Allied Warships of WWII - Armed Yacht HMS Virginia - uboat.net
Allied Warships
Armed Yacht
| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | Armed Yacht |
| Class | [No specific class] |
| Pennant | FY 031 |
| Built by | William Beardmore & Co. (Dalmuir, Scotland) |
| Ordered | |
| Laid down | |
| Launched | 15 Mar 1930 |
| Commissioned | |
| End service | |
| History | Displacement: 676 tons. Returned in 1945. |
Notable events involving Virginia include:
28 Nov 1940
HMS H 43 (Lt. H.R.B. Newton, RN) departed Holyhead for Rothesay. She was escorted by HMS Virginia (Cdr.(Retd.) S.H.S. Moxley, RN). (1)
29 Nov 1940
HMS H 50 (Lt. M. Willmott, RN) departed Rothesay for Holyhead. She was escorted by HMS Virginia (Cdr.(Retd.) S.H.S. Moxley, RN). (2)
22 Jan 1941
HMS H 50 (Lt. M. Willmott, RN) departed Holyhead for Rothesay. She was escorted by HMS Virginia (Cdr.(Retd.) S.H.S. Moxley, RN). (3)
23 Jan 1941
HMS H 32 (Lt. R.L. Alexander, RN) departed Rothesay for Holyhead. She was escorted by HMS Virginia (Cdr.(Retd.) S.H.S. Moxley, RN). (4)
6 Oct 1942
HMS H 43 (Lt. B.J.B. Andrew, DSC, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Lough Foyle with HMS Virginia (T/A/Lt.Cdr. J. Dobson, RNR), HMS Vetch (T/A/Lt.Cdr. H.J. Beverley, DSO, DSC, RNR), HMS Duncton (T/Lt. J.P. Kilbee, RNR), HMS Marigold (Lt. J.A.S. Halcrow, RD, RNR), HMS Sapphire (T/Lt. E.G.le G. Berry, RNVR), HMS Gardenia (T/Lt. M.M. Firth, RNVR) and HMS Convolvulus (A/Lt.Cdr. R.F.R. Yarde-Buller, RNVR). (5)
16 Mar 1943
HMS H 44 (Lt. P.S. Beale, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Lough Foyle with HMS Virginia (T/A/Lt.Cdr. J. Dobson, RNR). (6)
17 Mar 1943
HMS H 44 (Lt. P.S. Beale, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Lough Foyle with HMS Virginia (T/A/Lt.Cdr. J. Dobson, RNR) and HMS Northern Reward (Lt. J.D. Weaver, RNVR). (6)
25 Mar 1943
Passage of floating dock AFD 24 from Trinidad to Freetown.
On 25 March 1943, the dock in tow of the tugs HMS Frisky and HMS Zwarte Zee departed Trinidad. Escort was provided by the sloop HMS Milford (Lt.Cdr. G. MacClelland, RN), corvettes HMS Tamarisk (Lt. S. Ayles, RNR), HMS Woodruff (A/Lt.Cdr. F.H. Gray, RNR) and the ASW trawlers HMS Morris Dance (T/Lt. S.A. MacKechnie, RNVR) and HMS Yestor (Lt. R.C. Holt, RNVR). A third tug was also present as stand by tug, this was HMS Oriana.
On 1 April 1943, the armed merchant cruiser HMS Alcantara (A/Capt.(retd.) J.D. Harvey, RN) and the corvette HMS Amaranthus (T/Lt. W.S. Thomson, RNR) departed Trinidad to overtake and join the 'convoy'. HMS Alcantara was to fuel the oil firing sloop and corvettes at sea during the passage to Freetown. The coal firing trawlers were to coal in Brazilian ports.
On 24 April 1943, the corvette HMS Snowdrop (Lt. P.A. Tinne, RNVR) and the motor launches HMS ML 296 (T/Lt. R.C. Breckenridge, RCNVR), HMS ML 289 (?), HMS ML 287 (T/Lt. J.B. Bramwell, RNVR), HMS ML 281 (T/Lt. P.S. Castle, RNVR), HMS ML 266 (T/Lt. D.R. Beverley, RCNVR) and HMS ML 209 (T/Lt. A.M.C. Scott, RNVR) departed freetown to make rendezvous with the convoy which did at 1130Z/26. ML 281 had however returned to Freetown on the 26th after having been detached due to a defective Asdic installation.
On 27 April 1943, the A/S yacht HMS Virginia (T/A/Lt.Cdr. J. Dobson, RNR) and corvettes HMS Armeria (Lt. M. Todd, RNR), HMS Cyclamen (Lt. A.G. Scott, RNR) and HMS Thyme (Lt. H. Roach, RNR) departed Freetown to join the convoy which they did early in the evening of the same day.
The dock and it's escorts arrived at Freetown on 28 April 1943.
2 Apr 1943
HMS Upstart (Lt. P.C. Chapman, DSC and Bar, RN) departed her builders yard at Barrow for Holy Loch. She made the passage together with HNoMS Ula (Lt. R.M. Sars). They were escorted by HMS Virginia (T/A/Lt.Cdr. J. Dobson, RNR). (7)
Sources
- ADM 173/16313
- ADM 173/16334
- ADM 173/16789
- ADM 173/16735
- ADM 173/17254
- ADM 173/17814
- ADM 173/18372
ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.