Summary
HMS Southdown was a Type I Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy which served in World War II. She was scrapped in 1956.
 HMS Southdown at a buoy, c1941 (IWM)
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Southdown |
| Ordered | 11 April 1939 |
| Builder | J. Samuel White, Isle of Wight |
| Laid down | 22 August 1939 |
| Launched | 5 July 1940 |
| Completed | 8 November 1940 |
| Decommissioned | 1946 |
| Identification | Pennant number: L25 |
| Honours and awards |
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| Fate | Scrapped, 1956 |
| Badge | On a Field Red, in front of two bugle horns in Saltire Gold, a horseshoe inverted white |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Type I Hunt-class destroyer |
| Displacement |
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| Length | 85.3 m (279 ft 10 in) o/a |
| Beam | 9.6 m (31 ft 6 in) |
| Draught | 2.51 m (8 ft 3 in) |
| Propulsion |
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| Speed |
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| Range |
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| Complement | 164 |
| Armament |
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Service history edit
Southdown was ordered on 11 April 1939 under the 1939 War Emergency Build Programme as job number J6602.[1] She was completed in November 1940. She was adopted by the town of Woking in Surrey as part of Warship Week in 1942.
She earned battle honours during the Second World War for the North Sea 1941–1945, where she spent the majority of her service. In June 1944 she formed part of the Naval escort force in support of the Normandy Landings.
Following the war she was converted for use as an air target ship at Rosyth in September 1945. She then transferred to the Reserve Fleet at Portsmouth in April 1946. She remained there until sold to Thos. W. Ward for scrap. She arrived at the breakers yard at Barrow on 1 November 1956.[2]
References edit
Publications edit
- Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
- English, John (1987). The Hunts: A history of the design, development and careers of the 86 destroyers of this class built for the Royal and Allied Navies during World War II. World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-44-4.