Navy | The Royal Navy |
Type | Sloop |
Class | Modified Black Swan |
Pennant | U 38 |
Built by | Cammell Laird Shipyard (Birkenhead, U.K.) |
Ordered | 27 Mar 1941 |
Laid down | 30 Aug 1941 |
Launched | 28 Jul 1942 |
Commissioned | 1 Dec 1942 |
End service | |
History | Scrapped 16 March 1956. |
Commands listed for HMS Cygnet (U 38)
Please note that we're still working on this section.
Commander | From | To | ||
1 | Lt.Cdr. (retired) Francis Babington Proudfoot, RN | 27 Sep 1942 | 19 Jan 1944 | |
2 | Cdr. Donald Murdo MacLean, RD, RNR | 19 Jan 1944 | late 1944 | |
3 | Lt.Cdr. Patrick James Cowell, DSC, RN | late 1944 | May 1945 | |
4 | A/Lt.Cdr. Alan Henry Pierce, OBE, RNR | 30 Jun 1945 | Oct 1945 ? |
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Notable events involving Cygnet include:
25 Feb 1943
HMS Usurper (Lt. D.R.O. Mott, DSC, RN) was conducting exercises on Inmarnock Water when she was ordered to search in the Clyde area for her missing sister ship HMS Vandal (Lt. J.S. Bridger, RN).
The following submarines / ships were also ordered to search for HMS Vandal (which was not found until 1994); HMS Graph (Lt. P.B. Marriott, DSO, RN), HMS L 27 (Lt. W.N. Eade, RNR), HMS Severn (Lt.Cdr. A.N.G. Campbell, RN), HMS Stubborn (Lt. A.A. Duff, RN), HMS Whitehall (Cdr. C.L.de H. Bell, RD, RNR), HMS Breda (Capt.(Retd.) A.E. Johnston, RN), HMS Kingfisher (Lt.Cdr.(Retd.) G.H. Gandy, RN), HMS La Capricieuse (Lt.Cdr. G.W. Dobson, RNR), HMS Cygnet (Lt.Cdr.(Retd.) F.B. Proudfoot, RN), HMS Tedworth (Lt.Cdr.(Retd.) G.H. Warren, RN) and HrMs Jan van Gelder (Lt. P.L.M. van Geen, RNN). (1)
2 Mar 1943
HMS Stubborn (Lt. A.A. Duff, RN) conducted D/F trials in the Clyde area. Following these trials A/S and attack exercises were carried out with HMS Cygnet (Lt.Cdr.(Retd.) F.B. Proudfoot, RN). These included night exercises. (2)
16 Apr 1943
HMS Satyr (Lt. T.S. Weston, RN) arrived at Larne where a boarding execises was carried out with HMS Cygnet (Lt.Cdr.(Retd.) F.B. Proudfoot, RN). (3)
13 Aug 1943
HMS H 34 (Lt. B. Charles, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Campbeltown with HMS L'Incomprise (Lt.Cdr.(Retd.) F.S. Deveson, RNR) and HMS Cygnet (Lt.Cdr.(Retd.) F.B. Proudfoot, RN). (4)
23 Feb 1944
HMS Tribune (Lt.Cdr. W.N. Eade, RNR) conducted A/S exercises in the Clyde area with HMS Cygnet (Cdr. D.M. MacLean, RN). (5)
8 Apr 1944
German U-boat U-962 was sunk in north Atlantic north-west of Cape Finisterre, in position 45°43'N, 19°57'W, by depth charges from the British sloops HMS Crane (Lt.Cdr. R.G. Jenkins, RN)
and HMS Cygnet (Cdr. D.M. MacLean, RN).
17 Jul 1944
HMS Upright (Lt. J.A.L. Wilkinson, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Campbeltown with HMS Cygnet (Cdr. D.M. MacLean, RD, RNR). These were followed by exercises with HMS H 50 (Lt. W.T.J. Fox, RN). (6)
1 Aug 1944
HrMs O 9 (Lt. R.W. van Lynden, RNN) participated in A/S exercises off Campbeltown with HMS Tintagel Castle (Lt. R. Atkinson, DSC, RNR), HMS Allington Castle (T/A/Lt.Cdr. W.G. Ogden, DSC, RNVR) and HMS Cygnet (Cdr. D.M. MacLean, RD, RNR). (7)
7 Aug 1944
HMS Tiptoe (Lt.Cdr. P.R.H. Harrison, DSO, DSC and Bar, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Larne with HMS Peacock (Lt.Cdr. R.B. Stannard, VC, DSO, RD, RNR), HMS Cygnet (Cdr. D.M. MacLean, RD, RNR) and HMCS Assiniboine (A/Lt.Cdr. R.P. Welland, DSC, RCN). (8)
8 Aug 1944
HMS Tiptoe (Lt.Cdr. P.R.H. Harrison, DSO, DSC and Bar, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Larne with HMS Peacock (Lt.Cdr. R.B. Stannard, VC, DSO, RD, RNR) and HMS Cygnet (Cdr. D.M. MacLean, RD, RNR). (8)
29 Oct 1944
HMS Safari (Lt.Cdr.(Retd.) J.R.G. Harvey, RN) conducted attack exercises for the C.O.Q.C. (Commanding Officers Qualifying Course) in the Clyde area during which HMS Cygnet (Lt.Cdr. P.J. Cowell, DSC, RN) served as target. (9)
14 Nov 1944
HMS H 50 (Lt. W.T.J. Fox, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Campbeltown with HMS Cygnet (Lt.Cdr. P.J. Cowell, DSC, RN). (10)
13 Apr 1945
HMS Unruly (T/Lt. D.J. Palmer, RNVR) conducted A/S exercises off Campbeltown with HMS Shemara (Cdr.(Retd.) H. Buckle, RN), HMS St. Modwen (T/A/Lt.Cdr. F.J.G. Rice, RNR), HMS Cygnet (Lt.Cdr. P.J. Cowell, DSC, RN) and HMS Bamborough Castle (T/A/Lt.Cdr. H. Vernon, RNR). (11)
Sources
- ADM 173/18388
- ADM 173/18132
- ADM 173/17998
- ADM 173/17797
- ADM 173/19073
- ADM 173/19284
- File 2.12.03.6373 (Dutch Archives, The Hague, Netherlands)
- ADM 173/19028
- ADM 173/18626
- ADM 173/18534
- ADM 173/20144
ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.