HMS ''Whimbrel'' is the last surviving

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

warship present at the Japanese Surrender in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. She was a sloop of the , laid down on 31 October 1941 to the pennant number of U29 at the famed yards of

Yarrow Shipbuilders Yarrow Shipbuilders Limited (YSL), often styled as simply Yarrows, was a major shipbuilding firm based in the Scotstoun district of Glasgow on the River Clyde. It is now part of BAE Systems Surface Ships, owned by BAE Systems, which has also op ...

, Scotstoun,

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Second World War Service

Launched on 25 August 1942 almost nine months after laying down which was about average for this class of vessel. She was commissioned on 13 January 1943 and was to primarily serve in the Atlantic as part of several escort groups. In 1945 she was sent to the Pacific for the last few months in war being part of the large exodus of ships there. She was present at the Japanese surrender.

Post war

In November 1949 she was sold to

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

and renamed ''El Malek Farouq''. In 1954 she was renamed ''Tariq''. A preservation attempt launched in 2006 aimed to bring her to

Canning Dock Canning Dock on the River Mersey is part of the Port of Liverpool in Northern England. The dock is in the southern dock system, connected to Salthouse Dock to the south and with access to the river via the Canning Half Tide Dock to the west. T ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

as a memorial to those who died on the Atlantic Convoys. On 26 March 2008 a plaque celebrating the ship was presented to the Mayor of Sefton. John Livingston, president of the Liverpool branch of the Whimbrel Project, said: "She’d be a marvellous addition to our waterfront and a reminder of the sacrifice of our seamen". The Mayor of Sefton, Cllr Richard Hands, said: "HMS ''Whimbrel'' forms a unique part of both our social and maritime history and I fully support the campaign to bring her back to Liverpool". The attempt stalled when it was not possible to agree a price with the Egyptian Government. Then, in 2016, it was reported in Parliament that the Egyptian Navy had offered her for sale to the

National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth The National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth, formerly known as the Royal Naval Museum, is a museum of the history of the Royal Navy located in the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard section of HMNB Portsmouth, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. The ...

for £725,000, and that the museum had shown an interest in housing HMS ''Whimbrel'' and is investigating the possibility of bringing it back to the UK. She currently is laid up at Alexandria as a training ship.

Notes

Publications

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External links

HMS Whimbrel in Liverpool, 2003

navynews article

Battle of the Atlantic Memorial Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whimbrel (U29) Sloops of the Royal Navy 1942 ships Ships built on the River Clyde