HMS Garland (H37)
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HMS ''Garland'', also known by her Polish designation ORP ''Garland'', was a G-class
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 ...
built for 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 ...
in the mid-1930s. During the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
of 1936–1939 the ship spent considerable time in Spanish waters, enforcing the arms blockade imposed by Britain and France on both sides of the conflict. Shortly after
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 ...
began, she was badly damaged by the premature explosion of her own depth charges and required over six months of repairs. Before these were completed, ''Garland'' was loaned to the
Polish Navy The Polish Navy (; often abbreviated to ) is the Navy, naval military branch , branch of the Polish Armed Forces. The Polish Navy consists of 46 ships and about 12,000 commissioned and enlisted personnel. The traditional ship prefix in the Polish ...
in May 1940. The ship was assigned to the
Mediterranean Fleet The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between ...
afterwards and escorted convoys there before being assigned to the
Western Approaches Command Commander-in-Chief, Western Approaches was the commander of a major operational command of the Royal Navy during World War II. The admiral commanding, and his forces, sometimes informally known as 'Western Approaches Command,' were responsibl ...
in September for escort duties. She escorted a convoy from
Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...
to
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 ...
during
Operation Halberd Operation Halberd was a British naval operation that took place on 27 September 1941, during the Second World War. The British were attempting to deliver a convoy from Gibraltar to Malta. The convoy was escorted by several battleships and an ai ...
in September 1941 and escorted
Convoy PQ 16 Convoy PQ 16 (21–30 May 1942) was an Arctic convoy of British, United States and Allied ships from Iceland to Murmansk and Archangelsk in the Soviet Union during the Second World War. The convoy was the largest yet and was provided with a con ...
from
Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
to
Murmansk Murmansk () is a port city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast in the far Far North (Russia), northwest part of Russia. It is the world's largest city north of the Arctic Circle and sits on both slopes and banks of a modest fjord, Ko ...
in May 1942. She was badly damaged by a near miss from a German bomber during that operation and required three months of repairs. ''Garland'' was then assigned to the Mid-Ocean Escort Force in the North Atlantic until December 1943, when she was transferred to
Freetown Freetown () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, e ...
,
Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...
, to escort convoys off
West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...
. In April 1944, the ship was transferred to back to the Mediterranean Fleet where she escorted convoys. She sank one German submarine in September before returning to the UK for a lengthy refit that lasted until March 1945. ''Garland'' was then assigned to the Western Approaches Command, but carried emergency supplies to coastal towns in Belgium and the Netherlands immediately after the war ended in May. She was
paid off Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to placing a warship i ...
and reclaimed from the Polish Navy in July 1946. In mid-November that same year, she was sold to the
Royal Netherlands Navy The Royal Netherlands Navy (, ) is the Navy, maritime service branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. It traces its history to 8 January 1488, making it the List of navies, third-oldest navy in the world. During the 17th and early 18th centurie ...
for use as a
school ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old Hulk (ship type), hulks us ...
. ''Garland'' was refitted as an anti-submarine
training ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house class ...
in 1948 and renamed ''Marnix'' in 1950. Reclassified as a
frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...
in 1952, the ship was not decommissioned until 1964 and scrapped afterwards.


Description

''Garland'' displaced at
standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object ...
load and at
deep load The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into weig ...
. The ship had an
overall length The overall length (OAL) of an ammunition cartridge is a measurement from the base of the brass shell casing to the tip of the bullet, seated into the brass casing. Cartridge overall length, or "COL", is important to safe functioning of reloads i ...
of , a
beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...
of and a draught of . She was powered by Parsons geared
steam turbine A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...
s, 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 boiler Three-drum boilers are a class of water-tube boiler used to generate steam, typically to power ships. They are compact and of high evaporative power, factors that encourage this use. Other boiler designs may be more efficient, although bulkier, an ...
s. ''Garland'' carried a maximum of of
fuel oil Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil (bunker fuel), marine f ...
that gave her a range of at . The ship's complement was 137 officers and men in peacetime,Whitley, pp. 107–08 but in increased to 146 in wartime. The ship mounted four 45-
calibre In guns, particularly firearms, but not artillery, where a different definition may apply, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel bore – regardless of how or wher ...
4.7-inch Mk IX guns in single mounts, designated 'A', 'B', 'X', and 'Y' from front to rear. For
anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-ba ...
(AA) defence, ''Garland'' had two quadruple Mark I mounts for the 0.5 inch Vickers Mk III machine gun. She was fitted with two above-water quadruple
torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...
mounts for 21-inch torpedoes. One
depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon designed to destroy submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited ...
rail and two throwers were fitted; 20 depth charges were originally carried, but this increased to 35 shortly after the war began. By mid-1940, this had increased to 44 depth charges.


Wartime modifications

Most ships of ''Garland''s class had the rear torpedo tubes replaced by a
12-pounder 12-pounder gun or 12-pdr, usually denotes a gun which fired a projectile of approximately 12 pounds. Guns of this type include: *12-pounder long gun, the naval muzzle-loader of the Age of Sail *Canon de 12 de Vallière, French cannon of 1732 * Can ...
AA gun after the
evacuation of Dunkirk The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the ...
in 1940, but it is not known exactly when this modification was made. By 1942, the ship's short range AA armament had been augmented by two
Oerlikon 20 mm cannon The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons based on an original German Becker Type M2 20 mm cannon design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models empl ...
s on her
searchlight A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely luminosity, bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a part ...
platform and another pair on the wings of the ship's
bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...
. 'Y' gun was also removed to allow her depth charge stowage to be increased. The .50-calibre machine gun mounts were replaced by a pair of Oerlikons later. The ship's director-control tower and
rangefinder A rangefinder (also rangefinding telemeter, depending on the context) is a device used to Length measurement, measure distances to remote objects. Originally optical devices used in surveying, they soon found applications in other fields, suc ...
above the
bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...
were removed in exchange for a Type 271 target indication radar, after 1942, and 'B' gun was replaced by a
Hedgehog A hedgehog is a spiny mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, in the eulipotyphlan family Erinaceidae. There are 17 species of hedgehog in five genera found throughout parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in New Zealand by introduction. The ...
anti-submarine
spigot mortar A mortar today is usually a simple, lightweight, man-portable, muzzle-loaded cannon, consisting of a smooth-bore (although some models use a rifled barrel) metal tube fixed to a base plate (to spread out the recoil) with a lightweight bipod ...
. A Type 286 short-range surface search radar was probably also fitted mid-way through the war. The ship also received a
HF/DF High-frequency direction finding, usually known by its abbreviation HF/DF or nickname huff-duff, is a type of radio direction finder (RDF) introduced in World War II. High frequency (HF) refers to a radio band that can effectively communicate ove ...
radio direction finder Direction finding (DF), radio direction finding (RDF), or radiogoniometry is the use of radio waves to determine the direction to a radio source. The source may be a cooperating radio transmitter or may be an inadvertent source, a natural ...
mounted on a pole
mainmast The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall spar, or arrangement of spars, erected more or less vertically on the median line of a ship or boat. Its purposes include carrying sails, spars, and derricks, giving necessary height to a navigation light ...
.


History


HMS ''Garland'', 1936–1940

Ordered on 5 March 1934 from
Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering The Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Limited, was a Scottish shipbuilder, shipbuilding company in the Govan area on the River Clyde, Clyde in Glasgow. Fairfields, as it is often known, was a major warship builder, turning out many ...
, ''Garland'' was
laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...
at
Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric: ''Gwovan''; Scots language, Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of southwest Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the sout ...
, Scotland, on 22 August 1934. She was launched on 24 October 1935 and completed on 3 March 1936. Excluding government-furnished equipment like the armament, the ship cost £250,664. She was assigned to the
1st Destroyer Flotilla The 1st Destroyer Flotilla, also styled as the First Destroyer Flotilla, was a naval formation of the British Royal Navy from 1909 to 1940 and again from 1947 to 1951. History Pre-war history In May 1906, the First Destroyer Flotilla was at ...
of the Mediterranean Fleet upon commissioning.English, p. 92 ''Garland'' took part in the evacuation of British and foreign nationals from
Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
and other Spanish coastal ports at the start of the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
, and patrolled Spanish waters during the war, enforcing the edicts of the
Non-Intervention Committee During the Spanish Civil War, most European countries followed a policy of non-intervention to avoid potential escalation or expansion of the war to other states. This policy led to the signing of the Non-Intervention Agreement in August 1936 an ...
in 1937 and 1938. The ship was overhauled at
Sheerness Sheerness () is a port town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 13,249, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby ...
between 24 May and 5 July 1937 and 31 May to 28 July 1938 during which her low-pressure turbines were repaired. ''Garland'' patrolled off
Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
in July 1939. When World War II began, the ship was en route to
Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
from
Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...
and arrived there on 6 September. Whilst escorting a convoy to Malta, some of her depth charges detonated prematurely on 17 September and badly damaged the aft end of the ship. ''Garland'' had to be towed back to Alexandria where temporary repairs were made. She was towed to Malta for permanent repairs which lasted from 11 October to 8 May 1940. Shortly before the completion of the repairs, she was loaned to the
Polish Navy The Polish Navy (; often abbreviated to ) is the Navy, naval military branch , branch of the Polish Armed Forces. The Polish Navy consists of 46 ships and about 12,000 commissioned and enlisted personnel. The traditional ship prefix in the Polish ...
on 3 May 1940, the anniversary of the 1791 Polish Constitution of 3 May.English, p. 93


ORP ''Garland'', 1940–1946

After working up, the ship escorted a convoy to and from Greece in late June 1940. During Operation Hats, ''Garland'' was lightly damaged by Italian aircraft on 31 August whilst escorting a convoy to
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 ...
. She was transferred to the Western Approaches Command in mid-September and was assigned to the 10th Escort Group. On 13 November, ''Garland'' was badly damaged by storm whilst escorting the
battleship A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...
and required over a month to make repairs. Two men were lost overboard during the storm. In early January 1941, the ship was fitted with a new ASDIC system. She was transferred to the 14th Escort Group in April and was then briefly attached to the Home Fleet, escorting a tanker, during the Allied landing on
Spitsbergen Spitsbergen (; formerly known as West Spitsbergen; Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Vest Spitsbergen'' or ''Vestspitsbergen'' , also sometimes spelled Spitzbergen) is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipel ...
in July. Upon her return, ''Garland'' was assigned to Escort Group B3 for escort duties in the North Atlantic. In late September, she joined the Polish-manned destroyer in Operation Halberd, escorting a large convoy to Malta. The two ships escorted the battleship back to Gibraltar after she had been torpedoed during the operation. ''Garland'' then rejoined Escort Group B3. The ship was refitted between 28 February and 5 May 1942 in
Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...
and was assigned to escort Convoy PQ 16 in late May after working up. On 27 May, a bomb was dropped by a
Junkers Ju 88 The Junkers Ju 88 is a twin-engined multirole combat aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works. It was used extensively during the Second World War by the ''Luftwaffe'' and became one o ...
bomber off the starboard side of the ship, that decimated the crews of 'A' and 'B' guns and the starboard Oerlikon and .50-calibre machine guns (22 killed and 37 wounded). The ship's fire-control director and rangefinder were destroyed and she was ordered to proceed independently to Murmansk for temporary repairs. These took over a month to complete and ''Garland'' sailed on 4 July for
Troon Troon (Scottish Gaelic: ''An Truthail'') is a town and sea port in South Ayrshire, situated on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland, about north of Ayr and northwest of Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Troon has a port with ferry and freight serv ...
, as part of the escort for
Convoy QP 13 Convoy QP 13 was an Arctic convoy of the PQ/QP series which ran during the Second World War. It was the thirteenth of the numbered series of convoys of merchant ships westbound from the Arctic ports of Arkhangelsk and Murmansk to the United Kingd ...
, for permanent repairs that were not completed until 21 September. The ship rejoined Escort Group B3 until she began a lengthy refit in May 1943 that lasted until 8 September.English, p. 94 ''Garland'' was assigned to the 8th Support Group after working up and escorted several small convoys transporting Allied troops to the
Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...
to build airbases after the Portuguese gave their consent in late September. From November to April 1944, the ship was based in Freetown to escort convoys between Freetown and Gibraltar. In May she was assigned to the
14th Destroyer Flotilla The14th Destroyer Flotilla, or Fourteenth Destroyer Flotilla, was a naval formation of the British Royal Navy from April 1916 to 11 February 1919 and again from 1 June 1940 to January 1944. History World War One The flotilla was first establishe ...
of the Mediterranean Fleet where she escorted convoys and supported Allied operations in the Aegean. On 19 September 1944, together with two other British destroyers, she sank the off
Santorini Santorini (, ), officially Thira (, ) or Thera, is a Greek island in the southern Aegean Sea, about southeast from the mainland. It is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago formed by the Santorini caldera. It is the southern ...
. The following month ''Garland'' supported the Allied liberation of Greece after the German withdrawal.English, p. 94 On 20 November, the ship sailed for the UK to begin a lengthy refit at Devonport that lasted until 31 March 1945. She was assigned to the
8th Destroyer Flotilla The 8th Destroyer Flotilla, also styled as the Eighth Destroyer Flotilla, was a military formation of the British Royal Navy from 1911 to 1939. History The flotilla was established in August 1911. In 1912 it was assigned to the Admiral of Patro ...
in the
Western Approaches Command Commander-in-Chief, Western Approaches was the commander of a major operational command of the Royal Navy during World War II. The admiral commanding, and his forces, sometimes informally known as 'Western Approaches Command,' were responsibl ...
, but had barely finished working up when the war ended in May. The ship transported emergency supplies to Belgium and the Netherlands immediately afterwards. At the end of 1945, ''Garland'' took part in Operation Deadlight, the
scuttling Scuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull, typically by its crew opening holes in its hull. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vessel ...
of captured German U-boats. In early 1946, the ship patrolled Norwegian waters and then was assigned to the Polish Squadron at
Rosyth Rosyth () is a town and Garden City in Fife, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth. Scotland's first Garden city movement, Garden City, Rosyth is part of the Greater Dunfermline Area and is located 3 miles south of Dunfermline city cen ...
through June. In late July she was ordered to be paid off and the loan terminated. The ship was disarmed in late August before entering Category C reserve.


HNLMS ''Marnix'', 1946–1964

On 14 November 1946, ''Garland'' was sold "as is" to the Royal Netherlands Navy for £9,000 and was initially used as a school ship. She was refurbished in 1948 as an anti-submarine training ship. This is probably when ''Garland'' was rearmed with two anti-aircraft guns in 'A' and 'X' positions, a Hedgehog in 'B' position and six 20-millimetre Oerlikons. She carried four depth charge throwers and two depth charge rails.Friedman, p. 263 The ship was renamed HNLMS ''Marnix'' on 16 January 1950 and made port visits in southern British ports the following March. ''Marnix'' was reclassified as a frigate in 1952 and received a thorough overhaul in 1955–56. She was decommissioned on 31 January 1964 and later scrapped.


Notes


References

* * * * *


External links


Naval-history.net : HMS Garland


{{DEFAULTSORT:Garland G and H-class destroyers of the Royal Navy Ships built on the River Clyde 1935 ships World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom G-class destroyers of the Royal Netherlands Navy