Allied Warships

HMS Forth (F 04)

Submarine Depot Ship of the Maidstone class

NavyThe Royal Navy
TypeSubmarine Depot Ship
ClassMaidstone 
PennantF 04 
Built byJohn Brown Shipbuilding & Engineering Company Ltd. (Clydebank, Scotland) 
Ordered 
Laid down30 Jun 1937 
Launched11 Aug 1938 
Commissioned14 May 1939 
End service 
History

Based in home waters during the Second World War apart from a brief period in Halifax, Canada in 1941.

She left Singapore for the U.K. on 31 March 1971. She arrived back in the U.K. on 7 June 1971.
Renamed Defiance in 1972.
Scrapped on 25 July 1985.

 

Commands listed for HMS Forth (F 04)

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.

CommanderFromTo
1Capt. William Derek Stephens, RN16 May 193930 Jan 1940
2Capt. George Cunningham Paton Menzies, RN30 Jan 194019 Jul 1941
3Capt. Eric Barry Kenvyn Stevens, DSO, DSC, RN19 Jul 194112 Sep 1941
4Capt. George Cunningham Paton Menzies, RN12 Sep 194131 Dec 1941
5Capt. Hugh Meynell Cyril Ionides, RN31 Dec 194130 Apr 1943
6Capt. Robert Spencer Warne, RN30 Apr 19435 Feb 1945
7Capt. Benjamin Bryant, DSO, DSC, RN5 Feb 194511 May 1945
8Capt. Lord Ashbourne, DSO, RN11 May 19459 Sep 1945
9Capt. Wilfrid John Wentworth Woods, DSO, RN9 Sep 1945

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Notable events involving Forth include:


7 Jun 1940
HMS Forth (Capt. G.C.P. Menzies, RN) is docked in No.2 graving dock at the Rosyth Dockyard. (1)

10 Jun 1940
HMS Forth (Capt. G.C.P. Menzies, RN) is undocked. (1)

6 Sep 1940
The submarine depot ship HMS Forth (Capt. G.C.P. Menzies, RN) and the submarine HMS Tuna (Lt.Cdr. M.K. Cavenagh-Mainwaring, RN) departed from Rosyth for Holy Loch. They were escorted by the destroyers HMS Jackal (Cdr. C.L. Firth, RN) and HMS Jaguar (Lt.Cdr. J.F.W. Hine, RN).

They arrived safely in the Clyde at 0600/9. (2)

27 Feb 1941
Around 1330A/27, the troop transport Rimutaka (British, 16576 GRT, built 1923) departed Liverpool for Trinidad. She was escorted by the destroyer HMS Harvester (Lt.Cdr. M. Thornton, DSC, RN).

Around 2300A/27, the submarine depot ship HMS Forth (Capt. G.C.P. Menzies, RN) and the troop transport Batory (Polish, 14287 GRT, built 1936) departed Greenock for Halifax. They were escorted by the destroyers HMS Hesperus (Lt.Cdr. A.A. Tait, RN) and HMS Hurricane (Lt.Cdr. H.C. Simms, RN).

The two groups joined company off Oversay around 0745A/28. They then set course to proceed northwards through the Hebrides.

Around 1900A/28, the destroyer HMS Havelock (Cdr. E.H. Thomas, DSC, RN) joined coming from Loch Ewe.

The destroyers parted company around 1930Z/2 to the south of Iceland in approximate position 61°55'N, 23°40'W. (3)

4 Mar 1941
Around 1100O/4,in approximate position 56°12'N, 37°45'W, the troop transports Batory (Polish, 14287 GRT, built 1936), Rimutaka (British, 16576 GRT, built 1923) and the submarine depot ship HMS Forth (Capt. G.C.P. Menzies, RN) were joined by the battleship HMS Ramillies (Capt. A.D. Read, RN).

Around 0400Q/9, the Rimutaka parted company to proceed to Trinidad where she arrived on 15 March 1941.

Around 1030Q/9, HMS Ramillies, HMS Forth and the Batory arrived at Halifax. (4)

1 Jun 1941
Around 0800P/1, HMS Forth (Capt. G.C.P. Menzies, RN) and HMS Thunderbolt (Lt. C.B. Crouch, DSO, RN) departed Halifax for Saint John (New Brunswick) where they arrived around 1000P/2. (5)

2 Jun 1941
HMS Forth (Capt. G.C.P. Menzies, RN) and HMS Thunderbolt (Lt. C.B. Crouch, DSO, RN) are docked together in the graving dock at Saint John (New Brunswick). (5)

7 Jun 1941
HMS Forth (Capt. G.C.P. Menzies, RN) and HMS Thunderbolt (Lt. C.B. Crouch, DSO, RN) are undocked.

Around 2045P/7, they left Saint John (New Brunswick) for Halifax. (5)

8 Jun 1941
Around 2230P/8, HMS Forth (Capt. G.C.P. Menzies, RN) and HMS Thunderbolt (Lt. C.B. Crouch, DSO, RN) arrived at Halifax from Saint John (New Brunswick). (5)

24 Oct 1941
HMS Forth (Capt. G.C.P. Menzies, RN) is docked in No.1 graving dock at the Rosyth Dockyard. (1)

7 May 1943
HMS Sceptre (Lt. I.S. McIntosh, MBE, DSC, RN) conducted attack exercises in the Clyde area during which HMS Breda (Capt.(Retd.) A.E. Johnston, RN), HMS Jan van Gelder (Lt. P.D. O'Driscoll, RNR) and HMS Forth (Capt. R.S. Warne, RN) served as the targets. (6)

7 May 1943
HMS Syrtis (Lt. M.H. Jupp, DSC, RN) proceeded to Campbeltown on completion of last night's exercises. That evening she departed again for night attack exercises in the Clyde area during which HMS Forth (Capt. R.S. Warne, RN) served as target. (7)

8 May 1943
HMS Sceptre (Lt. I.S. McIntosh, MBE, DSC, RN) conducted night attack exercises in the Clyde area during which HMS Breda (Capt.(Retd.) A.E. Johnston, RN), HMS Jan van Gelder (Lt. P.D. O'Driscoll, RNR) and HMS Forth (Capt. R.S. Warne, RN) served as the targets. Upon completion of these Sceptre set course for Holy Loch but shortly before arriving there Sceptre was ordered to proceed to Loch Goil instead. (6)

Sources

  1. Rosyth Dockyard docking register
  2. ADM 199/373
  3. ADM 53/114277 + ADM 53/114278 + ADM 199/2224 + ADM 199/2225
  4. ADM 53/114278 + ADM 53/114930
  5. ADM 53/114281 + ADM 173/17039
  6. ADM 173/18003
  7. ADM 173/18159

ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.


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