Dates: 1918 - 1947
HMS Westminster (L40) was a W class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was the first ship to bear the name. Launched in 1918, she served through two World Wars, and survived both to be sold for scrap in 1947.
Westminster was ordered on 9 December 1916 from Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Greenock, Scotland with the 10th order of the 1916-17 Programme. She was laid down in April 1917, launched on 24 February 1918 and commissioned on 18 April 1918.
HMS Westminster’s first role was escorting battle cruisers in the North Sea. She was later an escort for the German High Sea Fleet on its way to Rosyth in November 1918 after the German surrender.
Less than one month after the war ended, HMS Westminster was required to help evacuate the crew of cruiser HMS Cassandra when she struck a mine. Yet just one day later, in thick fog, HMS Westminster herself collided with the V class destroyer HMS Verulam and needed extensive repair. Westminster then served in the Baltic and was damaged in action with Russian warships. She then served in the 6th Flotilla, Atlantic Fleet in 1921, before being reduced to the Reserve.
HMS Westminster in 1942 after her conversion into a convoy escortBy 1939 an extensive rearmament programme was underway. A number of old V and W class destroyers were selected for refitting into anti-aircraft escorts. Westminster was among those reactivated, and she was taken in hand by Devonport Dockyard. The conversion lasted until December 1940, during which her pennant number was changed from L50 to D45, to conform with use as a Escort Destroyer. She carried out post refit trials in December, and was then recommissioned and nominated to carry out convoy defence duty in the North Sea.
Forces Reunited Forum Posts involving HMS Westminster
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