HMS Venetia (1917)

HMS ''Venetia'' (D53) was a V-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in World War I and World War II.

Construction and commissioning

''Venetia'' was ordered on 30 June 1916 as part of the 9th Order of the 1916-17 Naval Programme. She was laid down on 2 February 1917 by the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company at Govan, Scotland, and launched on 29 October 1917. She was completed on 19 December 1917 and commissioned into service the same day. Her original pennant number, F9A, was changed to F93 in January 1918 and to F14 in April 1918. It became D53 during the interwar period.Naval History: SHIPS OF THE ROYAL NAVY, 1914-1919 - in ALPHABETICAL ORDER (Part 2 of 2)
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Service history

World War I

The V- and W-class destroyers, ''Venetia'' among them, were assigned to the Grand Fleet or Harwich Force and saw service in the last year of World War I.

Interwar years

In 1921, as part of the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla, ''Venetia'' joined the light cruisers , , , and and the destroyers , , , , , , and in a Baltic cruise. Departing the United Kingdom on 31 August 1921, the ships crossed the North Sea and transited the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal to enter the Baltic, where they called at Danzig in the Free City of Danzig; Memel in the Klaipėda Region; Liepāja, Latvia; Riga, Latvia; Tallinn, Estonia; Helsinki, Finland; Stockholm, Sweden; Copenhagen, Denmark; Gothenburg, Sweden; and Kristiania, Norway, before crossing the North Sea and ending the voyage at Port Edgar, Scotland, on 15 October 1921.

''Venetia'' later served in the Home Fleet and Mediterranean Fleet before being decommissioned and placed in the Reserve Fleet.

World War II

When the United Kingdom entered World War II in September 1939, ''Venetia'' was recommissioned. In October 1939, she began service escorting convoys in the North Atlantic Ocean. On 6 January 1940, she and ''Winchelsea'' joined Convoy OG 13 in the Southwestern Approaches to serve as its escort during the first leg of its voyage to Gibraltar. The two destroyers detached from the convoy on 8 January 1940 and joined Convoy HG 13 to escort it on the final leg of its voyage from Gibraltar to Liverpool, where it arrived on 10 January 1940. On 1 March 1940, she and the sloop joined Convoy OG 20 in the Southwestern Approaches to escort it during the first day of its voyage to Gibraltar. The two warships detached the following day and joined Convoy HG 23 to relieve the sloop as its escort on the final leg of its voyage from Gibraltar to Liverpool, detaching on 6 March 1940. On 7 April 1940, ''Venetia'', the destroyer and the sloops and joined Convoy HG24 as its escort for the final stage of its voyage from Gibraltar to Liverpool.

In May 1940, ''Venetia'' was transferred to Nore Command for operations related to the evacuation of Allied personnel from the Netherlands, Belgium, and France because of the successful German offensive there. On 12 May, in Operation J, she and the destroyer escorted the destroyer as ''Codrington'' transported the Dutch royal family from the Hook of Holland into exile in the United Kingdom.

On 23 May 1940, ''Venetia'' and the destroyers , , , and arrived off Boulogne, France, to evacuate troops of the British Armys Irish Guards and Welsh Guards, who had been trapped there by advancing German troops and tanks of the 2nd Panzer Division during the Battle of Boulogne. Sixty German Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers had recently attacked the harbour and French destroyers bombarding offshore, so they awaited the arrival of Royal Air Force fighter cover before attempting to enter the harbour. After it arrived at 19:20 hours, ''Whitshed'' and ''Vimiera'' entered the harbour first, taking aboard as many British soldiers as possible – over 550 men each – under fire from German forces before steaming back out of the harbour at 20:25 hours, with ''Whitshed'' completely destroying two German tanks at point-blank range with her 4.7-inch (120-mm) guns as she departed.Sebag-Montefiore, Hugh, ''Dunkirk: Fight To the Last Man'', Harvard University Press, 2006, pp. 208-209, 593-594.
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''Venomous'' and ''Wild Swan'' entered the harbour next, at 20:35 hours, followed by ''Venetia'' at 20:40 hours. The Germans opened fire on ''Venetia'' with heavier guns as she entered the harbour, apparently in an attempt to sink her in the harbour entrance to trap ''Venomous'' and ''Wild Swan'' and bring the evacuation operation to an end. A German shell, probably from a tank, hit ''Venetia'', starting a fire aft and prompting her crew to jettison her torpedoes and burning Carley floats. Another shell hit her "B" gun turret, blowing overboard and killing some of the men there, and German gunfire also inflicted casualties among the men on her bridge, causing her to go out of control and briefly run aground. Gunners aboard ''Venomous'', seeing that ''Venetia'' was in danger of being sunk, realized that the Germans had captured Fort de la Crèche on a hill overlooking the entrance and were using its coastal artillery to fire on ''Venetia''. ''Venomous'' opened fire on the fort; her first salvo went over it, but her second salvo blew off one side of the fort and much of the hillside it was on, causing artillery pieces to roll down the hill and silencing the fort. ''Venomous'' also detected a German light field gun in the garden of a house and fired on it; her first salvo flattened all of the trees in the garden, set the house on fire, and caused German troops in the vicinity to flee. All heavy German guns fell silent after this and, given a reprieve, ''Venetia'', which had taken seven hits and been unable to embark any troops, quickly refloated herself and backed out of the harbor at full speed at 20:48 hours. ''Venomous'' and ''Wild Swan'' followed ''Venetia'' out of the harbour, also in reverse, carrying about 400 evacuees each, along the way knocking out a German tank and shooting up two German troop columns, then escorted the damaged ''Venetia'' to Dover, England.

After spending the summer of 1940 undergoing repairs, ''Venetia'' returned to Nore Command in August 1940 and began convoy defence and patrol duties in the North Sea and Thames Estuary in September 1940. On 19 October 1940, she struck a mine off Knob Buoy in the Thames Estuary 12 nautical miles (22 km) northwest of Margate, Kent, England, and sank at either or (sources differ).

Notes

Bibliography

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External links

Naval History: SHIPS OF THE ROYAL NAVY, 1914-1919 - in ALPHABETICAL ORDER (Part 2 of 2)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Venetia (D53)
V and W-class destroyers of the Royal Navy
Ships built on the River Clyde
1917 ships
World War I destroyers of the United Kingdom
World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom
Ships sunk by mines
Shipwrecks of the River Thames
Maritime incidents in October 1940