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| HMS Peterel |
Dates: 1927 - 1941 HMS Peterel commenced service on July 18, 1927 with a misspelt name. The correct spelling should have been HMS Petrel (like the bird), but the mistake was noticed only after she had been launched and no attempt was made to change it. The Peterel was the first Royal Navy ship sunk by the Japanese during WWII, but this event had been anticipated and she was rigged with demolition charges. Her sinking occurred on December 8, 1941 in conjunction with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The Peterel was the last commissioned Royal Navy gunboat on the Yangtze prior to WWII. At the time of her sinking, she was acting as a communication station manned by a skeleton crew in Shanghai.
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8 people in our World War 2 records 
33 people in our Forces Reunited records
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