HMS Wren (D88)

HMS Wren (D88/I88) was an Admiralty modified W class destroyer built for the Royal Navy. She was ordered in April 1918 from Yarrow Shipbuilders Limited under the 13th Order for Destroyers of the Emergency War Program of 1918–19. She was the third Royal Navy ship to carry the name, which was introduced in 1653.[1]

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Wren.

HMS Wren
History
Royal Navy EnsignUnited Kingdom
NameHMS Wren
OrderedApril 1918
BuilderYarrow Shipbuilders Limited
Laid downJune 1918
Launched11 November 1919
Commissioned23 January 1923
IdentificationPennant numbers D88 and I88
Motto
  • Ex parvalis magna
  • "From Small Things (come) Great"
Honours and
awards
  • Atlantic 1939-400
  • Norway 1940
FateSunk 27 July 1940 by air attack
BadgeOn a Field Blue, a Wren on a branch, all Gold.
General characteristics
Class and typeAdmiralty modified W class destroyer
Displacement1,140 tons standard, 1,550 tons full
Length312 ft o/a, 300 ft p/p
Beam29.5 feet (9.0 m)
Draught9 feet (2.7 m), 11.25 feet (3.43 m) under full load
Propulsion
Speed34 kn
Range
  • 320-370 tons oil
  • 3,500 nmi at 15 kn
  • 900 nmi at 32 kn
Complement127
Armament
General characteristics War Modifications
Complement134
Armament
Service record
Part of:
  • 4th Destroyer Flotilla – 1923
  • 16th Destroyer Flotilla – Sep 1939
Operations: World War II 1939 to 1945
Victories: None

Construction

HMS Wren's keel was laid in June 1918 at the Yarrow Shipbuilders Limited, Scotstoun. The signing of the armistice with Germany led to the cancellation of 35 destroyers out of Wren's class of 56, but she survived this and the cancellation of a further seven vessels in September 1919. Wren was launched on 11 November 1919, after which she was towed to the dockyard at Pembroke Dock for completion.[1][2]

Inter War Years

After a delay, she was commissioned into the Royal Navy on 23 January 1923 with pennant number D88. After commissioning she was assigned to the 4th Destroyer Flotilla of the Atlantic Fleet. She served mainly in home waters and in 1938 was assigned as rescue ship for the Home Fleet carriers.[1]

Second World War

In September 1939 Wren was transferred to the 16th Destroyer Flotilla at Portsmouth for convoy defence and anti-submarine patrols in the English Channel and Southwest Approaches. In November she was transferred to Nore Command for convoy defence in the North Sea.[1] Wren was reassigned to the 18th Destroyer Flotilla, Western Approaches Command in January 1940 and undertook convoy defence once more in the Southwest Approaches. Following the German invasion of Norway in April 1940 she transferred to Scapa Floe to carry out convoy escort duties to Norway. She provided gunfire support to the British landings at Bjerkvik but returned to convoy duties and did not take part in the evacuation of the British expeditionary force. At the end of May her pennant number was changed to I88 for visual signalling purposes.[1] On 25 June she returned to the 16th Destroyer Flotilla based at Harwich for convoy escort and patrol duties in Nore Command.[1]

Loss

On 27 July 1940 Wren, alongside Montrose, was providing anti-aircraft protection for minesweeping operations off Aldeburgh, Suffolk. She came under heavy and sustained dive bombing attack by 15 Junkers Ju 87 aircraft and was damaged by several near misses which holed her below the waterline. Collapsed bulkheads caused heavy flooding which led her to sink quickly, killing 37 of her crew. Wren's survivors were rescued by the minesweepers.[1]

Notes
  1. "HMS Wren, destroyer". www.naval-history.net.
  2. "Jane's Fighting Ships © for 1919". Archived from the original on 16 February 2012.

Bibliography
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  • Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
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  • March, Edgar J. (1966). British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892–1953; Drawn by Admiralty Permission From Official Records & Returns, Ships' Covers & Building Plans. London: Seeley Service. OCLC 164893555.
  • Preston, Antony (1971). 'V & W' Class Destroyers 1917–1945. London: Macdonald. OCLC 464542895.
  • Raven, Alan & Roberts, John (1979). 'V' and 'W' Class Destroyers. Man o'War. Vol. 2. London: Arms & Armour. ISBN 0-85368-233-X.
  • Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
  • Whinney, Bob (2000). The U-boat Peril: A Fight for Survival. Cassell. ISBN 0-304-35132-6.
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