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HMS Walker
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HMS Walker
HMS Walker (D27) was a W-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in the final months of World War I, in the Russian Civil War and in World War II.
Walker was ordered on 9 December 1916; she was laid down by William Denny and Brothers at Dumbarton, Scotland, on 26 March 1917. She was launched on 29 November, completed on 12 February 1918 – fitted to lay mines and commissioned on the same day. She was assigned the pennant number G22 in January 1918; it was changed to G09 in April 1918, and to D27 during the interwar period.
All of the V- and W-class destroyers, Walker among them, were assigned to the Grand Fleet or Harwich Force for the rest of World War I, which ended with the armistice with Germany on 11 November 1918.
Walker took part in the British campaign against Bolshevik forces in the Baltic Sea during 1919, seeing action against Russian warships; from May 1919 she participated in a blockade of Bolshevik warships in Kronstadt and suffered two hits from the Bolshevik battleship Petropavlovsk during an attempted breakout by the Bolshevik fleet. She was part of the 1st Destroyer Flotilla in the Atlantic Fleet from 1921 to 1930, and visited Helsinki in Finland, from 15 to 22 June 1926 when the flotilla made a cruise in the Baltic. She was decommissioned in 1932, transferred to the Reserve Fleet, and placed in reserve at Rosyth, Scotland.
In August 1939, Walker was recommissioned with a reserve crew to participate in the Royal Review of the Reserve Fleet by King George VI. She remained in commission after the review as the fleet mobilised in the face of rising tensions between the United Kingdom and Nazi Germany; proceeding to Plymouth to prepare for wartime service.
When the United Kingdom entered World War II in early September 1939, Walker was assigned to the 11th Destroyer Flotilla at Plymouth for convoy defence and patrol duties in the Southwestern Approaches. On 9 September she and the destroyers Vanquisher and Winchelsea escorted Convoy OB 2. While returning to Plymouth after detaching from the convoy, Walker and Vanquisher collided, killing 14 men about 200 nautical miles (370 km) southwest of Cape Clear Island, Ireland, on 10 or 11 September 1939 (sources differ) with both ships suffering serious damage. Walker's First Lieutenant was compelled to shoot some of the injured who were trapped in the wreckage. She was able to proceed under her own power, but Vanquisher required a tow, so Walker embarked injured personnel from Vanquisher, proceeded to Plymouth and entered Devonport Dockyard for repairs on 14 September 1939. Her repairs were not complete until mid-November, when she rejoined her flotilla, while Vanquisher was not fully repaired until early January 1940.
On 11 January 1940, Walker rescued 32 survivors of the British merchant tanker El Oro, which had sunk 6 nautical miles (11 km; 6.9 mi) west-northwest of Liverpool's Bar Lightship at 53°32′N 003°25′W / 53.533°N 3.417°W on 6 January 1940 after striking a mine laid by the German submarine U-30. From 13 to 19 January 1940, Walker joined the destroyer leaders Broke and Keppel and the sloop Enchantress in escorting Convoy HG 15F during the final leg of its voyage from Gibraltar to Liverpool; Broke detached on 15 January and the destroyer Amazon joined the escort to relieve Keppel on 17 January. From 25 to 26 March, Walker, the destroyer leader Campbell, and the destroyers Volunteer and Wanderer escorted convoy Convoy OG 23 in the Southwestern Approaches during the first part of her voyage from the United Kingdom to Gibraltar until relieved by two French Navy warships. After detaching from OG 23, she, Campbell and Volunteer joined the sloops Scarborough and Wellington as the escort for Convoy HG 23 on the final leg of her voyage from Gibraltar to Liverpool, where she arrived on 30 March 1940.
On 8 April 1940, Walker was transferred to the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands to support operations during the Norwegian Campaign, escorting British military convoys carrying troops and equipment to the Nordic country. She suffered slight damage during a German air attack on a convoy on 9 April 1940. She came under sustained German air attack on 30 April while evacuating Allied troops from Andalsnes and Molde, where she ferried troops from shore to the light cruiser Sheffield and destroyer Westcott for passage to the United Kingdom. On 1 May 1940, she covered the final evacuation from Andalsnes, also under heavy German air attack.
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HMS Walker
HMS Walker (D27) was a W-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in the final months of World War I, in the Russian Civil War and in World War II.
Walker was ordered on 9 December 1916; she was laid down by William Denny and Brothers at Dumbarton, Scotland, on 26 March 1917. She was launched on 29 November, completed on 12 February 1918 – fitted to lay mines and commissioned on the same day. She was assigned the pennant number G22 in January 1918; it was changed to G09 in April 1918, and to D27 during the interwar period.
All of the V- and W-class destroyers, Walker among them, were assigned to the Grand Fleet or Harwich Force for the rest of World War I, which ended with the armistice with Germany on 11 November 1918.
Walker took part in the British campaign against Bolshevik forces in the Baltic Sea during 1919, seeing action against Russian warships; from May 1919 she participated in a blockade of Bolshevik warships in Kronstadt and suffered two hits from the Bolshevik battleship Petropavlovsk during an attempted breakout by the Bolshevik fleet. She was part of the 1st Destroyer Flotilla in the Atlantic Fleet from 1921 to 1930, and visited Helsinki in Finland, from 15 to 22 June 1926 when the flotilla made a cruise in the Baltic. She was decommissioned in 1932, transferred to the Reserve Fleet, and placed in reserve at Rosyth, Scotland.
In August 1939, Walker was recommissioned with a reserve crew to participate in the Royal Review of the Reserve Fleet by King George VI. She remained in commission after the review as the fleet mobilised in the face of rising tensions between the United Kingdom and Nazi Germany; proceeding to Plymouth to prepare for wartime service.
When the United Kingdom entered World War II in early September 1939, Walker was assigned to the 11th Destroyer Flotilla at Plymouth for convoy defence and patrol duties in the Southwestern Approaches. On 9 September she and the destroyers Vanquisher and Winchelsea escorted Convoy OB 2. While returning to Plymouth after detaching from the convoy, Walker and Vanquisher collided, killing 14 men about 200 nautical miles (370 km) southwest of Cape Clear Island, Ireland, on 10 or 11 September 1939 (sources differ) with both ships suffering serious damage. Walker's First Lieutenant was compelled to shoot some of the injured who were trapped in the wreckage. She was able to proceed under her own power, but Vanquisher required a tow, so Walker embarked injured personnel from Vanquisher, proceeded to Plymouth and entered Devonport Dockyard for repairs on 14 September 1939. Her repairs were not complete until mid-November, when she rejoined her flotilla, while Vanquisher was not fully repaired until early January 1940.
On 11 January 1940, Walker rescued 32 survivors of the British merchant tanker El Oro, which had sunk 6 nautical miles (11 km; 6.9 mi) west-northwest of Liverpool's Bar Lightship at 53°32′N 003°25′W / 53.533°N 3.417°W on 6 January 1940 after striking a mine laid by the German submarine U-30. From 13 to 19 January 1940, Walker joined the destroyer leaders Broke and Keppel and the sloop Enchantress in escorting Convoy HG 15F during the final leg of its voyage from Gibraltar to Liverpool; Broke detached on 15 January and the destroyer Amazon joined the escort to relieve Keppel on 17 January. From 25 to 26 March, Walker, the destroyer leader Campbell, and the destroyers Volunteer and Wanderer escorted convoy Convoy OG 23 in the Southwestern Approaches during the first part of her voyage from the United Kingdom to Gibraltar until relieved by two French Navy warships. After detaching from OG 23, she, Campbell and Volunteer joined the sloops Scarborough and Wellington as the escort for Convoy HG 23 on the final leg of her voyage from Gibraltar to Liverpool, where she arrived on 30 March 1940.
On 8 April 1940, Walker was transferred to the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands to support operations during the Norwegian Campaign, escorting British military convoys carrying troops and equipment to the Nordic country. She suffered slight damage during a German air attack on a convoy on 9 April 1940. She came under sustained German air attack on 30 April while evacuating Allied troops from Andalsnes and Molde, where she ferried troops from shore to the light cruiser Sheffield and destroyer Westcott for passage to the United Kingdom. On 1 May 1940, she covered the final evacuation from Andalsnes, also under heavy German air attack.
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