Name HMS Wizard Yard number 833 Commissioned 30 March 1944 Launched 29 September 1943 | Ordered December 1941 Laid down 14 September 1942 Construction started 14 September 1942 Builder Vickers-Armstrongs | |
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Reclassified Converted to Type 15 frigate 1954 | ||
HMS Wizard was a W-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service during World War II.
Contents
Second World War service
During the war Wizard was adopted by the Borough of Wood Green in London as part of Warship Week. The plaque from this adoption is held by the National Museum of the Royal Navy in Portsmouth.
Post War service
From 1946 until 1951 Wizard served in the Plymouth local flotilla. During 1953 and 1954 she was converted at Devonport Dockyard into a Type 15 fast anti-submarine frigate, with the new pennant number F72.
In 1956 Wizard was part of the 5th Frigate Squadron and was deployed to the eastern Mediterranean as part of the Royal Navy force which took part in the Suez Crisis. On return to UK in May 1957 the frigate refitted at Chatham before joining the Dartmouth Training Squadron for two years before being deployed in the West Indies with the 8th Frigate Squadron until 1964. On return she resumed Cadet training and remained with the Dartmouth Squadron until 1966.
Decommissioning and disposal
In 1966 she was paid-off and was reduced to Reserve status. She was then placed on the Disposal List and sold to Thos W Ward for demolition on 16 February 1967. Taken in tow to Inverkeithing she arrived at the breaker’s yard on 7 March that year.