HMS ''Tenacious'' was a T-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 ...

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 saw service during the

Second World War 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 ...

. She was built by

Cammell Laird Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...

, of

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

and launched on 24 March 1943.

War service

The ship served from 1943 to 1944 in the Mediterranean (where she shared in the sinking of

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

''U-453'' and also several

E-boats 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 ...

), and the Aegean and Greek islands. The destroyer also took part in the liberation of France as support bombardment for the invasion of the South of France in July–August, 1944. HMS Tenacious was seconded to serve in

East Indies Fleet The Eastern Fleet, later called the East Indies Fleet, was a Naval fleet, fleet of the Royal Navy which existed between 1941 and 1952. In 1904, the British First Sea Lord, Admiral John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher, Sir John Fisher, ordered that i ...

, as part of the escort force of the

21st Aircraft Carrier Squadron The 21st Aircraft Carrier Squadron also called Twenty First Aircraft Carrier Squadron was a Royal Navy aircraft carrier formation from March 1945 to December 1945. During its existence the squadron's usual composition varied depending on its o ...

in 1944–5, against the Japanese, then came under the command of the 3rd US Pacific fleet (Admiral Bull Halsey), and given a temporary pennant number D46 to enable identification by US naval forces. The R45 took part in bombardment of Truk in the Caroline Islands and bombardment of Japan. HMS Tenacious was part of the fleet assembled to witness surrender of Japanese in Tokyo harbour, then took part in the repatriation of POWs from Hammamatsu. The ship continued to serve in Australian waters and South China Sea, and rescued six RAAF personnel in S. China Sea, who had ditched their

C-47 The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II. During the war the C-47 was used for troo ...

aircraft after both engines failed, on 4 January 1946. She returned to Devonport in 1946 and was mothballed for future use.

Postwar service

Between 1946 and 1949 ''Tenacious'' was held in reserve at Devonport. On 23 January 1949 she arrived in

Mersey The River Mersey () is a major river in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it ...

for a refit and in November of that year was commissioned as a target ship for the 3rd Submarine Flotilla at

Rothesay Rothesay ( ; ) is the principal town on the Isle of Bute, in the council area of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies along the coast of the Firth of Clyde. It can be reached by a Caledonian MacBrayne ferry from Wemyss Bay, which also offers an ...

. Between January 1951 and 1952 she was converted 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 ...

to a Type 16 fast

anti-submarine An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapon ...

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 ...

, with the new

pennant number In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...

F44. On 8 May 1952, she ran aground in the

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. In 1953 she took part in the Fleet Review to celebrate the Coronation of Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

.Souvenir Programme, ''Coronation Review of the Fleet, Spithead, 15th June 1953'', HMSO, Gale and Polden In 1954 ''Tenacious'' was placed in reserve at Rosyth, then in 1956 into reserve at Barrow. In September 1963 she was towed to

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

. ''Tenacious'' was subsequently sold for scrapping in 1965 and arrived at

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 ...

for breaking up on 29 June in that year.

References

Publications

* * * * * Anonymous ''H.M.S. Tenacious: Her Story'', printed without date by Richard Clay and Company, Ltd,

Bungay Bungay () is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . It lies in the Waveney Valley, west of Beccles on the edge of The Broads, and at th ...

, Suffolk. S and T-class destroyers Ships built on the River Mersey 1943 ships World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom Cold War destroyers of the United Kingdom Type 16 frigates Cold War frigates of the United Kingdom Maritime incidents in 1952 {{UK-destroyer-stub