HMS ''Cattistock'' (L35) was a Type I

Hunt-class destroyer The Hunt class was a class of escort destroyer of the Royal Navy. The first vessels were ordered early in 1939, and the class saw extensive service in the Second World War, particularly on the British east coast and Mediterranean convoys. Th ...

of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

. She was a member of the first subgroup of the Hunt class and served throughout

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

before being scrapped in 1957.

Construction and Commissioning

C''attistock'' was ordered from Yarrows in the 1939 Build Program and laid down on 9 June 1939 as No. J1834. She was launched on 22 February 1940 and commissioned on 22 July 1940.

Career

After her commissioning in July 1940, ''Cattistock '' was used as principle location for the filming of the Admiralty's Naval Instructional Film A63
"The Duties of the Helmsman"
(1941). On active service, she first performed convoy escort duties in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

from then to June 1941. She bombarded

Dieppe Dieppe (; ; or Old Norse ) is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department, Normandy, northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newhaven in England ...

with HMS ''Quorn'' and HMS ''Mendip'' on 26 July 1941, resuming convoy escort duties. In May 1944, ''Cattistock ''became part of Force G in preparation for

Operation Neptune Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

. During the landings, she escorted Convoy G1, which was composed of minesweepers. After arriving at the beaches, she deployed off

Gold Beach Gold, commonly known as Gold Beach, was the code name for one of the five areas of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of German military administration in occupied France during World War II, German-occupied France in the Normandy la ...

with Bombarding Force K providing fire support to suppress beach defences in King Sector. ''Cattistock ''conducted convoy escort duties off Normandy and switched to patrols against

E-boat E-boat was the Western Allies' designation for the fast attack craft (German: ''Schnellboot'', or ''S-Boot'', meaning "fast boat"; plural ''Schnellboote'') of the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany during World War II; ''E-boat'' could refer to a pat ...

attacks in July 1944. On 7 July 1944, she sustained slight damage after an E-boat attack.English, pp. 47–48 ''Cattistock ''steamed to

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

for boiler tube replacement. She resumed patrol duties on 24 August 1944. On 29 August 1944, she intercepted German naval forces attempting to escape

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

while patrolling with HMS ''Retalick''. In this action, she was hit 26 times. Her captain, Lieutenant Richard Keddie, was killed along with four other men and about 25 men were wounded. As a result of the severe damage suffered, she returned to Portsmouth for repairs. After three months of repairs, ''Cattistock ''resumed convoy escort duties. On 2 February 1945, she attacked and likely sunk a German midget submarine off

Zeebrugge Zeebrugge (; from , meaning "Bruges-on-Sea"; , ) is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zeebrugge and a seafront resort with ...

. In August 1945, ''Cattistock ''was transferred to the Portsmouth Local Flotilla and was paid off on 26 March 1946. She was sold for scrap after ten years in reserve in 1957. In June 1957 she arrived at the breakers yard of

John Cashmore Ltd John Cashmore Ltd (also known as J Cashmore, or simply as Cashmore's or other derivations) was a company operating largely in Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales. It became best known for ship breaking and scrapping redundant British railway locomot ...

at Newport, Wales for breaking up.

References

Publications

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cattistock 1940 ships Hunt-class destroyers of the Royal Navy Naval ships of Operation Neptune