| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | Escort destroyer |
| Class | Hunt (Type I) |
| Pennant | L 60 |
| Built by | Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd. (Wallsend-on-Tyne, U.K.): Wallsend |
| Ordered | 11 Apr 1939 |
| Laid down | 10 Aug 1939 |
| Launched | 9 Apr 1940 |
| Commissioned | 12 Oct 1940 |
| End service | |
| History | Transferred to China May 1948 and renamed Lin Fu. Reposessed after the Yangtze around June 1949 and re-commissioned with the ships company of HMS Consort. Sold to the Egyptian Navy becoming Mohamed ali-El-Kebir on 15 November 1949, renamed Ibrahim-El-Awal later in 1951. Was captured by the Israeli navy after combat and surrender in the 1956 Sinai campaign. Renamed INS Haifa. Was decommissioned in 1968 and sunk as a target ship after being hit by a Gabriel missile. |
Commands listed for HMS Mendip (L 60)
Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.
| Commander | From | To | |
| 1 | A/Cdr. Guy Neville Rolfe, RN | 1 Jul 1940 | 16 Sep 1942 |
| 2 | Capt. Cecil Ramsden Langworthy Parry, RN | 16 Sep 1942 | 15 Oct 1943 |
| 3 | Lt. Peter Douglas Davey, RN | 15 Oct 1943 | 10 Apr 1945 |
| 4 | Lt. Lesley Edney Blackmore, RN | 10 Apr 1945 | 1 Jan 1946 |
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Notable events involving Mendip include:
Date Error: Capt. Parry (D21) did not leave the Mendip until 15 October 1943 while the Mendip was in dry Dock in Gibraltar for extensive repairs after a heavy bomb near miss at Salerno. Lt. Peter Davey RN, took over command of Mendip on 15 October 1943 when Capt. Parry and his staff left for the U.K. (1)
16 Oct 1940
HMS H 34 (Lt. L.W. Napier, RN) conducted special trials off / at Scapa Flow with HMS Dido (Capt. H.W.U. McCall, RN) and HMS Mendip (A/Cdr. G.N. Rolfe, DSC, RN). (2)
18 Oct 1940
HMS H 34 (Lt. L.W. Napier, RN) conducted A/S exercises off / at Scapa Flow with HMS Quorn (Lt. E.A.F. Drought, RN), HMS Cleveland (Lt.Cdr. W.S. Clouston, RN) and HMS Mendip (A/Cdr. G.N. Rolfe, DSC, RN). (2)
21 Jun 1943
Combined convoy WS 31 / KMS 17.
This combined convoy was formed off Oversay on 21 June 1943. The convoy was divided into convoys WS 30 and KMS 15 at sea on 26 June 1943.
The combined convoy was made up of the following (troop) transports; Britannic (British, 26943 GRT, built 1930), City of Lincoln (British, 8039 GRT, built 1938), Clan Macarthur (British, 10528 GRT, built 1936), Clan Macaulay (British, 10492 GRT, built 1936), Cristobal (American, 10021 GRT, built 1939), General George W. Goethals (American, 12093 GRT, built 1942), John Ericsson (American, 16552 GRT, built 1928), J.W. McAndrew (American, 7997 GRT, built 1940), Largs Bay (British, 14182 GRT, built 192), Rangitiki (British, 16698 GRT, built 1928), Samaria (British, 19597 GRT, built 1921), Santa Rosa (American, 9135 GRT, built 1932), Silverteak (British, 6770 GRT, built 1930), Stratheden (British, 23722 GRT, built 1937) and Tamaroa (British, 12405 GRT, built 1922).
Also the netlayer HMS Guardian (Capt.(Retd.) H.A.C. Lane, OBE, RN) was part of the convoy.
After assembly of Oversay the convoy was escorted by the light cruiser HMS Uganda (Capt. W.G. Andrewes, RN), destroyers HMS Arrow (Lt.Cdr. W.W. Fitzroy, RN), HMS Amazon (Lt.Cdr. D.H.P. Gardiner, DSC, RN), HMS Witherington (Lt.Cdr. R.B.S. Tennant, RN) and the escort destroyers HMS Viceroy (Lt. T.F. Hallifax, RN), HMS Wallace (Lt. D. Carson, RN), HMS Woolston (Lt. F.W. Hawkins, RN), HMS Hambledon (Lt.Cdr. G.W. McKendrick, RN), HMS Mendip (Capt. C.R.L. Parry, RN), HMS Blankney (Lt.Cdr. D.H.R. Bromley, RN), HMS Blencathra (Lt. E.G. Warren, RN), HMS Ledbury (Lt. D.R.N. Murdoch, RN), HMS Brecon (Lt.Cdr. T.D. Herrick, DSC and Bar, RN) and HMS Brissenden (Lt. D.C. Beatty, RN).
On 25 June HMS Arrow and HMS Amazon parted company with the combined convoy to proceed to Casablanca to fuel. They arrived at Casablanca around 1730A/25.
Around 1730B/25, the destroyers HMS Foxhound (Cdr. C.J. Wynne-Edwards, DSC and Bar, RN), HMS Bulldog (Lt.Cdr. E.J. Lee, RN) and escort destroyer HMS Blackmore (Lt. H.T. Harrel, RN) were to join the combined convoy in position 36°05'N, 07°54'W. They had departed Gibraltar earlier on the 25th.
When these destroyers joined the destroyer HMS Witherington and escort destroyer HMS Ledbury were to proceed to Casablanca.
Also the convoy was to split. Convoy KMF 17, made up of the transports Britannic, Cristobal, J.W. McAndrew, Largs Bay, Samaria, Santa Rosa, Silverteak, Tamaroa and the netlayer HMS Guardian. They were escorted by the light cruiser HMS Uganada and the escort destroyers HMS Viceroy, HMS Wallace, HMS Woolston, HMS Hambledon, HMS Mendip, HMS Blankney, HMS Blencathra, HMS Brecon and HMS Brissenden proceeded towards the Mediterranean.
On the 26th, HMS Uganda, HMS Guardian, HMS Viceroy and one of the transports arrived at Gibraltar.
On the 27th, HMS Uganda, which apparently had rejoined the convoy after a brief stopover at Gibraltar, 7 of the transports and HMS Wallace, HMS Woolston, HMS Hambledon, HMS Mendip, HMS Blankney, HMS Blencathra, HMS Brecon and HMS Brissenden arrived at Algiers.
Meanwhile Convoy WS 31, made up of the transports City of Lincoln, Clan Macarthur, Clan Macaulay, General George W. Goethals, John Ericsson, Stratheden and Tamaroa continued on to Freetown.
The convoy was now escorted by the destroyers HMS Foxhound, HMS Bulldog and the escort destroyer HMS Blackmore.
The destroyer HMS Amazon also rejoined after fuelling at Casablanca. It had originally been the intention that HMS Arrow was also to rejoin the convoy but while at Casablanca orders had been received that she was to proceed to Gibraltar instead.
On 1 July the French armed merchant cruiser Quercy joined the convoy.
Convoy WS 31 arrived at Freetown on 4 July 1943.
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Convoy WS 31 departed Freetown on 6 July 1943.
It was now made up of the transports City of Lincoln, Clan Macarthur, Clan Macaulay, General George W. Goethals, John Ericsson, Rangitiki, Stirling Castle (British, 25550 GRT, built 1936) and Stratheden.
The convoy was now escorted by the light cruiser HMS Despatch (Capt. W.R.C. Leggatt, RN), armed merchant cruisers HMS Corfu (Capt.(Retd.) C.C. Bell, DSO, RN), Quercy, destroyers HMS Foxhound, HMS Bulldog, HMS Wolverine (Lt. I.M. Clegg, RN) and the escort destroyer HMS Blackmore.
in the early afternoon of the 7th, in approximate position 03°15'N, 14°54'W the Rangitiki was to be detached to proceed independently to Montevideo.
HMS Despatch was to arrived at Takoradi late in the afternoon of the 9th to fuel and after completion of this on the 10th she was to rejoin the convoy. HMS Wolverine also made a short call at Takoradi on the 10th to fuel and then rejoin the convoy.
On the 10th HMS Bulldog and HMS Blackmore were detached to proceed to Lagos to fuel and then escort transports from there to join the convoy. HMS Corfu was also detached on the 10th to proceed to Ascencion after first calling at Takoradi.
The destroyer HMS Witch (Lt.Cdr. S.R.J. Woods, RNR) and corvette HMS Armeria (Lt. M. Todd, RNR) had joined the convoy on the 10th.
On the 11th the transports Arawa (British, 14462 GRT, built 1922), Highland Brigade (British, 14134 GRT, built 1929), Highland Monarch (British, 14139 GRT, built 1928) and Staffordshire (British, 10683 GRT, built 1929) joined the convoy coming from Lagos. They were escorted by the destroyers HMS Rapid (Lt.Cdr. M.W. Tomkinson, DSC and Bar, RN), HMS Bulldog and the escort destroyer HMS Blackmore.
When these ships joined HMS Foxhound, HMS Witch and HMS Armeria then parted company and proceeded to Lagos arriving there also on the 11th.
HMS Despatch and HMS Rapid arrived at Pointe Noire to fuel at 0700Z/14. They departed again to rejoin the convoy at 1430Z/14.
Meanwhile the destroyers HMS Quadrant (Lt.Cdr. W.H. Farrington, RN) and HMS Redoubt (Lt.Cdr. N.E.G. Ropner, DSO, RN) had departed Pointe Noire at 0900Z/14 to join the convoy.
At 1800Z/14, the Quercy, HMS Bulldog and HMS Blackmore arrived at Pointe Noire.
At 0600Z/15, HMS Wolverine arrived at Pointe Noire.
The convoy arrived at Capetown on 21 July 1943. HMS Despatch, HMS Quadrant, HMS Rapid and HMS Redoubt then continued on to Simonstown arriving there later the same day.
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A much reduced convoy WS 31 departed Capetown on 26 July 1943. It was now made up of the transports Arawa, Highland Brigade, Highland Monarch, Staffordshire, Stirling Castle and Stratheden. The convoy was escorted by the light cruiser HMS Despatch and the destroyers HMS Quadrant and HMS Redoubt.
They were relieved near Mauritius on 4 August 1943 by the heavy cruiser HMS Frobisher (Capt. J.F.W. Mudford, RN) which took the convoy to Bombay where it arrived on 13 August 1943.
HMS Despatch, HMS Quadrant and HMS Redoubt arrived at Mauritius on 5 August 1943.
3 Nov 1944
HMS Virulent (Lt. S.J. Fovargue, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Scapa Flow with HMS Mendip (Lt. P.D. Davey, RN) and HMS Caesar (Capt. G.N. Brewer, DSO, RN). (3)
24 Nov 1944
HMS Vengeful (Lt. A.S. Melville-Ross, DSC, RN) conducted A/S exercises at/off Scapa Flow with HMS Blencathra (Lt. P.G.C. Dickens, MBE, DSO, DSC, RN), HMS Ulster (Lt.Cdr. R.J. Hanson, DSO and Bar, DSC, RN) and HMS Mendip (Lt. P.D. Davey, RN). (4)
Sources
- Personal communication
- ADM 173/16307
- ADM 173/19411
- ADM 173/19364
ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.