Name HMS Berkeley Completed 6 June 1940 Identification pennant number L17 Launched 29 January 1940 Draft 3.28 m | Laid down 8 June 1939 Commissioned 6 June 1940 Construction started 8 June 1939 Length 85 m Builder Cammell Laird | |
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Namesake A fox hunt in Gloucestershire, England | ||
HMS Berkeley was a Type I Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was a member of the first subgroup of the Hunt class and saw service in World War II before being bombed at Dieppe and then scuttled by HMS Albrighton.
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Construction
Berkeley was ordered from Cammell Laird in the 1939 Build Programme and laid down on 8 June 1939 as No. J3302. She was launched on 29 January 1940 and commissioned on 6 June 1940, Lieutenant Commander Hugh Walters in command.
Career
Berkeley participated in Operation Ariel, the evacuation of the remnants of the British Expeditionary Force from ports in western France. She was made available to Paul Reynaud and the French government for conferences with Churchill. After the Fall of France, she evacuated the remaining British embassy staff as well as Władysław Raczkiewicz and Polish and Czech troops.
In August 1940, Berkeley escorted minelayers during minelaying Operation SN32. She spent September on anti-invasion patrols in the English Channel. She escorted convoys in October and November. On 20 December 1940, she was damaged by a mine in the Medway and was repaired at Chatham Dockyard.
After the repairs were completed, Berkeley resumed convoy escort duties in January 1941. On 22 February, she escorted HMS Icarus during the minelaying Operation JK off the French coast. For the rest of the year, Berkeley escorted convoys and patrolled the English Channel. In February 1942, she participated in the unsuccessful attempt to intercept the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau during the Channel Dash. Lieutenant James York became its commander on 27 March 1942. Berkeley continued convoy escort duties until July 1942, when she was selected to be part of the naval force supporting Operation Jubilee. On 18 August 1942, Berkeley escorted the Dieppe raiding force. During a 19 August air attack, she was hit by two bombs dropped from Focke-Wulf Fw 190s, which broke her keel and killed 13 ratings. As the damage was beyond control, she was abandoned and then scuttled by torpedoes from the escort destroyer Albrighton.