| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | Destroyer |
| Class | Admiralty Modified W |
| Pennant | D 74 |
| Built by | Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. (Govan, Scotland) |
| Ordered | Jan 1918 |
| Laid down | 7 Aug 1918 |
| Launched | 1 May 1919 |
| Commissioned | 18 Sep 1919 |
| End service | |
| Loss position | |
| History | Reconstruction to Long Range Escort finished in April 1943. HMS Wanderer is not listed as active unit in the January 1945 Navy List HMS Wanderer was sold on 31 January 1946 and broken up by Hughes Bolckow at Blyth. |
Commands listed for HMS Wanderer (D 74)
Please note that we're still working on this section.
| Commander | From | To | ||
| 1 | Cdr. Reginald Francis Morice, RN | 31 Jul 1939 | 24 May 1940 | |
| 2 | Cdr. John Henry Ruck-Keene, RN | 24 May 1940 | 14 Nov 1940 | |
| 3 | Cdr. Arthur Frederick St. George Orpen, RN | 14 Nov 1940 | 10 Feb 1942 | |
| 4 | Lt.Cdr. Denis Harold Palmer Gardiner, DSC, RN | 10 Feb 1942 | ??? | |
| 5 | Lt.Cdr. Reginald Fife Whinney, RN | 20 Apr 1943 | ??? | |
| 6 | Lt. Peter Roland Michell, RN | ??? | ??? | |
You can help improve our commands section
Click here to Submit events/comments/updates for this vessel.
Please use this if you spot mistakes or want to improve this ships page.
Noteable events involving Wanderer include:
1 Sep 1939
The Polish destroyers Burza
(Lt.Cdr. S. Nahorski, ORP), Grom (Lt.Cdr. A. Hulewicz, ORP) and Blyskawica (Cdr. W. Kodrebski, ORP) were met in the North Sea by British aircraft and the British destroyers HMS Wallace (Lt.Cdr. W.M.L. Astwood, RN) and HMS Wanderer (Cdr R.F. Morice, RN). They were escorted to Leith.
25 Aug 1940
The British merchant Jamaica Pioneer is torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-100 east of Rockall in position 57º05'N, 11º02'W. Later the British destroyers HMS Anthony (Lt.Cdr. N.J.V. Thew, RN) and HMS Wanderer (Cdr. J.H. Ruck-Keene, RN) pick up 55 survivors.
10 Oct 1940
The British cruisers HMS Newcastle (Capt. E.A. Aylmer, DSC, RN) and HMS Emerald (Capt. F.C. Flynn, RN), with the British destroyers HMS Broke (Cdr. B.G. Scurfield, RN) and HMS Wanderer (Cdr. J.H. Ruck-Keene, DSC, RN) of the 17th DF and the Polish destroyers Garland (Cdr. K. Namiesniowski, ORP) and Burza (Cdr. A. Doroszkowski, ORP) act as a screen to the British battleship HMS Revenge (Capt. E.R. Archer, RN) during a bombardment of Cherbourg.
2 Jun 1941
The German submarine U-147 torpedoed and sank the Belgian merchant ship Mokambo in position 56º38'N 10º24'W. In the followup attack by the convoy escort the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Wanderer (Cdr. A.F.St.G. Orpen, RN) and the corvette HMS Periwinkle (Lt.Cdr. P.G. MacIver, RN) depth charged the U-147 to destruction. (see map)
3 Jun 1941
The British tanker Inversuir is torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-75 north of the Azores in position 48º30'N, 28º30'W. HMS Wanderer (Cdr. A.F.St.G. Orpen, RN) later picks up 9 survivors.
3 Aug 1941
The German submarine U-401 in the North Atlantic south-west of Ireland, in position 50º27'N, 19º50'W, by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS Wanderer (Cdr. A.F.St.G. Orpen, RN), the Norwegian destroyer St. Albans (Lt.Cdr. S. Storheill) and the British corvette HMS Hydrangea (Lt. J.E. Woolfendon, RNR). (see map)
11 Jan 1943
HMS Wanderer (Lt.Cdr. D.H.P. Gardiner, DSC, RN) picks up 46 survivors from the British merchant Ocean Vagabond that was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-186 south of Iceland in position 57º17'N, 20º11'W.
25 Aug 1943
The German submarine U-523 was sunk in the North Atlantic west of Vigo, in position 42º03'N, 18º02'W, by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS Wanderer (Lt.Cdr. R.F. Whinney, RN) and the British corvette HMS Wallflower (Lt. G.R. Greaves, RNR). (see map)
26 Aug 1943
HMS Wanderer (Lt.Cdr. R.F. Whinney, RN) delievered an advance RAF party to Portugal to implement agreement signed on August 18th 1943 between Britain and Portugal for the use of the Azores to operate their aircraft.
17 Jan 1944
The German submarine U-377 was sunk in the North Atlantic south-west of Ireland, in position 49º39'N, 20º10'W, by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS Wanderer (Lt.Cdr. R.F. Whinney, RN) and the British frigate HMS Glenarm (Lt.Cdr. W.R.B. Noall, DSO, RNR). (see map)
5 Jul 1944
The German submarine U-390 was sunk 1500hrs on 5 July 1944 in the Baie de la Seine, English Channel, in position 49º52'N, 00º48'W, by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS Wanderer (Lt.Cdr. R.F. Whinney, DSC and Bar, RN) and the British frigate HMS Tavy (T/A/Lt.Cdr. Frank Ardern, RNR). (see map)
1986
Reginald Fife Whinney published his memoirs 'The U-Boat Peril'.
Lt.Cdr. R.F. (Bob) Whinney, RN took command of HMS Wanderer on 20 April 1943. He was awarderded the Distinguised Service Cross (DSC) three times for sinking enemy submarines. He was promoted to Commander on 31 December 1944.
Media links
|
|
