(Note:
Flotilla then comprised HM Minesweepers
ABERDARE,
BAGSHOT,
FAREHAM, HARROW and DERBY and carried
out minesweeping
as well as
support of military garrisons.)
July
Flotilla duties in
continuation in Eastern Mediterranean.
(Note: Ships
of the Flotilla also carried out patrol
duties
off Syria during
military
operations against Vichy French in Syria
(Operation
EXPORTER – See RELUCTANT ENEMIES by W Tute.)
August
Deployed with Flotilla for
minesweeping off North African coast,
convoy
to
escort and support of the isolated
garrison at Tobruk.
December
1 9 4 2
January North
Africa coast minesweeping, convoy
defence and support in
continuation
to
with
Flotilla.
May
June
Deployed with Flotilla
at
Alexandria for mine clearance of
channels into
to
Port Said which was subject to
concentrated air attacks including
minelaying.
September
October
Deployed with Flotilla for
convoy escort, minesweeping and support
of
to
allied military advance in Western
Desert.
December
1 9 4 3
January Taken
in hand for refit at Alexandria.
to
(Note: Flotilla was
transferred to Malta for mine clearance.)
April
May
On completion carried out
post refit trials
to
Resumed Flotilla duties
for Minesweeping in Eastern
Mediterranean.
August
September
Deployed
for detached duties at Alexandria
16th
Embarked Commander-in-Chief (Levant),
Admiral Sir John Cunningham at
Alexandria
to
meet
surrendered Italian warships being
escorted from Malta for
demilitarisation.
(Note: This
singular honour to wear the Admiral’s
was a
tribute the ships of the 2nd
Minesweeping
Flotilla whose contribution, despite
their age and their
disadvantages
as coal burners, to the part they
had played in the victory in the
Eastern
Mediterranean.
20th
On release from detached duties at
Alexandria took passage to rejoin the
Flotilla
in Malta.
October
Passage with Flotilla for
minesweeping duties in based at Taranto.
Deployed for
mine clearance in Adriatic to ensure safe passage of ships
supporting
military operations in Italy.
November
Adriatic deployment with Flotilla
in continuation.
to
December
1
9 4 4
January
Deployed
with Flotilla in Adriatic for minesweeping
to
(Note: Swept channels were cleared
from Bari to Ortona
to ensure
May
safe passage
of mercantiles and warships.)
June
16th
Released from Adriatic service
with Flotilla
July
Passage from Taranto to Malta
August
Nominated for withdrawal from
operational service and took passage
from
Malta
to Gibraltar for reduction to Reserve
status.
September
Paid-off and Reduced to Reserve
Status
October
Laid-up at Gibraltar
to
December
1 9 4 5
January
Laid-up
in Reserve at Gibraltar
to
August
P
o s t W a r
N o t
e s
HMS
DERBY remained at Gibraltar in Reserve after VJ Day. The ship placed on the Disposal
List in
1946 and sold to G.
MacGrail on 31st July that year. She was
towed from Gibraltar for demolition in Spain later
that year.
