HMS Comet (H00)

HMS ''Comet'' was a C-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s. She saw service in the Home and Mediterranean Fleets and the ship spent six months during the Spanish Civil War in late 1936 in Spanish waters, enforcing the arms blockade imposed by Britain and France on both sides of the conflict. ''Comet'' transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) in 1938 and renamed HMCS ''Restigouche''. During World War II, she served as a convoy escort in the battle of the Atlantic, on anti-submarine patrols during the invasion of Normandy, and was employed as a troop transport after VE Day for returning Canadian servicemen, before being decommissioned in late 1945. ''Restigouche'' was sold for scrap in 1946.

Design and construction

''Comet'' displaced at standard load and at deep load. The ship had an overall length of , a beam of and a draught of . She was powered by Parsons geared steam turbines, driving two shafts, which developed a total of and gave a maximum speed of . Steam for the turbines was provided by three Admiralty 3-drum water-tube boilers. ''Comet'' carried a maximum of of fuel oil that gave her a range of at . The ship's complement was 145 officers and men.Whitley, p. 26

The ship mounted four 45-calibre 4.7-inch Mk IX guns in single mounts, designated 'A', 'B', 'X', and 'Y' from front to rear. For anti-aircraft (AA) defence, ''Comet'' had a single QF 3-inch 20 cwt"cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 30 cwt referring to the weight of the gun. AA gun between her funnels, and two QF 2-pounder Mk II AA guns mounted on the aft end of her forecastle deck. The AA gun was removed in 1936 and the 2-pounders were relocated to between the funnels. She was fitted with two above-water quadruple torpedo tube mounts for 21-inch torpedoes. Three depth-charge chutes were fitted, each with a capacity of two depth charges. After World War II began this was increased to 33 depth charges, delivered by one or two rails and two throwers.

The ship was ordered on 15 July 1930 from Portsmouth Dockyard under the 1929 Programme. ''Comet'' was laid down on 12 September 1930, launched on 30 September 1931,English, p. 45 as the 14th ship to carry the name, and completed on 2 June 1932.

Service history

After sea trials in May 1932, ''Comet'' was commissioned for service in the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla, Home Fleet, in early June. On 21 July, she was damaged in a collision with her sister at Chatham and repaired at Chatham Dockyard between 28 July and 20 August. The ship was refitted at Chatham from 20 July to 3 September 1934. Following the Italian invasion of Abyssinia, ''Comet'' was sent in August 1935 to the Red Sea with the other ships of the 2nd Flotilla to monitor Italian warship movements until March 1936.English, p. 46

''Comet'' returned to the UK in April 1936 and refitted at Sheerness between 23 April and 29 June before resuming duty with the Home Fleet. In July she was deployed for patrol duties off the Spanish coast in the Bay of Biscay to intercept shipping carrying contraband goods to Spain and to protect British flagged shipping during the first stages of the Spanish Civil War. On 9 August she assisted the crew of the crippled British yacht ''Blue Shadow'' off Gijon, after the small vessel was shelled by mistake by the Nationalist cruiser . The ship was briefly placed in reserve in late 1936 while discussions were held about transferring her to the Royal Canadian Navy. Two of her sisters were chosen instead and ''Comet'' was recommissioned for service with the Mediterranean Fleet as plane guard for the aircraft carrier on 29 December.

In April 1937 she returned to Portsmouth with ''Glorious'', and on 20 May the ship participated in the Coronation Review of the fleet at Spithead by King George VI. Four days later, ''Comet'' began a refit at Portsmouth that lasted until 18 June. The ship resumed plane guard duties for ''Glorious'' in the Mediterranean. She began a major refit at Chatham on 26 May 1938 to bring her up to Canadian specifications that included the installation of Type 124 ASDIC.

Transfer to the Royal Canadian Navy

On 11 June she was commissioned by the RCN and renamed ''Restigouche'', although her refit was not completed until 20 August. ''Restigouche'' was assigned to the Canadian Pacific Coast and arrived at Esquimalt on 7 November 1938. She remained there until she was ordered to Halifax, Nova Scotia on 15 November 1939 where she escorted local convoys, including the convoy carrying half of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division to the UK on 10 December. ''Restigouche'' was ordered to Plymouth on 24 May 1940 and arrived there on 31 May. Upon arrival, the ship's rear torpedo tube mount was removed and replaced by a 12-pounder AA gun and the 2-pounders were exchanged for quadruple Mark I mounts for the QF 0.5-inch Vickers Mark III machine gun.

On 9 June, ''Restigouche'' was ordered to Le Havre, France to evacuate British troops, but none were to be found and the ship investigated the small port of Saint-Valery-en-Caux some northeast of Le Havre on 11 June. They found some elements of the 51st Infantry Division, but had not received any orders to evacuate and refused to do so. Whilst recovering her landing party, the ship was taken under fire by a German artillery battery, but she was not hit and returned fire. After returning to England, ''Restigouche'' escorted several troop convoys on the last legs of their journeys from Canada, Australia and New Zealand in mid-June. On 23 June, the ship escorted the ocean liner to St. Jean de Luz