| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | Destroyer |
| Class | A |
| Pennant | H 14 |
| Built by | Hawthorn Leslie & Co. (Hebburn-on-Tyne, U.K.) |
| Ordered | 6 Mar 1928 |
| Laid down | 10 Jul 1928 |
| Launched | 9 Jul 1929 |
| Commissioned | 9 Feb 1930 |
| End service | |
| Loss position | |
| History | Sold to be broken up for scrap on 20 May 1947. Scrapped at Troon, Scotland. Commanding Officers: Lt.Cdr. Michael Wilfred Tomkinson, RN Lt.Cdr. Peter Gordon Merriman, RN Cdr. John Pringle, RN Lt. John Aylmer McClure, DSC, RN |
Commands listed for HMS Active (H 14)
Please note that we're still working on this section.
| Commander | From | To | |
| 1 | Lt.Cdr. Errol Concanon Lloyd Turner, RN | 1 May 1939 | Feb 1941 |
| 2 | Lt.Cdr. Michael Wilfred Tomkinson, RN | Feb 1941 | 1 Jan 1943 |
| 3 | Lt.Cdr. Peter Gordon Merriman, RN | 1 Jan 1943 | 9 Oct 1944 |
| 4 | Cdr. John Pringle, RN | 9 Oct 1944 | Nov 1944 |
| 5 | Lt. John Aylmer McClure, DSC, RN | Nov 1944 | Oct 1945 ? |
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Noteable events involving Active include:
27 Nov 1940
The British merchant Diplomat is torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-104 128 nautical miles west-north-west of Bloody Foreland in position 55º42'N, 11º37'W. HMS Active (Cdr. E.C.L. Turner, RN) later picks up 39 survivors.
8 Oct 1942
The German submarine U-179 was sunk in the South Atlantic near Cape Town, South Africa, in position 33º28'S, 17º05'E, by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS Active (Lt.Cdr. M.W. Tomkinson, RN).
Before U-179 was sunk HMS Active picked up 98 survivors from the British merchant City of Athens. This was U-179's first and only victim. (see map)
11 Oct 1942
HMS Active (Lt.Cdr. M.W. Tomkinson, RN) picks up 23 survivors of the American merchant Coloradan that was torpedoed and sunk on 9 October 1942 by the German submarine U-159 200 nautical miles south-west of Capetown, South-Africa in position 35º47'S, 14º34'E.
23 May 1943
The Italian submarine Leonardo Da Vinci (offsite link) was sunk north-east of the Azores by the British destroyer HMS Active (Lt.Cdr. P.G. Merriman, RN ) and the British frigate HMS Ness (A/Cdr. T.G.P. Crick, DSC, RN).
2 Nov 1943
The German submarine U-340 was sunk at 0430hrs on 2 November 1943 near Tangier, in position 35º33'N, 06º37'W, by depth charges from the British sloop HMS Fleetwood (Cdr. W.B. Piggott, DSC, RD, RNR) and the British destroyers HMS Active (Lt.Cdr. P.G. Merriman, DSC, RN) and HMS Witherington (Lt.Cdr. R.B.S. Tennant, RN) and by depth charges from a British Wellington aircraft (Sqdn. 179/R). (see map)