HMS Wensleydale (L86): Three U-Boats in One Summer

Built by Yarrow

HMS Wensleydale was built by Yarrow Shipbuilders at Scotstoun, ordered on 28 July 1940, laid down on 28 July 1941, launched on 20 June 1942 and commissioned on 30 October that year, a Hunt-class Type III escort destroyer that went straight into a busy programme of anti-submarine exercises and convoy escort duty.

Rescuing a Damaged Submarine

In October 1943, Wensleydale located and escorted the damaged Free French submarine Minerve back to port after she had suffered friendly fire damage from Allied aircraft, a reminder of just how easily confusion and tragedy could strike even among ships and submarines fighting on the same side.

Action Off Brittany

On 23 October 1943, Wensleydale engaged German torpedo boats off Brittany, and was present to witness the sinking of HMS Charybdis and HMS Limbourne during the same fierce action, losses this account records with due respect for the many lives lost that night in one of the more costly Channel engagements of the war.

Chasing Blockade Runners

That December, Wensleydale took part in Operation Stonewall, the pursuit of German blockade runners attempting to slip through the Bay of Biscay, before turning in 1944 to a run of remarkable success against the U-boat threat closer to home.

Three U-Boat Kills in One Summer

Through the summer of 1944, Wensleydale helped sink three German submarines in the English Channel through depth charge attacks: U-1191 in July, and both U-671 and U-413 in August, an exceptional run of anti-submarine success for a single escort destroyer in the space of a few short weeks.

A Collision That Ended Her Career

On 21 November 1944, Wensleydale suffered heavy damage off Southend in the Thames Estuary following a collision with the British landing ship LST-367.

The damage proved severe enough that she was decommissioned to reserve on 17 December 1944 and never repaired, finally being scrapped at Blyth on 15 February 1946, an unglamorous end for a ship that had spent her final active summer as one of the Channel's most effective U-boat hunters.