HMS Vigilant (R93)

Vigilant on the River Tyne, September 1943
History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Vigilant
Ordered:	1 September 1941
Builder:	Swan Hunter, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom
Laid down:	31 January 1942
Launched:	22 December 1942
Commissioned:	10 September 1943
Decommissioned:	1963
Identification:	pennant number R93/F93
Honours and awards:	Arctic 1943-44 Normandy 1944 Malaya 1945 Burma 1945
Fate:	Scrapped 6 June 1965
General characteristics
Class and type:	V-class destroyer

HMS Vigilant was a V-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service during World War II.

Second World War service

On March 26, 1945 she, along with the destroyers Saumarez, Volage, and Virago, intercepted a Japanese supply convoy east of Khota Andaman, Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean. She and Virago sank CH-63. She participated in the Battle of the Malacca Strait with the destroyers Saumarez, Verulam, Venus, and Virago which culminated in the sinking of the Japanese cruiser Haguro on 16 May 1945.

Post-War service

in January 1946 Vigilant was part of the Londonderry Flotilla and in September 1946 went to the Mediterranean. Between 1947 and 1951 she was held in reserve at Portsmouth.

In 1951 she began conversion into a Type 15 fast anti-submarine frigate, by Thornycroft at Woolston. She was also allocated the new pennant number F93. Between 1953 and 1955 she was part of the 6th Frigate Squadron as part of the Home Fleet. In October 1954 she collided with another Type 15 Frigate HMS Relentless and was repaired at Devonport Dockyard.^[1]

In 1955 she had been converted for use as a training frigate and became leader of the Dartmouth Training Squadron. In 1956 this consisted of Vigilant, Venus, Carron and the minesweepers Jewel and Acute.

Decommissioning and disposal

Vigilant was paid off in 1963 and arrived at Faslane for breaking up on 4 June 1965.^[2]

Commanding Officers

From	To	Captain
1943	1945	Lt Cdr L W L Argles RN
1945	1946	Lt Cdr K G L Southcombe RN[3]
1947	1951	In reserve
1951	1952	Conversion to Type 15 Frigate
1955	1957	Capt John E Scotland RN
1957	1958	Capt Morgan C Giles RN
1958	1960

1960 Lt Cdr P J Shaw ^[4]

Notes

1. Critchley, Mike (1982). British Warships Since 1945: Part 3: Destroyers. Liskeard, UK: Maritime Books. p. 70. ISBN 0-9506323-9-2.
2. Mason, Geoffrey B. (2004). Gordon Smith, ed. "HMS Vigilant (R 93) - V-class Destroyer". naval-history.net. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
3. "HMS Vigilant (R 93)". uboat.net. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
4. BRNC Blue Book January 1960

Publications

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475.
• Marriott, Leo (1994). Royal Navy Destroyers since 1945. Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1817-0.
• Raven, Alan; Roberts, John (1978). War Built Destroyers O to Z Classes. London: Bivouac Books. ISBN 0-85680-010-4.
• Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War 2. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-326-1.

External links

• Naval-History.net HMS Vigilant
• "Japanese Sub Chasers". Combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 26 March 2014.