HMS ''Chieftain'' 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

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 March 1946, and which was scrapped in 1961.

Construction

The Royal Navy ordered ''Chieftain'' on 24 July 1942, one of eight Ch subclass of the C-class "Intermediate" destroyers of the 1942 Programme. She was laid down at

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, on 27 June 1943, and launched 26 February 1945. She was commissioned on 7 March 1946, too late for World War II duty.

Service

''Chieftain'' was assigned to 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 ...

and served with the Royal Navy's 1945-8 Palestine Patrol, intercepting illegal immigration into

Mandate Palestine The Mandate for Palestine was a League of Nations mandate for British administration of the territories of Palestine and Transjordanwhich had been part of the Ottoman Empire for four centuriesfollowing the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in Wo ...

. In 1947 Chieftain intercepted three immigrant ships: a schooner, a former USCG cutter, and a former USN vessel. The ex-cutter Unalga renamed ''Chaim Arlosoroff'' got past the RN destroyer and managed to beach near Haifa: the other two were detained at sea. She was given an interim modernization in 1954, which saw her 'X' turret at the rear of the ship replaced by two Squid anti-submarine mortars. She saw duty during the

Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, also known as the Second Arab–Israeli War, the Tripartite Aggression in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel, was a British–French–Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956. Israel invaded on 29 October, having done so w ...

in 1956.

Decommissioning and disposal

''Chieftain'' was decommissioned after the Suez Crisis and was scrapped in

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

on 20 March 1961.

References

Publications

* * 1945 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