HMS Whimbrel (U29): The Last Survivor of the Battle of the Atlantic

Built on the Clyde

HMS Whimbrel was laid down by Yarrow Shipbuilders in Glasgow on 31 October 1941, launched on 25 August 1942 and commissioned on 13 January 1943, a Black Swan-class sloop built for the demanding, unglamorous work of convoy escort and anti-submarine warfare in the Atlantic.

Six Battle Honours

Whimbrel went on to earn an extraordinary six battle honours across the war: Sicily in 1943, the Atlantic through 1943 and 1944, Normandy and the English Channel in 1944, the Arctic that same year, and finally Okinawa in 1945, a truly remarkable geographic spread for a single modest sloop, and a real testament to how hard-worked these escort vessels were throughout the conflict.

Present at Japan's Surrender

Redeployed to the Pacific in 1945, Whimbrel was present at Japan's formal surrender, adding one more remarkable credential to an already exceptional wartime record, before returning home as the war drew to its close.

Sold to Egypt

In November 1949, the Royal Navy sold Whimbrel to Egypt, where she was renamed El Malek Farouq and later Tariq in 1954, remaining in Egyptian naval custody ever since, most recently laid up at Alexandria as a training vessel.

A Campaign to Bring Her Home

A preservation campaign launched in 2006 sought to return Whimbrel to Liverpool as a memorial to the Battle of the Atlantic, and by 2016 Egypt's navy had reportedly offered the ship to the National Museum of the Royal Navy for £725,000, though negotiations have proven difficult.

She is widely believed to be the last surviving Royal Navy warship that actually fought in the Battle of the Atlantic, making the effort to bring her home a matter of real historical significance for anyone who values that campaign's memory.