HMS Tetcott (L99): From a Collision at Scapa Flow to Three Italian Landings

Adopted by Watchet and Williton

HMS Tetcott was completed on 11 December 1941, a Hunt-class Type II destroyer named for the village of Tetcott and its local hunt, and adopted by the Somerset towns of Watchet and Williton during Warships Week in 1942, part of the wartime scheme that saw communities across Britain raise funds to sponsor individual ships.

A Rocky Start

Tetcott's early service got off to a bruising start when she collided with HMS Heartsease on 23 December 1941, shortly after arriving at Scapa Flow, requiring repairs before she could resume active service that March, a common enough hazard for a newly commissioned destroyer still finding her feet.

Forcing U-372 to the Surface

On 4 August 1942, Tetcott joined HMS Sikh and HMS Zulu in attacking the German submarine U-372, forcing her to the surface and resulting in the rescue of sixteen German crew members along with a Lebanese civilian who had been aboard, a successful joint action against a submarine that had been operating in the eastern Mediterranean.

Three Italian Landings

Tetcott went on to support three of the most significant Allied landings of the entire Italian campaign: Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily, in July 1943; Operation Avalanche, the landing at Salerno, that September; and Operation Shingle, the landing at Anzio, in January 1944, alongside her broader convoy escort duties across the Mediterranean, taking in visits to Malta, Naples and Southern France.

Reserve, and the Breakers' Yard

HMS Tetcott was placed in reserve on 17 January 1946 and mothballed at Barrow-in-Furness, eventually being downgraded to hulk status before being transferred to BISCO for scrapping in August 1956, closing out a career that had taken her from a bruising collision at Scapa Flow to some of the most consequential amphibious operations of the entire war.