HMS Whelp (R37)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Whelp.

Whelp underway on the Tyne, 1944
History
United Kingdom
Name	Whelp
Ordered	3 December 1941
Builder	Hawthorn Leslie and Company, Hebburn
Laid down	1 May 1942
Launched	3 June 1943
Commissioned	25 April 1944
Decommissioned	January 1946
Honours and awards	Portland 1653 Gabbard 1653 Okinawa 1945
Fate	Sold to South African Navy, 23 February 1952
Badge	On a Field White, a lion's whelp sejant guardant Proper.
South Africa
Name	SAS Simon van der Stel
Namesake	Simon van der Stel
Acquired	23 February 1952
Reclassified	Limited conversion to frigate, 1963
Fate	Broken up, 1976
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type	W-class destroyer
Displacement	1,710 long tons (1,740 t) (standard load) 2,530 long tons (2,570 t) (deep load)
Length	362 ft 9 in (110.6 m)
Beam	35 ft 8 in (10.9 m)
Draught	14 ft 6 in (4.4 m) (deep load)
Installed power	2 Admiralty 3-drum boilers 40,000 shp (30,000 kW)
Propulsion	2 shafts 2 × geared steam turbines
Speed	36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph)
Range	4,675 nmi (8,658 km; 5,380 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement	179
Sensors and processing systems	ASDIC Type 272 surface-search radar Type 282 and 285 gunnery radars Type 291 early-warning radar
Armament	4 × single 4.7-inch (120 mm) guns 1 × quadruple 2-pounder (40 mm) "pom-pom" AA gun 4 × twin Oerlikon 20 mm (0.8 in) AA guns 2 × quadruple 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes 70 depth charges; 4 throwers, 2 rails

HMS Whelp was one of eight W-class destroyers built for the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Completed in 1944, the ship spent most of the war assigned to the Eastern and Pacific Fleets. She screened British aircraft carriers as their aircraft attacked targets in the Nicobar Islands, the occupied Dutch East Indies, Formosa and near Okinawa. Whelp was present at the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay and later in Hong Kong. She was paid off in January 1946 and went into reserve.

Whelp was sold to the South African Navy in 1952 and renamed Simon van der Stel. She was subsequently modernised in 1963 with a limited conversion to an anti-submarine frigate. She remained in the South African fleet until 1976, when she was scrapped at Durban.

Description

The W-class ships displaced 1,710 long tons (1,740 t) at standard load and 2,530 long tons (2,570 t) at deep load. They had an overall length of 362 feet 9 inches (110.6 m), a beam of 35 feet 8 inches (10.9 m) and a mean deep draught of 14 feet 6 inches (4.4 m). The ships were powered by a pair of Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by two Admiralty three-drum boilers. The turbines developed a total of 40,000 indicated horsepower (30,000 kW) which gave a maximum speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph). They carried 615 long tons (625 t) of fuel oil that gave them a range of 4,675 nautical miles (8,658 km; 5,380 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph). Their crew numbered 179 officers and ratings.

The W-class destroyers were armed with four single 4.7-inch (120 mm) Mark IX guns, one quadruple mount for 2-pounder (40 mm) Mk II "pom-pom" anti-aircraft (AA) guns and eight Oerlikon 20-millimetre (0.8 in) light AA guns on twin mounts. They also were equipped with two quadruple mounts for 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes. For anti-submarine work, the ships were fitted with ASDIC and two rails and four throwers for 70 depth charges. They were equipped with a Type 272 surface-search radar, Type 282 and 285 gunnery radars and a Type 291 early-warning radar.

To better defend the ship against Japanese kamikaze suicide aircraft, Whelp had her searchlight replaced by a 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors AA gun in mid-1944.

Name

Her name is taken as a continuation of ten earlier Lyon's Whelps, inheriting the earlier ships' honours. "Lyon's (or Lion's) whelp" is an archaic term for a lion cub, and may have had Biblical connotations, be a play on the coat of arms (a lion rampant) of the Villiers family, or both.

Construction and career

British service

The W-class destroyers were ordered on 3 December 1941 and Whelp was laid down by Hawthorn Leslie and Company at their shipyard in Hebburn on 1 May 1942. The ship was launched on 3 June 1943 and completed on 14 July 1944. She was initially assigned to the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla (DF) of the Home Fleet and was based in Scapa Flow. During her active service, her captain and first lieutenant were Commander G. A. F. Norfolk and Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten (now Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh), respectively. In mid-June, Whelp sailed to Spitsbergen to resupply the small Allied garrison there. Whelp was then assigned to the 27th Destroyer Flotilla which left for the Far East on 2 August and arrived in Trincomalee, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), on 12 September. En route, the ship covered the Allied invasion of Southern France (Operation Dragoon) in mid-August.

By October the 27th DF was assigned to the Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean and Whelp escorted the aircraft carriers Indomitable and Victorious while their aircraft attacked Nancowry harbour and other targets in the Nicobar Islands as part of Operation Millet. When the Eastern Fleet attempted to attack the oil refinery complex at Pangkalan Brandan, Sumatra, in mid-November, Whelp and her sister Wager escorted the oiler RFA Wave King. The BPF was formed a few days afterwards and attacked the refinery at Belawan Deli during Operation Robson a month later, as the ship escorted the main body of the fleet. She did much the same during Operation Lentil, another attack on the refinery at Pangkalan Brandan at the beginning of January 1945. Whelp was then detached to tow the damaged submarine HMS Shakespeare to Trincomalee, arriving on 8 January. The British Pacific Fleet (BPF) departed from the port eight days later, bound for Sydney, Australia. En route its aircraft attacked the refineries in Plaju and Sungai Gerong, Sumatra, on 24 and 29 January (Operation Meridian I & II) before arriving on 10 February. Whelp rescued the crew of a crashed Grumman TBF Avenger, Sub-Lieutenant Roy Halliday and his gunner, Norman Richardson, during the second attack.

On 28 February, the BPF sailed for their forward base at Manus Island and arrived on 7 March and exercised together before sailing for Ulithi on 18 March. The BPF joined the American Fifth Fleet there two days later to participate in the preliminary operations for the invasion of Okinawa. The British role during the operation was to neutralise airfields on the Sakishima Islands, between Okinawa and Formosa, beginning on 26 March. They later attacked airfields in Formosa before returning to the Sakishima Islands. The BPF retired to Leyte Gulf to rest and resupply on 17 April and Whelp, together with her sister ship Wager, was tasked to escort the badly damaged carrier Illustrious to Sydney on 3 May. They arrived on 14 May and Whelp continued on to Melbourne to begin a refit that lasted until July.

She rejoined the BPF at Sydney (now attached to the United States 3rd Fleet) and on 31 July escorted the battleship Duke of York to Guam, together with Wager, where they arrived on 9 August. Admiral Bruce Fraser, CinC BPF conferred with U.S. Admiral Chester Nimitz, the American Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet Headquarters. The ships then proceeded to rendezvous with the main body of the fleet off the coast of Japan on the 16th. Whelp was the first Allied ship to enter Sagami Bay on 27 August, leading the way for Duke of York and the American battleships Iowa and Missouri. She was present at Tokyo for the formal surrender of the Japanese on 2 September. She left Tokyo on 9 September and, following an overnight stop at Okinawa on 11/12 September, arrived at Hong Kong with Admiral Fraser aboard. He accepted the surrender of the Japanese forces in Hong Kong on 16 September.

Whelp was remained in Hong Kong and conducted anti-piracy patrols along the Chinese coast. On 12 November, the ship departed Hong Kong for Sydney, via Darwin, and arrived there on the 24th to begin a brief refit. She sailed for Britain on 7 December and arrived at Portsmouth on 17 January 1946. Whelp was paid off and was in Category B reserve by 30 May. She was recommissioned on 9 August 1947 and was refitted at Portsmouth Royal Dockyard in September–October preparation for the voyage to South Africa in company with her sisters, Kempenfelt, Wessex and Wrangler to form the South Atlantic Reserve Force in Simon's Town. Whelp was damaged while in dock on 8 September 1949. She was scheduled to to be converted into a Type 62 air defence frigate, but this was cancelled when that programme was abandoned.

South African service

Whelp was offered to South Africa in 1950, together with Wessex, but she was not purchased until 25 April 1952 for £420,000. The ship was commissioned on 23 February 1953 and was renamed Simon van der Stel, after the first governor of Cape Colony.

Much of Simon van der Stels service was as a "grey ambassador", on good-will visits to Europe and Europe's African colonies, including a 147-day cruise to Europe in 1954. This role, however, declined as South Africa became increasingly isolated during the apartheid years.

Simon van der Stel was placed in reserve from 1957, but was modernised from 1962 to 1964, and re-commissioned in February 1964. She now had helicopter facilities, which were used by South Africa's 22 Flight (later 22 Squadron). Simon van der Stel was scrapped in 1976 at Durban.

Publications

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
• Du Toit, Allan (1992). South Africa's Fighting Ships: Past and Present. Rivonia, South Africa: Ashanti Publishing. ISBN 1-874800-50-2.
• English, John (2008). Obdurate to Daring: British Fleet Destroyers 1941-1945. Windsor, UK: World Ship Society. ISBN 978-0-9560769-0-8.
• Hobbs, David, Commander (2011). The British Pacific Fleet: The Royal Navy's Most Powerful Strike Force. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-044-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Lenton, H. T. (1998). British & Empire Warships of the Second World War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-048-7.
• Raven, Alan; Roberts, John (1978). War Built Destroyers: O to Z Classes. London: Bivouac Books. ISBN 0-85680-010-4. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
• Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939-1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
• Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War 2. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-326-1.

External links

• HMS Whelp on naval-history.net