Recent from talks
HMS Venetia
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
HMS Venetia
HMS Venetia (D53) was a V-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in World War I and World War II.
Venetia was ordered on 30 June 1916 as part of the 9th Order of the 1916-17 Naval Programme. She was laid down on 2 February 1917 by the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company at Govan, Scotland, and launched on 29 October 1917. She was completed on 19 December 1917 and commissioned into service the same day. Her original pennant number, F9A, was changed to F93 in January 1918 and to F14 in April 1918. It became D53 during the interwar period.
The V- and W-class destroyers, Venetia among them, were assigned to the Grand Fleet or Harwich Force and saw service in the last year of World War I.
In 1921, as part of the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla, Venetia joined the light cruisers HMS Caledon, Castor, Cordelia, and Curacoa and the destroyers HMS Vanquisher, Vectis, Viceroy, Violent, Viscount, Winchelsea, and Wolfhound in a Baltic cruise. Departing the United Kingdom on 31 August 1921, the ships crossed the North Sea and transited the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal to enter the Baltic, where they called at Danzig in the Free City of Danzig; Memel in the Klaipėda Region; Liepāja, Latvia; Riga, Latvia; Tallinn, Estonia; Helsinki, Finland; Stockholm, Sweden; Copenhagen, Denmark; Gothenburg, Sweden; and Kristiania, Norway, before crossing the North Sea and ending the voyage at Port Edgar, Scotland, on 15 October 1921.
Venetia later served in the Home Fleet and Mediterranean Fleet before being decommissioned and placed in the Reserve Fleet.
When the United Kingdom entered World War II in September 1939, Venetia was recommissioned. In October 1939, she began service escorting convoys in the North Atlantic Ocean. On 6 January 1940, she and Winchelsea joined Convoy OG 13 in the Southwestern Approaches to serve as its escort during the first leg of its voyage to Gibraltar. The two destroyers detached from the convoy on 8 January 1940 and joined Convoy HG 13 to escort it on the final leg of its voyage from Gibraltar to Liverpool, where it arrived on 10 January 1940. On 1 March 1940, she and the sloop HMS Leith joined Convoy OG 20 in the Southwestern Approaches to escort it during the first day of its voyage to Gibraltar. The two warships detached the following day and joined Convoy HG 23 to relieve the sloop HMS Aberdeen as its escort on the final leg of its voyage from Gibraltar to Liverpool, detaching on 6 March 1940. On 7 April 1940, Venetia, the destroyer HMS Wakeful and the sloops Enchantress and Sandwich joined Convoy HG24 as its escort for the final stage of its voyage from Gibraltar to Liverpool.
In May 1940, Venetia was transferred to Nore Command for operations related to the evacuation of Allied personnel from the Netherlands, Belgium, and France because of the successful German offensive there. On 12 May, in Operation J, she and the destroyer HMS Vivacious escorted the destroyer HMS Codrington as Codrington transported the Dutch royal family from the Hook of Holland into exile in the United Kingdom.
On 23 May 1940, Venetia and the destroyers Vimiera, Whitshed, Venomous, and Wild Swan arrived off Boulogne, France, to evacuate troops of the British Army's Irish Guards and Welsh Guards, who had been trapped there by advancing German troops and tanks of the 2nd Panzer Division during the Battle of Boulogne. Sixty German Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers had recently attacked the harbour and French destroyers bombarding offshore, so they awaited the arrival of Royal Air Force fighter cover before attempting to enter the harbour. After it arrived at 19:20 hours, Whitshed and Vimiera entered the harbour first, taking aboard as many British soldiers as possible – over 550 men each – under fire from German forces before steaming back out of the harbour at 20:25 hours, with Whitshed completely destroying two German tanks at point-blank range with her 4.7-inch (120-mm) guns as she departed.
Hub AI
HMS Venetia AI simulator
(@HMS Venetia_simulator)
HMS Venetia
HMS Venetia (D53) was a V-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in World War I and World War II.
Venetia was ordered on 30 June 1916 as part of the 9th Order of the 1916-17 Naval Programme. She was laid down on 2 February 1917 by the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company at Govan, Scotland, and launched on 29 October 1917. She was completed on 19 December 1917 and commissioned into service the same day. Her original pennant number, F9A, was changed to F93 in January 1918 and to F14 in April 1918. It became D53 during the interwar period.
The V- and W-class destroyers, Venetia among them, were assigned to the Grand Fleet or Harwich Force and saw service in the last year of World War I.
In 1921, as part of the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla, Venetia joined the light cruisers HMS Caledon, Castor, Cordelia, and Curacoa and the destroyers HMS Vanquisher, Vectis, Viceroy, Violent, Viscount, Winchelsea, and Wolfhound in a Baltic cruise. Departing the United Kingdom on 31 August 1921, the ships crossed the North Sea and transited the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal to enter the Baltic, where they called at Danzig in the Free City of Danzig; Memel in the Klaipėda Region; Liepāja, Latvia; Riga, Latvia; Tallinn, Estonia; Helsinki, Finland; Stockholm, Sweden; Copenhagen, Denmark; Gothenburg, Sweden; and Kristiania, Norway, before crossing the North Sea and ending the voyage at Port Edgar, Scotland, on 15 October 1921.
Venetia later served in the Home Fleet and Mediterranean Fleet before being decommissioned and placed in the Reserve Fleet.
When the United Kingdom entered World War II in September 1939, Venetia was recommissioned. In October 1939, she began service escorting convoys in the North Atlantic Ocean. On 6 January 1940, she and Winchelsea joined Convoy OG 13 in the Southwestern Approaches to serve as its escort during the first leg of its voyage to Gibraltar. The two destroyers detached from the convoy on 8 January 1940 and joined Convoy HG 13 to escort it on the final leg of its voyage from Gibraltar to Liverpool, where it arrived on 10 January 1940. On 1 March 1940, she and the sloop HMS Leith joined Convoy OG 20 in the Southwestern Approaches to escort it during the first day of its voyage to Gibraltar. The two warships detached the following day and joined Convoy HG 23 to relieve the sloop HMS Aberdeen as its escort on the final leg of its voyage from Gibraltar to Liverpool, detaching on 6 March 1940. On 7 April 1940, Venetia, the destroyer HMS Wakeful and the sloops Enchantress and Sandwich joined Convoy HG24 as its escort for the final stage of its voyage from Gibraltar to Liverpool.
In May 1940, Venetia was transferred to Nore Command for operations related to the evacuation of Allied personnel from the Netherlands, Belgium, and France because of the successful German offensive there. On 12 May, in Operation J, she and the destroyer HMS Vivacious escorted the destroyer HMS Codrington as Codrington transported the Dutch royal family from the Hook of Holland into exile in the United Kingdom.
On 23 May 1940, Venetia and the destroyers Vimiera, Whitshed, Venomous, and Wild Swan arrived off Boulogne, France, to evacuate troops of the British Army's Irish Guards and Welsh Guards, who had been trapped there by advancing German troops and tanks of the 2nd Panzer Division during the Battle of Boulogne. Sixty German Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers had recently attacked the harbour and French destroyers bombarding offshore, so they awaited the arrival of Royal Air Force fighter cover before attempting to enter the harbour. After it arrived at 19:20 hours, Whitshed and Vimiera entered the harbour first, taking aboard as many British soldiers as possible – over 550 men each – under fire from German forces before steaming back out of the harbour at 20:25 hours, with Whitshed completely destroying two German tanks at point-blank range with her 4.7-inch (120-mm) guns as she departed.