HMS ''Chequers'' was a

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

, of the "Ch" subclass, 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 ...

that was in service from December 1945, and which was scrapped in 1966.

Construction

The Royal Navy ordered ''Chequers'' on 24 July 1942, one of eight C-class "Intermediate" destroyers of the 1942 Programme. She was built by

Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Limited, often referred to simply as Scotts, was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Greenock on the River Clyde. In its time in Greenock, Scotts built over 1,250 ships. History John Scott f ...

Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...

, Scotland and commissioned on 28 September 1945, too late for service during the Second World War.

Service

''Chequers'' was assigned to, and became leader of, the 1st Destroyer Squadron based at

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

between 1948 and 1954. She saw service, along with other Royal Navy ships, in preventing illegal immigration into

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

in 1947. She was given an interim modernisation in 1954, which saw her 'X' turret at the rear of the ship replaced by two Squid anti-submarine mortars.

Decommissioning and disposal

''Chequers'' was decommissioned and placed in Operational reserve in 1954. She was placed on the disposal list in 1964. She was sold to

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 ...

for scrapping and arrived at their yard in

Newport, Wales Newport ( ) is a city and Principal areas of Wales, county borough in Wales, situated on the River Usk close to its confluence with the Severn Estuary, northeast of Cardiff. The population grew considerably between the 2011 and the 2021 Unit ...

on 23 July 1966.

References

Publications

* * 1944 ships Ships built on the River Clyde C-class destroyers (1943) of the Royal Navy World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom Cold War destroyers of the United Kingdom {{UK-destroyer-stub