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Allied Warships

HMS Keppel (D 84)

Destroyer of the Shakespeare class

NavyThe Royal Navy
TypeDestroyer
ClassShakespeare 
PennantD 84 
Built byThornycroft (Southampton, U.K.) 
OrderedApr, 1918 
Laid downOct, 1918 
Launched23 Apr, 1920 
Commissioned15 Apr, 1925 
End service 
Loss position
 
HistoryCompleted by Portsmouth Dockyard (Portsmouth, U.K.)

Sold to be broken up for scrap in July 1945.

Commanding Officers:
Capt. Francis Stephen Walter De Winton, RN
31 May 1939 – 1 December 1939

Lt.Cdr. Edward Gavin Heywood-Lonsdale, RN
1 December 1939 - ???

Lt. Ronald John Hanson, RN
??? – February 1941

Cdr. Alan MacGregor Sheffield, RN
February 1941 – 10 September 1941

Cdr. John Egerton Broome, RN
10 September 1941 - ???

HMS Keppel in Dockyard Control during refit

Cdr. Martin James Evans, OBE, RN
19 April 1943 – ???

Lt.Cdr. John Byron, DSC, RNR (retired)
??? - 2 December 1943

Cdr. Ismay James Tyson, RNR
2 December 1943 >
DSC awarded on 1 January 1944
DSO awarded on 18 July 1944

HMS Keppel is not listed as Active unit as in the July 1945 Navy List 


Noteable events involving Keppel include:

24 Oct, 1939
HMT Keppel (Capt. F.S.W. De Winton, RN) picks up 31 survivors from the British merchant Tafna that was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-37 84 miles west of Gibraltar in position 35º44'N, 07º23'W.

13 Jul, 1941
HMS Keppel (Cdr. A.M. Sheffield, RN) picks up 7 survivors in position 60°38'N, 23°15'W from the Norwegian merchant Vigrid that was torpedoed and sunk on 24 June 1941 about 400 nautical miles south-east of Cape Farewell in position 54º30'N, 41º30'W by the German submarine U-371. (see map)

27 Mar, 1942
On 27 March 1942 the German submarine U-587 was sunk in position 47º21'N, 21º39'W by depth charges by the British escort destroyers HMS Grove (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Rylands, RN) and HMS Aldenham (Lt. H.A. Stuart-Menteth, RN) and the British destoyers HMS Volunteer (Lt. A.S. Pomeroy, RN) and HMS Leamington (Lt.Cdr. H.G. Bowerman, RN) of the 2nd Escort Group, escorting the troop convoy WS-17. The u-boat was found after a HF/DF fix by the British destroyer HMS Keppel (Cdr. J.E. Broome, RN). (see map)

22 Sep, 1943
The German submarine U-229 was sunk in the North Atlantic south-east of Cape Farewell, Greenland, in position 54º36'N, 36º25'W, by depth charges, gunfire and ramming from the British destroyer HMS Keppel (Lt.Cdr. J. Byron, DSC, RNR). HMS Keppel then struggled to Newfoundland for repairs to her bows. (see map)

24 Feb, 1944
The German submarine U-713 was sunk in the Arctic north-west of Narvik, Norway, in position 69º27'N, 04º53'E, by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS Keppel (Cdr. I.J. Tyson, DSC, RNR). (see map)

2 Apr, 1944
The German submarine U-360 was sunk in the Norwegian Sea south-west of Bear Island, in position 72º28'N, 13º04'E, by British destroyer HMS Keppel (Cdr. I.J. Tyson, DSC, RNR). (see map)

24 Aug, 1944
The German submarine U-354 was sunk in the Barents Sea north-east of North Cape, in position 72º49'N, 30º41'E, by depth charges from the British sloops HMS Mermaid (Lt.Cdr. J.P. Mosse, RN) and HMS Peacock (Lt.Cdr. R.B. Stannard, VC, DSO, RD, RNR), the British frigate HMS Loch Dunvegan (Cdr. E. Wheeler, RD, RNR) and the British destroyer HMS Keppel (Cdr. I.J. Tyson, DSO, DSC, RD, RNR). (see map)

2 Sep, 1944
The German submarine U-394 was sunk in the Norwegian Sea some nautical miles south-east of Jan Mayen island, Norway, in position 69º47'N, 04º10'E, by rockets and depth charges from a Swordfish aircraft (Sqdn. 825) from the British escort carrier HMS Vindex (Capt. H.T.T. Bayliss, RN), and the British destroyers HMS Keppel (Cdr. I.J. Tyson, DSO, DSC, RNR) and HMS Whitehall (Lt.Cdr. P.J. Cowell, DSC, RN) and the British sloops HMS Mermaid (Lt.Cdr. J.P. Mosse, RN) and HMS Peacock (Lt.Cdr. R.B. Stannard, VC, DSO, RNR). (see map)


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