HMS Whelp (R37): The Destroyer That Led the Allied Fleet Into Tokyo Bay

Adopted by Wembley

HMS Whelp was built by Hawthorn Leslie and Company at Hebburn, laid down on 1 May 1942, launched on 3 June 1943 and completed on 14 July 1944, a W-class destroyer adopted by the London Borough of Wembley using funds raised during Warship Week 1942.

A Future Duke of Edinburgh as First Lieutenant

Whelp's most notable connection came through her crew rather than her armament: the future Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, served aboard as First Lieutenant under Commander G. A. F. Norfolk, giving this modest destroyer a direct link to the British royal family that would endure for the rest of his long life.

Striking Japanese Targets Across the Pacific

After initial service with the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow, Whelp joined the 27th Destroyer Flotilla bound for the Far East, escorting aircraft carriers on strikes against Japanese targets throughout 1944 and 1945, including operations against the Nicobar Islands, the Dutch East Indies, Formosa and Okinawa, a demanding and dangerous run of deployments through the war's final year.

First Into Sagami Bay

In a moment of genuine historical significance, Whelp became the first Allied ship to enter Sagami Bay on 27 August 1945, leading the way for HMS Duke of York and the American battleships Iowa and Missouri. She went on to witness Japan's formal surrender in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945, before proceeding to Hong Kong, where Admiral Fraser accepted the local Japanese surrender on 16 September.

A Second Career as Simon van der Stel

Whelp returned to Portsmouth in January 1946 and was paid off, before recommissioning in 1947 and sailing to South Africa the following year. The South African Navy purchased her outright on 25 April 1952 for £420,000, renaming her Simon van der Stel.

After modernisation between 1962 and 1964, she served as a training ship before finally being scrapped at Durban in late 1976, closing out the career of a destroyer that had once led the entire Allied fleet into the heart of Japan's home waters.