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HMS Exmoor (L08)
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HMS Exmoor (L08)
The second HMS Exmoor (L08), ex-HMS Burton, was a Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy in commission from 1941 to 1945. She was a member of the second subgroup of the class, and saw service during much of World War II. She later served in the Royal Danish Navy as HDMS Valdemar Sejr (F 343).
The ship was ordered under the 1939 War Emergency Build Programme from Swan Hunter, Wallsend, on 20 December 1939. She was laid down as Job Number J4190 as Burton on 7 June 1940 and launched on 12 March 1941. While she was fitting out, she was renamed Exmoor in June 1941 after the loss that year of the previous Exmoor. She was completed on 18 October 1941 and immediately commissioned.
Upon commissioning, Exmoor immediately began acceptance trials. Upon their successful completion later in October, she steamed to Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands, where she performed work-ups with ships of the Home Fleet. After completing work-ups in November 1941, she was selected for patrol and convoy escort duties at Gibraltar, but before taking up those responsibilities she steamed to Derry – also known as Londonderry – in Northern Ireland and on 13 November 1941 joined her sister ship Badsworth and the destroyers Vanquisher and Witch as escort of the military convoy WS12Z while it transited the Western Approaches. She was detached from the convoy on 17 November 1941.
In December 1941 Exmoor steamed to Gibraltar, where she reported to the 13th Destroyer Flotilla – which also included her sister ships Blankney and Croome – for duty. On 14 December 1941 she deployed to reinforce the escort of Convoy HG76, which was under heavy attack by German submarines in the North Atlantic Ocean. On 17 December 1941, she joined Blankney, the destroyer Stanley, the corvette Pentstemon, the sloop Stork, and a Grumman Martlet aircraft from the Fleet Air Arm's 802 Naval Air Squadron aboard the escort aircraft carrier Audacity in a depth-charge attack which forced the German submarine U-131 to the surface, where she was sunk by gunfire northeast of Madeira, Portugal, at position 34°12′00″N 013°35′00″W / 34.20000°N 13.58333°W. On 18 December 1941, Exmoor was detached from the convoy and returned to Gibraltar.
In January 1942 Exmoor transferred to the 37th Destroyer Division, with responsibility for antisubmarine patrols and convoy defence in the North Atlantic Ocean and western Mediterranean Sea. She continued this work until 27 February 1942, when she, Blankney, and Croome were assigned to Force H to take part along with the battleships Malaya, the aircraft carriers Argus and Eagle, the light cruiser Hermione, and the destroyers Active, Anthony, Laforey, Lightning, Whitehall, and Wishart in Operation Spotter I, an attempt to deliver Bristol Blenheim and Supermarine Spitfire aircraft to Malta. The operation was called off on 28 February 1942 when defects were discovered in the fuel tanks of the aircraft.
Exmoor returned to her normal patrol and escort activities until 6 March 1942, when she again was assigned to Force H as an escort for a second attempt to carry Operation Spotter I through to a successful conclusion. She returned to her routine duties on 8 March 1942. On 20 March 1942 she received her third assignment to Force H, this time to join Malaya, Argus, Eagle, Hermione, Active, Anthony, Blankney, Croome, Laforey, Whitehall, Wishart, and the destroyer Duncan in Operation Picket I, the delivery of Blenheim, Spitfire, and Bristol Beaufort aircraft to Malta. She was released to her routine duties on 23 March 1942, but on 28 March 1942 she was assigned to Force H for Operation Picket II, another aircraft delivery to Malta involving the same ships as Picket I. She again resumed her normal patrol escort duties on 30 March 1942. In March 1942, she was "adopted" by the community of Minehead, Somerset, as the result of a successful Warship Week national savings campaign.
On 1 April 1942, Exmoor and Croome were reassigned to the 9th Destroyer Flotilla in the Mediterranean Fleet, based in Alexandria, Egypt, and they departed Gibraltar bound for Alexandria via a cruise around Africa. On 8 April 1942, they arrived at Freetown in Sierra Leone, where they temporarily were assigned to local escort duty. On 11 April 1942, Exmoor and Croome joined the destroyer Wild Swan, the corvette Hydrangea, and the Free French Naval Forces corvettes Commandant Drogou and Commandant Détroyat as local escort for the military Convoy WS 17B as it passed along the coast of West Africa bound for the Cape of Good Hope. Exmoor, Croome, and Commandant Détroyat were detached from the convoy on 15 April 1942 and returned to Freetown.
On 25 April 1942, Exmoor and Croome departed Freetown for the voyage down the west coast of Africa, around the Cape of Good Hope, into the Indian Ocean and up the east coast of Africa, through the Red Sea, and then via the Suez Canal to the eastern Mediterranean and their new duties at Alexandria, where they arrived in May 1942. They began patrol and escort duties in the eastern Mediterranean and support to the British Army garrison at Tobruk in Libya. Support to the garrison lasted into June 1942, when Exmoor was assigned to take part in Operation Vigorous, a major effort to resupply Malta, as part of the escort of the Malta-bound Convoy MW 11. On 13 June 1942, she and Croome joined the British destroyers Fortune, Griffin, Hasty, Hero, Hotspur, Inconstant, Javelin, Jervis, Kelvin, Pakenham, Paladin, Sikh, and Zulu, the British escort destroyers Airedale, Aldenham, Beaufort, Dulverton, Eridge, Hurworth, and Tetcott, and the Royal Australian Navy destroyers HMAS Napier, HMAS Nestor, and HMAS Norman as the escort for MW 11. Axis aircraft began attacks on the convoy on 14 June 1942; the air attacks ceased at nightfall, after which aircraft dropped flares to assist Axis motor torpedo boats in their attacks. Air and torpedo boat attacks continued into 15 June 1942, at which point the threat of interception of the convoy by heavy surface units of the Italian Royal Navy prompted cancellation of the operation and the return of the convoy to port.
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HMS Exmoor (L08)
The second HMS Exmoor (L08), ex-HMS Burton, was a Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy in commission from 1941 to 1945. She was a member of the second subgroup of the class, and saw service during much of World War II. She later served in the Royal Danish Navy as HDMS Valdemar Sejr (F 343).
The ship was ordered under the 1939 War Emergency Build Programme from Swan Hunter, Wallsend, on 20 December 1939. She was laid down as Job Number J4190 as Burton on 7 June 1940 and launched on 12 March 1941. While she was fitting out, she was renamed Exmoor in June 1941 after the loss that year of the previous Exmoor. She was completed on 18 October 1941 and immediately commissioned.
Upon commissioning, Exmoor immediately began acceptance trials. Upon their successful completion later in October, she steamed to Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands, where she performed work-ups with ships of the Home Fleet. After completing work-ups in November 1941, she was selected for patrol and convoy escort duties at Gibraltar, but before taking up those responsibilities she steamed to Derry – also known as Londonderry – in Northern Ireland and on 13 November 1941 joined her sister ship Badsworth and the destroyers Vanquisher and Witch as escort of the military convoy WS12Z while it transited the Western Approaches. She was detached from the convoy on 17 November 1941.
In December 1941 Exmoor steamed to Gibraltar, where she reported to the 13th Destroyer Flotilla – which also included her sister ships Blankney and Croome – for duty. On 14 December 1941 she deployed to reinforce the escort of Convoy HG76, which was under heavy attack by German submarines in the North Atlantic Ocean. On 17 December 1941, she joined Blankney, the destroyer Stanley, the corvette Pentstemon, the sloop Stork, and a Grumman Martlet aircraft from the Fleet Air Arm's 802 Naval Air Squadron aboard the escort aircraft carrier Audacity in a depth-charge attack which forced the German submarine U-131 to the surface, where she was sunk by gunfire northeast of Madeira, Portugal, at position 34°12′00″N 013°35′00″W / 34.20000°N 13.58333°W. On 18 December 1941, Exmoor was detached from the convoy and returned to Gibraltar.
In January 1942 Exmoor transferred to the 37th Destroyer Division, with responsibility for antisubmarine patrols and convoy defence in the North Atlantic Ocean and western Mediterranean Sea. She continued this work until 27 February 1942, when she, Blankney, and Croome were assigned to Force H to take part along with the battleships Malaya, the aircraft carriers Argus and Eagle, the light cruiser Hermione, and the destroyers Active, Anthony, Laforey, Lightning, Whitehall, and Wishart in Operation Spotter I, an attempt to deliver Bristol Blenheim and Supermarine Spitfire aircraft to Malta. The operation was called off on 28 February 1942 when defects were discovered in the fuel tanks of the aircraft.
Exmoor returned to her normal patrol and escort activities until 6 March 1942, when she again was assigned to Force H as an escort for a second attempt to carry Operation Spotter I through to a successful conclusion. She returned to her routine duties on 8 March 1942. On 20 March 1942 she received her third assignment to Force H, this time to join Malaya, Argus, Eagle, Hermione, Active, Anthony, Blankney, Croome, Laforey, Whitehall, Wishart, and the destroyer Duncan in Operation Picket I, the delivery of Blenheim, Spitfire, and Bristol Beaufort aircraft to Malta. She was released to her routine duties on 23 March 1942, but on 28 March 1942 she was assigned to Force H for Operation Picket II, another aircraft delivery to Malta involving the same ships as Picket I. She again resumed her normal patrol escort duties on 30 March 1942. In March 1942, she was "adopted" by the community of Minehead, Somerset, as the result of a successful Warship Week national savings campaign.
On 1 April 1942, Exmoor and Croome were reassigned to the 9th Destroyer Flotilla in the Mediterranean Fleet, based in Alexandria, Egypt, and they departed Gibraltar bound for Alexandria via a cruise around Africa. On 8 April 1942, they arrived at Freetown in Sierra Leone, where they temporarily were assigned to local escort duty. On 11 April 1942, Exmoor and Croome joined the destroyer Wild Swan, the corvette Hydrangea, and the Free French Naval Forces corvettes Commandant Drogou and Commandant Détroyat as local escort for the military Convoy WS 17B as it passed along the coast of West Africa bound for the Cape of Good Hope. Exmoor, Croome, and Commandant Détroyat were detached from the convoy on 15 April 1942 and returned to Freetown.
On 25 April 1942, Exmoor and Croome departed Freetown for the voyage down the west coast of Africa, around the Cape of Good Hope, into the Indian Ocean and up the east coast of Africa, through the Red Sea, and then via the Suez Canal to the eastern Mediterranean and their new duties at Alexandria, where they arrived in May 1942. They began patrol and escort duties in the eastern Mediterranean and support to the British Army garrison at Tobruk in Libya. Support to the garrison lasted into June 1942, when Exmoor was assigned to take part in Operation Vigorous, a major effort to resupply Malta, as part of the escort of the Malta-bound Convoy MW 11. On 13 June 1942, she and Croome joined the British destroyers Fortune, Griffin, Hasty, Hero, Hotspur, Inconstant, Javelin, Jervis, Kelvin, Pakenham, Paladin, Sikh, and Zulu, the British escort destroyers Airedale, Aldenham, Beaufort, Dulverton, Eridge, Hurworth, and Tetcott, and the Royal Australian Navy destroyers HMAS Napier, HMAS Nestor, and HMAS Norman as the escort for MW 11. Axis aircraft began attacks on the convoy on 14 June 1942; the air attacks ceased at nightfall, after which aircraft dropped flares to assist Axis motor torpedo boats in their attacks. Air and torpedo boat attacks continued into 15 June 1942, at which point the threat of interception of the convoy by heavy surface units of the Italian Royal Navy prompted cancellation of the operation and the return of the convoy to port.
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