HMS ''Wager'' was a W-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 served in 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 sold to the

Yugoslav Navy The Yugoslav Navy ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска ратна морнарица, Jugoslavenska ratna mornarica, Yugoslav War Navy), was the navy of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1992. It was essentially a coastal defense force with the miss ...

in 1956, renamed ''Pula'', and scrapped in 1971.

Construction and commissioning

''Wager'' was ordered in December 1941 and was laid down at the

Clydebank Clydebank () is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Milton beyond) to the w ...

yards of

John Brown and Company John Brown and Company of Clydebank was a Scottish marine engineering and shipbuilding firm. It built many notable and world-famous ships including , , , , , and ''Queen Elizabeth 2''. At its height, from 1900 to the 1950s, it was one of the ...

. She was launched on 1 November 1943 and commissioned into service on 14 April 1944.

Second World War service

On commissioning and work up ''Wager'' was assigned to the 27th Destroyer Flotilla and was initially deployed for screening ships of the Home Fleet. She spent July 1944 under refit and sailed in August to join the Eastern Fleet at

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. Her role was to screen major fleet units including the

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

. ''Wager'' took part in further screening operations in January, covering fleet units for

Operation Meridian Operation Meridian, also known as the "Palembang Raids" was part of a series of British air attacks directed at Japanese-held oil refineries near Palembang on Sumatra during the Second World War, Meridian had two phases: Meridian I on 24 Jan ...

, before sailing for

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

at the end of the month with the ships of Force 63. They arrived on 4 February, before transferring to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, where they carried out exercises with elements of the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. They sailed on 28 February to join the

British Pacific Fleet The British Pacific Fleet (BPF) was a Royal Navy formation that saw action against Japan during the Second World War. It was formed from aircraft carriers, other surface warships, submarines and supply vessels of the RN and British Commonwealth ...

at its forward base at

Manus Manus may refer to: Relating to locations around New Guinea *Manus Island, a Papua New Guinean island in the Admiralty Archipelago ** Manus languages, languages spoken on Manus and islands close by ** Manus Regional Processing Centre, an offshore ...

, in the

Admiralty Islands The Admiralty Islands are an archipelago group of 40 islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the South Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island. These rainforest-cov ...

. The force, designated Task Force 113 carried out screening duties throughout March, before being assigned to the

United States Fifth Fleet The Fifth Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. Its area of responsibility encompasses approximately 2.5 million square miles, and includes the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and parts of the Indian Ocean. It shares a comma ...

on 22 March. ''Wager'' remained on station throughout April, before sailing for the US Forward-base at

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has been ...

, arriving there on 20 April. On 4 May ''Wager'' sailed for Sydney and was under refit during June 1945. She then transferred to the US 3rd Fleet and was present at the

Surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was Hirohito surrender broadcast, announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally Japanese Instrument of Surrender, signed on 2 September 1945, End of World War II in Asia, ending ...

in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945.

Post war

''Wager'' remained with the

, based in Hong Kong until December 1945. She returned to Portsmouth in January 1946 where she was reduced to the

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US v ...

. She spent two years in the reserve, before transferring to Simonstown,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. She returned to Britain in 1955 before being placed on the disposal list.

Transfer to Yugoslav Navy

''Wager'' and her sister, , were sold to

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

in 1956, being towed to Yugoslavia for a refit in October. She was renamed R-22 ''Pula'' and was re-commissioned in late 1959. She served until being decommissioned and scrapped in 1971.

Notes

References

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External links

HMS ''Wager''s career
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wager (R98) W and Z-class destroyers Ships built on the River Clyde 1943 ships World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom Cold War destroyers of the United Kingdom W-class destroyers of the Yugoslav Navy