HMS Vansittart was an Admiralty Modified W

V and W class destroyer

The V and W class was an amalgam of six similar classes of destroyer built for the Royal Navy under the War Emergency Programme of the First World War and generally treated as one class...

 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...

 of the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 which saw service in the Second World War

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. So far she has been the only ship of the navy to bear the name Vansittart.

Construction and commissioning

Vansittart was ordered with the 13th Order of the 1918-19 Programme in January 1918 from the yards of William Beardmore & Co

William Beardmore and Company

William Beardmore and Company was a Scottish engineering and shipbuilding conglomerate based in Glasgow and the surrounding Clydeside area. It was active between about 1890 and 1930 and at its peak employed about 40,000 people...

. She was laid down on 1 January 1918, launched on 17 April, 1919, and was commissioned on 5 November, 1919.

Pre-war career

Vansittart initially joined the Fleet after being commissioned, and in 1921 was part of the 4th Destroyer Flotilla, Atlantic Fleet. Vansittart and the Flotilla transferred to the Mediterranean in 1925, but on the introduction of more modern destroyer types, the Flotilla returned to the UK and Vansittart was paid off into the Reserve

Reserve fleet

A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed, and thus partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; an equivalent expression in unofficial modern U.S....

. She was laid-up at Rosyth

Rosyth

Rosyth is a town located on the Firth of Forth, three miles south of the centre of Dunfermline. According to an estimate taken in 2008, the town has a population of 12,790....

, but was briefly reactivated, manned by Reservists

Royal Naval Reserve

The Royal Naval Reserve is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. The present Royal Naval Reserve was formed in 1958 by merging the original Royal Naval Reserve and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve , a reserve of civilian volunteers founded in 1903...

 in time for the Review of the Reserve Fleet at Weymouth in August 1939. With war looming, Vansittart was kept in commission and nominated to join the 15th Destroyer Flotilla.

Wartime career

She was responsible for the sinking of by the use of depth charges, on 1 July, 1940.

As it happened, U 102 had just recently destroyed one of its only victims, the British merchant , in approximately the same general region. HMS Vansittart went on to save the survivors of the Clearton, who numbered 26 people.

During her career she went under one reconstruction, to serve as a long range escort. Such maintenance was completed in June 1943.

On 25 February 1946, HMS Vansittart was sold to be broken down into scrap.

External links

• U boat resource