HMS Antelope was a British A-class destroyer

A class destroyer

The A class was a flotilla of eight destroyers built for the Royal Navy as part of the 1927 naval programme. A ninth ship, Codrington, was built to an enlarged design to act as the flotilla leader...

. She was completed 20 March 1930 and assigned to the 18th Destroyer Flotilla, Channel Force, Home Fleet

British Home Fleet

The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy which operated in the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967.-Pre–First World War:...

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On 5 February 1940, Antelope sank in the South-Western Approaches. The U-boat

U-boat

U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...

 had attacked an outward-bound convoy on 5 February and sunk Beaverburn. It was the only U-boat at sea at the time in the area and was the first to be sunk underwater by a single destroyer

Destroyer

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

. Antelope's commanding officer, Lt. Cdr. R.T. White R.N. (later Captain R.T. White D.S.O.**, 2nd son of Sir Archibald White

Archibald White

Sir Archibald Woollaston White, 4th Bart was an English amateur first-class cricketer, who captained Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1911 to 1914. He led the team to the County Championship title in 1912...

, Bt. of Wallingwells

Wallingwells

Wallingwells is a small civil parish and hamlet in the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, England, with a population at the 2001 census of 22...

) was awarded the D.S.O. on 11 July 1940 for this feat. White was commander of Antelope from 24 September 1938 until 26 February 1941.

In April 1940, the destroyer escorted the , flagship of Admiral Derrien, to Scapa Flow

Scapa Flow

right|thumb|Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern endScapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy. It is about...

 after it had been damaged in action off Namsos

Namsos

is a town and municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Namsos. Other villages in the municipality include Bangsund, Klinga, Ramsvika, Skomsvoll, and Spillum....

, Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

.

On 13 June 1940, Antelope collided with off Trondheim

Trondheim

Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...

, Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

, and had to return to the Tyne

River Tyne

The River Tyne is a river in North East England in Great Britain. It is formed by the confluence of two rivers: the North Tyne and the South Tyne. These two rivers converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Waters'.The North Tyne rises on the...

 for repair. She then returned to her base at Harwich

Harwich

Harwich is a town in Essex, England and one of the Haven ports, located on the coast with the North Sea to the east. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the northeast, Ipswich to the northwest, Colchester to the southwest and Clacton-on-Sea to the south...

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In August 1940, Antelope sailed in convoy to take part in Operation Menace

Battle of Dakar

The Battle of Dakar, also known as Operation Menace, was an unsuccessful attempt in September 1940 by the Allies to capture the strategic port of Dakar in French West Africa , which was under Vichy French control, and to install the Free French under General Charles de Gaulle there.-Background:At...

, the attack on Dakar

Dakar

Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...

, but after was torpedoed on 1 September 1940, she escorted her back to the Clyde

Firth of Clyde

The Firth of Clyde forms a large area of coastal water, sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre peninsula which encloses the outer firth in Argyll and Ayrshire, Scotland. The Kilbrannan Sound is a large arm of the Firth of Clyde, separating the Kintyre Peninsula from the Isle of Arran.At...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

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On 31 October 1940, Antelope sank off northwestern Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. She rescued 43 survivors and returned them to the Clyde. Lt. Cdr. White was awarded his first bar to his D.S.O. following this sinking.

In May 1941, in the chase for the after the battle of the Denmark Strait

Battle of the Denmark Strait

The Battle of the Denmark Strait was a Second World War naval battle between ships of the Royal Navy and the German Kriegsmarine, fought on 24 May 1941...

, Antelope searched for survivors from the sinking of , and later was escort to .

In August 1941, Antelope took part in Operation Gauntlet

Operation Gauntlet

During World War II, Operation Gauntlet was a Combined Operations raid by Canadian troops, with British Army logistics support and Free Norwegian Forces servicemen on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, 600 miles south of the North Pole, from 18 August 1941....

, an operation that succeeded in destroying the coaling facilities on Spitsbergen

Spitsbergen

Spitsbergen is the largest and only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in Norway. Constituting the western-most bulk of the archipelago, it borders the Arctic Ocean, the Norwegian Sea and the Greenland Sea...

, thus denying the coal to the enemy.

In 1942 and 1943, Antelope participated in various operations to resupply Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

, including Operation Pedestal

Operation Pedestal

Operation Pedestal was a British operation to get desperately needed supplies to the island of Malta in August 1942, during the Second World War. Malta was the base from which surface ships, submarines and aircraft attacked Axis convoys carrying essential supplies to the Italian and German armies...

 in August 1942. In March 1943, she escorted the Empress of Canada

Empress of Canada

RMS Empress of Canada or Empress of Canada may refer to one of the following ships of the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company:, a 21,517-ton ship built in Glasgow, Scotland; Vancouver-based ship served the Far East; served as troopship in World War II; torpedoed and sunk off Africa by an Italian...

, but the liner was sunk on 13 March by the Italian submarine Leonardo Da Vinci

Italian submarine Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci was a of the Italian navy during World War II. The unit operated in the Atlantic from September 1940 until its loss in May 1943, and became the top scoring non-German submarine of the all war.-Construction:...

. In 1944, she conducted numerous patrols and anti-submarine

Anti-submarine warfare

Anti-submarine warfare is a branch of naval warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, or other submarines to find, track and deter, damage or destroy enemy submarines....

 operations. In August 1945, she returned to the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

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In 1946, she was sold and broken up by Hughes, Bolkow.