| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | Minesweeper |
| Class | Hunt |
| Pennant | J 78 |
| Built by | A. McMillan & Sons (Dundee, Scotland) : Yarrow |
| Ordered | |
| Laid down | |
| Launched | 8 May 1918 |
| Commissioned | 23 Aug 1918 |
| End service | |
| History | HMS Sutton is not listed as active unit in the April 1945 Navy List Sold in 1947. |
Commands listed for HMS Sutton (J 78)
Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.
| Commander | From | To | |
| 1 | Cdr. (retired) Grenville Mathias Temple, RN | 8 May 1939 | 17 Dec 1940 |
| 2 | Lt. Henry Snaith Duval, RN | 17 Dec 1940 | 1 Apr 1942 |
| 3 | Lt. Alexander Henderson Diack, DSC, RN | 1 Apr 1942 | 22 Feb 1943 |
| 4 | T/Lt. Thomas Claude Harris Lea, RNVR | 22 Feb 1943 | early 1945 |
You can help improve our commands section
Click here to Submit events/comments/updates for this vessel.
Please use this if you spot mistakes or want to improve this ships page.
Notable events involving Sutton include:
11 Oct 1939
Convoy Blue 4.
This convoy departed Port Said on 11 October 1939 for Gibraltar where it arrived on 21 October 1939.
The convoy was made up of the following merchants; Arndale (British (RFA tanker), 8296 GRT, built 1937), Atreus (British, 6547 GRT, built 1911) (this ship parted company with the convoy off Malta), Auris (British (tanker), 8030 GRT, built 1935), British Commander (British (tanker), 6901 GRT, built 1922), British Consul (British (tanker), 6940 GRT, built 1924), British Endeavour (British (tanker), 4580 GRT, built 1927), British Fame (British (tanker), 8406 GRT, built 1936), British Governor (British (tanker), 6840 GRT, built 1926), British Reliance (British (tanker), 7000 GRT, built 1928), Cardium (British (tanker), 8236 GRT, built 1931), City of Baroda (British, 7129 GRT, built 1918), City of Birmingham (British, 5861 GRT, built 1923), City of Dundee (British, 5273 GRT, built 1921), City of Johannesburg (British, 5669 GRT, built 1920), City of Kobe (British, 4373 GRT, built 1924), Clan MacNaughton (British, 6087 GRT, built 1921), Destro (British, 3553 GRT, built 1921), El Aleto (British (tanker), 7203 GRT, built 1927), Frederick S. Fales (British (tanker), 10525 GRT, built 1939), Katha (British, 4357 GRT, built 1938), Linois (French, 7473 GRT, built 1907), Maihar (British, 7563 GRT, built 1917), Matiana (British, 9045 GRT, built 1922), Motrix (French (tanker), 6587 GRT, built 1922), Mulbera (British, 9100 GRT, built 1922), Neuralia (British, 9082 GRT, built 1912), Pegu (British, 8180 GRT, built 1921), Polo (British, 1950 GRT, built 1919), Sardinian Prince (British, 3491 GRT, built 1922), Tabaristan (British, 6251 GRT, built 1914) and Tascalusa (British (tanker), 6499 GRT, built 1913).
Two of these ships came from Alexandria (don’t know which) and joined on the 12th.
Off Malta the merchant vessel Egyptian (British, 2868 GRT, built 1920) joined the convoy.
A/S Escort was provided by the destroyers HMS Duncan (Capt. G.R.B. Back, RN), HMS Dainty (Cdr. F.M. Walton, RN) and the minesweeper HMS Sutton (Cdr.(Retd.) G.M. Temple, RN)
In the morning of the 16th HMS Duncan proceeded to Malta to fuel. She returned in the afternoon with the French destroyer Kersaint (Cdr. G.R.J. Rebuffel) after which HMS Dainty and HMS Sutton proceeded to Malta where they remained.
HMS Duncan and Kersaint were relieved on the 17th by HMS Gallant (Lt.Cdr. C.P.F. Brown, RN) and HMS Grafton (Cdr. M.S. Thomas, RN). They remained with the convoy until the 18th after which the convoy continued unescorted to Gibraltar.
16 Oct 1939
HMS Dainty (Cdr. F.M. Walton, RN) and HMS Sutton (Cdr.(Retd.) G.M. Temple, RN) arrived at Malta. (1)
Sources
- ADM 53/108195
ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.