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Allied Warships

HMS Stork (L 81 / U 81)

Sloop of the Bittern class


HMS Stork as seen during the Second World War.

NavyThe Royal Navy
TypeSloop
ClassBittern 
PennantL 81 / U 81 
Built byWilliam Denny & Brothers (Dumbarton, Scotland) 
Ordered 
Laid down19 Jun, 1935 
Launched21 Apr, 1936 
Commissioned10 Sep, 1936 
End service 
Loss position
 
History

Scrapped in June 1958.

Commanding Officers:
HMS Strok was refitting at the start of the 2nd World War

Cdr. Alfred Charles Behague, RN
4 September 1939 – ca. November 1940

Lt. Gordon Thomas Seccombe Gray, DSC, RN
ca. November 1940 – September 1941

Cdr. Frederic John Walker, RN
September 1941 - 1 August 1942
Promoted to Capt. on 30 June 1942
DSO awarded on 6 January 1942
Bar to DSO awarded on 30 July 1942

Cdr. Godfrey Noel Brewer, RN
1 August 1942 - ca. March / April 1943

HMS Stork in Dockyard Control

Cdr. George William Emil Castens, RN (retired)
24 April 1943 – 13 July 1944
DSO awarded on 14 December 1943

Lt.Cdr. Donald Emberton Mansfield, RN
13 July 1944 - still in command in October 1945 according to the Navy List
DSC awarded on 17 October 1944 

Hit by U-boat
Damaged on 12 Nov, 1942 by U-77 (Hartmann).


Noteable events involving Stork include:

27 Sep, 1941
HMS Stork (Cdr. F.J. Walker, RN) picks up 32 survivors from the British merchant Cervantes that was torpedoed and sunk the previous day by the German submarine U-124 north-northeast of the Azores in position 48º37'N, 20º01'W.

17 Dec, 1941
The German submarine U-131 was sunk north-east of Madeira, Portugal, in position 34º12'N, 13º35'W, by depth charges and gunfire from the British escort destroyers HMS Exmoor (Lt.Cdr. L.StG. Rich, RN) and HMS Blankney(Lt.Cdr. P.F. Powlett, DSC, RN), the British destroyer HMS Stanley (Lt.Cdr. D.B. Shaw, OBE, RN), the British corvette HMS Pentstemon (Lt.Cdr. J. Byron, RNR) and the British sloop HMS Stork (Cdr. F.J. Walker, RN), and by depth charges from a Martlet aircraft (Sqdn. 802) of the British escort carrier HMS Audacity (Cdr. D.W. Mackendrick, RN). (see map)

19 Dec, 1941
The German submarine U-574 was sunk in the North Atlantic near Punta Delgada, in position 38º12'N, 17º23'W, by ramming and depth charges from the British sloop HMS Stork (Cdr. F.J. Walker, RN).

HMS Stork also picks up 14 survivors from the British merchant Ruckinge that was torpedoed and damaged, finally sunk by gunfire from the British covette HMS Samphire (Lt.Cdr. F.T. Renny, RNR), by the German submarine U-108 west of Lisbon, Portugal in position 38º20'N, 17º15'W. (see map)

14 Apr, 1942
The German submarine U-252 was sunk at 2230hrs on 14 April 1942 in the North Atlantic south-west of Ireland, in approximate position 47º00'N, 18º14'W, by depth charges from the British sloop HMS Stork (Cdr. F.J. Walker, DSO, RN) and the British corvette HMS Vetch (T/A/Lt.Cdr. H.J. Beverley, DSC, RNR). (see map)

30 Aug, 1943
The German submarine U-634 was sunk in the North Atlantic east of the Azores, in position 40º13'N, 19º24'W, by depth charges from the British sloop HMS Stork (Cdr. G.W.E. Castens, (retired), RN) and the British corvette HMS Stonecrop (Lt.Cdr. J.P. Smythe, RNR). (see map)


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