HMS Whitley (L23)

HMS Whitley (L23), ex-Whitby, was a W-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in the British campaign in the Baltic Sea against Bolshevik forces during the Russian Civil War and in the early months of World War II.

HMS Whitley (L 23)
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Whitby
Ordered	9 December 1916[1]
Builder	William Doxford & Sons, Sunderland[2]
Laid down	June 1917[2]
Renamed	HMS Whitley
Namesake	Misspelling of originally intended name "Whitby"[2]
Launched	13 April 1918[2]
Completed	11 October 1918[2]
Commissioned	14 October 1918[1]
Decommissioned	1921
Recommissioned	1923
Decommissioned	1932
Recommissioned	1939
Identification	Pennant number L23
Motto	Silence is golden[2]
Fate	Beached 19 May 1940; scuttled[2]
Badge	The Mace of the Speaker of the House of Commons on a red field
General characteristics
Displacement	1,100 tons
Length	300 ft (91 m) o/a, 312 ft (95 m)p/p
Beam	26.75 ft (8.15 m)
Draught	9 ft (2.7 m) standard, 11.25 ft (3.43 m) in deep
Propulsion	3 Yarrow type Water-tube boilers Brown-Curtis steam turbines 2 shafts 27,000 shp (20,000 kW)
Speed	34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph)
Range	320–370 tons oil, 3,500 nmi (6,500 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph), 900 nmi (1,700 km) at 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph)
Complement	110
Armament	4 × QF 4 in Mk.V (102mm L/45), mount P Mk.I 2 × QF 2 pdr Mk.II "pom-pom" (40 mm L/39) or; 1 × QF 3 inch 20 cwt (76 mm), mount HA Mk.II 6 (2x3) tubes for 21 in torpedoes

Construction and commissioning

Whitley was ordered as HMS Whitby on 9 December 1916 as part of the 10th Order of the 1916–1917 Naval Programme and was laid down by William Doxford & Sons at Sunderland in June 1917. When it was discovered that the name "Whitby" had mistakenly been written as "Whitley" when it was chosen for her, it was decided not to correct it, and she was launched as HMS Whitley, the first Royal Navy ship of the name, on 13 April 1918. She was completed on 11 October 1918,^[2] exactly one month before the conclusion of World War I, and commissioned on 14 October 1918.^[1]

Service history

1918–1939

After acceptance trials and work-ups, Whitley deployed in 1919 to the Baltic Sea, where she served in the British campaign against Bolshevik forces during the Russian Civil War. She returned from the Baltic in 1920. In 1921, she was decommissioned and placed in reserve at Rosyth, Scotland, as part of the 9th Destroyer Flotilla.^[2]

Whitley was recommissioned at Chatham on 4 December 1923 to serve with the 9th Destroyer Flotilla in the Atlantic Fleet.^[3] She recommissioned with a reserve crew on 23 November 1925.^[4]

Whitley commissioned at Portsmouth on 14 December 1928 for service with the 5th Destroyer Flotilla in the Atlantic Ocean.^[5] She recommissioned at Chatham on 8 May 1929 for service with the 1st Destroyer Flotilla in the Mediterranean Sea.^[6] She was reduced to reserve at the Nore on 30 June 1932,^[7] and paid into maintenance reserve at Rosyth on 28 October 1933.^[8]

In 1938, Whitley was selected for conversion to an anti-aircraft escort, and began conversion for her new role at Chatham Dockyard in August 1938. Her conversion was completed in October 1938 and she was recommissioned in 1939.^[1][2]

World War II

The United Kingdom entered World War II in September 1939, and that month Whitley was assigned to duty escorting convoys in the North Sea along the east coast of Great Britain, which she continued through April 1940. While escorting Convoy FN 12 from the Thames Estuary to the Forth Estuary on 12 January 1940, she assisted in driving off a German air attack.^[2]

In May 1940, Whitley was transferred under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, Dover, and was placed at the disposal of the French Navy for operations in support of Allied ground operations in France and Belgium. She was thus engaged on 19 May 1940 when a German dive bomber attack badly damaged her 2 nautical miles (3.7 km; 2.3 mi) off Nieuwpoort, Belgium, forcing her to beach herself on the Belgian coast between Nieuwpoort and La Panne to avoid sinking. To prevent her capture by advancing German ground forces, the British destroyer HMS Keith destroyed her with gunfire at position 51°09′04″N 002°39′34″E, leaving her wreck on the bottom in 5 metres (16.4 ft) of water.^[1][2]