HMS ''Tetcott'' was a Type II British 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 ...

during

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 ...

. She was the only Royal Navy ship to be named after the Tetcott fox hunt.

Wartime service

1941

Following completion on 11 December 1941 the ship headed for

Scapa Flow Scapa Flow (; ) is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray,S. C. George, ''Jutland to Junkyard'', 1973. South Ronaldsay and Hoy. Its sheltered waters have played an impor ...

where it arrived on 16 December and joined the Home Fleet. The vessel collided with the corvette on 23 December which meant that the next two months were spent in repair on the Clyde and later in Southampton.

1942

The vessel was finally ready for service again on 2 March 1942 and returned to Scapa Flow for working-up. On 15 April 1942 ''Tetcott'' joined convoy WS18 at the ocean escort Clyde Assembly point. The ship escorted this convoy to

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, detaching briefly to call into

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 ...

on the way. At Cape Town, ''Tetcott'' headed into the Indian Ocean and on to Alexandria via the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, arriving in early June 1942 where she joined the 9th Destroyer Flotilla. On 10 June the ship sailed with carrying supplies to the garrison at Tobruk. ''Grove'' was torpedoed on 12 June during the return journey and ''Tetcott'' picked up the survivors. On 16 June the ship came under heavy Axis air attack whilst defending of ships returning to Alexandria following the termination of Operation Vigorous. In July the ship operated as part of Operation Exporter off Palestine and Syria. On 4 August, with the destroyers and the ship attacked the German submarine and forced the

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 ...

to the surface. 16 German crew and a Lebanese civilian were rescued. In September 1942, the ship was assigned with to convoy duties in the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

, but returned to the Mediterranean in October. In November 1942, the ship formed part of the close escort for Convoy MW13, from Alexandria to Malta. This convoy succeeded in reaching Malta, and the ship formed part of the close escort on the return journey. In December, ''Tetcott'' was one of the escorts in the Alexandria to Malta convoy, MW14, after which she joined the 22nd Destroyer Flotilla at

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

1943

In January 1943 the ship escorted from Malta to Alexandria during cover for passage of a Malta and on 1 February rescued survivors from the minelayer which had been torpedoed off

Sollum Sallum ( various transliterations include ''El Salloum'', ''As Sallum'' or ''Sollum'') is a harbourside village or town in Egypt. It is along the Egypt/Libyan short north–south aligned coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the far northwest corner o ...

. She continued patrol and escort duties in the eastern and central Mediterranean for the next two months. In July she took part on

Operation Husky Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

, the invasion of Sicily, and in September the Salerno landing,

Operation Avalanche Operation Avalanche was the codename for the Allied landings near the port of Salerno, executed on 9 September 1943, part of the Allied invasion of Italy during World War II. The Italians withdrew from the war the day before the invasion, but ...

1944

In January 1944, the ship was assigned to the Northern Attack Force for

Operation Shingle The Battle of Anzio was a battle of the Italian Campaign (World War II), Italian Campaign of World War II that commenced January 22, 1944. The battle began with the Allies of World War II, Allied amphibious landing known as Operation Shingle, an ...

, the

Anzio Anzio (, also ; ) is a town and ''comune'' on region of Italy, about south of Rome. Well known for its seaside resorts, it is a fishing port and a departure point for ferries and hydroplanes to the Pontine Islands of Ponza, Palmarola, and Ve ...

Landings, and provided shore bombardment in support of the landings. From February until August 1944, the ship operated in the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

providing shore bombardment and operating as a convoy escort. In September she supported the invasion of the Aegean islands, and then worked as part of the liberation of Greece. Deployments off Greece and Albania continued until March 1945.

1945

''Tetcott'' then operated off the Italian coast, and was slightly damaged in April during the bombardment of Genoa. The ship returned to the UK, arriving at Portsmouth on 21 May before heading to Gibraltar in June for a refit, which started on 5 July.

Post-war

The ship was due to be assigned to the Indian Ocean following the refit but this was cancelled with the surrender of Japan and instead the refit was cut short and the ship placed in reserve on 17 January 1946 before heading back to the UK. In November 1952, it was announced that the ship would be preserved at the

Penarth Dock Penarth Dock was a port and harbour which was located on the south bank of the mouth of the River Ely, at Penarth, Glamorgan, Wales. It opened in 1865 and reached its heyday before World War I, after which followed a slow decline until closed ...

s, but this plan failed. Instead the ship was towed to Gibraltar where she remained until September 1955 when she was towed back to the Barrow in Furness, in Extended Reserve, having had much of her equipment removed and the vessel no longer maintained and placed on the Disposal List. In January 1956 ''Tetcott'' was reclassified as a hulk and in August transferred to BISCO for scrapping.

References

Publications

* * English, John (1987). The Hunts: a history of the design, development and careers of the 86 destroyers of this class built for the Royal and Allied Navies during World War II. England: World Ship Society. .

External links

website at hmstetcott.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tetcott (L99) Hunt-class destroyers of the Royal Navy Ships built on the Isle of Wight 1941 ships World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom Maritime incidents in December 1940