HMS Vanquisher (DDE-ML 1917)

Back to Commonwealth Ships List

The Royal Navy was blessed with having 50+ VW class destroyers that could be rebuilt into ancillary duties from 1937 onwards. 3 were completed with minelaying rails and these were kept as is and had not had their armament upgraded to DP 4" singles by the start of war.

The above Walpole type was conceived to help combat the Germanic States E-boats which had a considerable advantage over the UK ships trying to escort the valuable coastal convoys. With a twin 6 pounder in B position and eventually 2 single 40mm mounted side by side with an overhang of the hull that would allow direct fire forward.

Two sets of conversions were started with the older VW's from 1940 onwards. This was a quick and dirty conversion of the ships to long range escorts with the front boiler room removed and sealed to then contain fuel oil for the engines (as depicted by the Voyager below). Various armaments were fitted including Hedgehog ahead firing mortars.

The final type of upgrade was to an AA escort destroyer with a complete rebuild of the forebridge and aftercastle to take the 2 twin DP 4" mountings in tubs for protection.

In all of the upgrades the first casualty was the sets of torpedo tubes. New equipment like RADAR, ASDIC, and others came in and were fitted to the ships during routine maintenance calls to harbour. About 40 of the VW units had been altered in some way or other by the end of 1941 at which stage it was decided that no more of the class would receive conversions though they may lose main guns and torpedoes for topweight and to make way for new equipment like A gun for Hedgehog.

HMS Venturous ML on a mining mission. The mines are hidden behind painted covers so as not to draw the enmies attention.

Back to Commonwealth Ships List