W-Class destroyer
ordered in December 1941 from
Vickers-Armstrong at Barrow with ships of the
9th Emergency Flotilla and laid
down as Yard No 833 on 14th September 1942.
Launched on 29th September 1943 she
was the 5th RN ship to bear this name. It had
been first used for a Brig-Sloop
in 1805 and lastly by a destroyer built in 1895
which was sold in 1920. Build
was completed on 30th March 1944 and she was
initially deployed in the Home
Fleet. After a successful WARSHIP WEEK campaign
for National Savings in March
1942 this destroyer was adopted by the civil
community of Wood Green,
Middlesex, now part of the Borough of Haringey.
B a t t
l e H o n o u r s
None
H e r a l d i
c D a t a
Badge : On a field
White a pentacle Red
within an annulet also Red.
M o t t
o
'Endless
endeavour'
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 4 4
March
Contractor’s sea trials and
commissioning.
30th
Build completion and acceptance
trials.
April
Passage to Scapa Flow on
completion of trials, calibrations and storing.
Work-up with
ships of Home Fleet at Scapa Flow.
On completion
deployed with 3rd Destroyer Flotilla Home Fleet
pending formation
of 27th Destroyer
Flotilla.
May
6th
Deployed with HM
Destroyers SAVAGE, WAKEFUL, ALGONQUIN (RCN).
Polish ORP
PIORUN
and ORP BLYSKAWICA
as screen for HM Aircraft Carrier FURIOUS, HM
Escort
Aircraft Carrier
SEARCHER and HM Cruiser BERWICK during air
operations against coastal
convoy traffic of Kristiansund,
North, Norway.
(For details of
the successful attack see ENGAGE THE ENEMY MORE
CLOSELY by C
Barnett, CONVOY !
by P Kemp and Naval Staff History.)
June
Remained at Scapa Flow
for deployment with Flotilla as Home Fleet
screen providing Distant
Cover if required
to prevent interference by major German warships
during the allied landings
in Normandy.
(Operation
NEPTUNE).
(For details of
naval activities prior to and during landings
see LANDINGS IN NORMANDY,
June 1944 (HMSO)
and OPERATION NEPTUNE by K Edwards.
Deployed in NW
Approaches with Flotilla.
9th
Sustained major structural damage
from explosion of own depth charges.
After structure
buckled causing considerable flooding in
compartments.
10th
Taken in tow to Lyness
for emergency repair in dry dock.
On completion
towed to Middlesbrough for repair in commercial
shipyard
(Note : In
addition to carrying oil drums filled with
water, The Bofors
mountings, searchlight,
gunnery
director and all torpedoes were landed as well
as having forward
fresh water
and
fuel tanks filled with sea water to ensure
stability during passage. Portable
pumps
were
also embarked in case of dire emergency!)
July
Paid-off during repair at
Middlesbrough..
Nominally joined
27th Destroyer Flotilla on its formation.
(Note : This
Flotilla was intended for service in British
Pacific
Fleet
and to prepare for foreign service before
sailing
to
Australia in September.)
August
Under repair.
to
December
1 9 4 5
January
Under repair
to
March
April
Re-commissioned for service
in 27th Destroyer Flotilla, British Pacific
Fleet.
to
On completion of
repairs carried out sea trials and took passage
to complete
May
re-storing and prepare for
work-up.
June
Worked-up for operational
service
July
Passage to Sydney to
prepare for service in 3rd US Fleet as part of
Task
Force 37 with
Flotilla.
August Arrived
in Sydney and prepared
for operational use.
Pennant Number D35
for visual signalling was allocated to conform
with
US Navy
identification for destroyers.)
(Note : Although
nominally part of the British Pacific Fleet on
VJ Day
this
ship was not deployed operationally with the
Flotilla off Japan
during
the final bombardments and air operations.
Battle Honour
not therefore
awarded.)
P o s
t W a r N o t e s
HMS
WIZARD was however deployed with the Flotilla
off Japan and took part with HM
Destroyer TENACIOUS in the repatriation of
allied personnel captured by Japan,
held at Hammamatsu.
Later she returned to
Sydney and was under repair there in November
1945 before taking passage with
the Flotilla to return to UK. In February 1946
she joined the Local Flotilla at
Plymouth until selected for conversion to a Type
15 Anti-submarine
Frigate in 1951. Recommissioned in 1954 she
served in the Mediterranean with
the 5th Frigate Squadron
and took part in the Suez operations in November
1956. On return to UK in May
1957 she refitted at Chatham before joining the
Dartmouth Training Squadron for
two years before being deployed in the West
Indies with the 8th Frigate
Squadron until 1964 (see note below). On return
she resumed Cadet training and remained with
the Dartmouth Squadron until 1966 when she
paid-off and was reduced to Reserve
status. This ship was placed on the Disposal
List and sold to T W Ward for
demolition on 16th February 1967. Taken in tow
to Inverkeithing she arrived at
the breaker’s yard on 7th March that year.
Addendum
HMS WIZARD'S
MOVEMENTS JULY 1963
by Jim White
I note that
the record says that
she returned from the West
Indies in 1964 to rejoin the Dartmouth
Training Squadron.
For the record I
sailed on her as a cadet at the end of July
1963 when she was part of the
Training Squadron. For a week we were accompanied
by five other frigates
of the squadron namely ROEBUCK, JUNO, JUPITER,
VENUS and VIRAGO. We
sailed from Plymouth
and met the
Royal Yacht near
Eddystone and accompanied her
to Dartmouth
after which we sailed
to
Morgat in
Brittany,
returning to Plymouth.
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