R53 WWII

John Bryant,s

HMS UNDAUNTED

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R53 THE DESTROYER

Ships Motto

Bienvenue

BATTLE HONOURS

Dogger Bank 1915 - Belgian Coast 1916 - Mediterranean 1941

Normandy 1944 - Okinawa 1945

The eighth HMS Undaunted is the one in which I served between 1967 and 1970. She was one if eight Ulster Class Destroyers built during the Second World War, and was constructed, like her sister ship HMS Ulysses, at the Birkenhead shipyard of Cammell Laird and was launched in 19 July 1943 and completed 3 March 1944. She weighed 1,777 tons on launching and was capable of a speed of 36 knots. Her main armament was 4 single barrel 4.7 inch guns. She received two battle honours during the second world war. She was given the pennant number R53, and later F53, and became known as the ?Fighting 53?. She was converted to a Type 15 Anti-submarine Frigate in 1952 at the R. White and Sons shipyard on the Isle of Wight. HMS Undaunted was adopted by the London Borough of Barking, during Warship Week during the war and was affectionately known as the UNWANTED.

One of her most prominent roles was during her First Commission when she took part in the D-Day landings at Normandy on 6 June 1944. Operation Overlord had a huge Naval contingent that included two Battleships, 2 Monitors, 23 Cruisers, 105 Destroyers and over 1070 other warships (including Minesweepers and Anti Submarine Frigates). In addition, some 2,700 Merchant ships and 2,500 Landing craft took part. She was part of Task Force G, which comprised: HMS Ajax , HMS Orion, HMS Argonaut, HMS Emerald, HNMS Flores (Dutch), HMS Grenville, HMS Ursa, HMS Ulster, HMS Undaunted, HMS Urchin, HMS Jervis, HMS Undine, HMS Urania, HMS Ulysses, HMS Cattistock, HMS Pytchley, HMS Cottesmore, ORP Krakowiak (Polish).

HMS Undaunted was an Ulster Class Destroyer

During this campaign the newly appointed Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, General Dwight D Eisenhower, was embarked on a ship, which received damage. HMS Undaunted was sent alongside to evacuate him and General Eisenhower?s flag was then hoisted in Undaunted. That flag was later presented to Holyrood House, in Edinburgh, around 1969, to be displayed in the ?Eisenhower Room?.

After the ?D? Day landings she was transferred to the British Pacific Fleet. On its passage from Ceylon to Australia the fleet was asked to carry out a strike on the oil fields and tanks at Palembang and Sumatra. The Americans had tried but without success. The targets in the Palembang area where at Songei Gerong, which had been the East Indies oil refinery for the Standard Oil Company. The other was at Pladjoe, the former Royal Dutch Shell refinery. Both were quite large and between them produced and supplied 50% of the oil used by Japan, including 75% of the vital aviation spirit. A heavy blow would cause irretrievable damage to the Japanese war effort. When the fleet was in position to commence it then consisted of: The first Aircraft Carrier Squadron: Indomitable (Flag), Illustrious, Indefatigable and Victorious. Cruisers: Argonaut, Black Prince and Euryalus. Two destroyer flotillas: Grenville, Undine, Ursa, Undaunted, Kemperfelt, Wakeful, Whirlwind, Wager and Welp. HMS Suffolk had returned to Ceylon, and Ceylon (The ship) had been despatched to rejoin later with mail, together with the destroyer Wessex with radar spares.

The British Pacific Fleet was present at operations against Okinawa - operating as TF 57 (Task Force 57) - under Vice Admiral Rawlings comprised the four carriers HMS's Indomitable, Victorious, Illustrious (later relieved by Formidable) and Indefatigable with 218 aircraft, the battleships HMS's King George V and Howe with five cruisers and several destroyers. The fleet reinforced Vice Admiral Mitscher's Task Force 58, the US Navy carrier force which comprised the main element in Admiral Spruance's 5th Fleet.

Landings were made on April 1, 1945. Five days later the Japanese began a six-week-long series of kamikaze attacks involving 2,000 planes. Some 26 ships were sunk (none of them larger than a destroyer) and 164 damaged, including three carriers and three battleships. TF 57 began its attacks on the Sakishima Group on March 26. On April 1 the 'Indefatigable' and 'Ulster' were damaged, and five days later 'Formidable' and 'Victorious' were struck. Organized resistance on the islands ceased on June 21. The total U.S. casualties in capturing them amounted to 48,000 killed and wounded.

HMS Undaunted remained in the Far East, but on 20 January 1946, she left Sydney for home, via Melbourne and Fremantle in the company of HMS Indefatigable, arriving home in March with the remainder of "The Forgotten Fleet".

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