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Allied Warships

HMS Echo (H 23)

Destroyer of the E class


HMS Echo before World War Two

NavyThe Royal Navy
TypeDestroyer
ClassE 
PennantH 23 
Built byWilliam Denny & Brothers (Dumbarton, Scotland) 
Ordered 
Laid down20 Mar, 1933 
Launched16 Feb, 1934 
Commissioned25 Oct, 1934 
End service 
Loss position
 
HistoryTransferred to the Royal Hellenic Navy as RHS Navarinon on 5 April 1944. Returned to the Royal Navy in April 1956 and scrapped at Dunston on 26 April 1956.

Commanding Officers:
Cdr. Stanley Herbert King Spurgeon, RAN
3 April 1939 – 11 February 1941
DSO awarded on 22 December 1939

Lt.Cdr. C.H.deB. Newby, RN
11 February 1941 - 17 February 1942

Lt.Cdr. Norman Lanyon, RN
17 February 1942 – 11 February 1943

Lt.Cdr. Richard Herbert Calcraft Wyld, RN
11 February 1943 - ???
DSC awarded on 10 December 1943
Bar to DSC awarded on 31 March 1944

HMS Echo was in Dockyard Control while refitting before transfer to the Royal Hellenic Navy 

Career notesTo Royal Hellenic Navy as RHS Navarinon

Noteable events involving Echo include:

19 Nov, 1939
The British merchant Pensilva that was torpedoed and sunk northwest of Cape Ortegal in position 46º51'N, 11º36'W by the German submarine U-49. HMS Echo (Cdr. S.H.K. Spurgeon, RAN) later picks up the survivors.

21 May, 1941
The British battlecruiser Hood (Capt. R. Kerr, CBE, RN, flying the flag of Vice-Admiral L.E. Holland, CB, RN) and the battleship Prince of Wales (Capt. J.C. Leach, MVO, RN) were ordered to proceed to Hvalfjord, Iceland as the German battleship Bismarck and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen were spotted by air reconnaissance at Bergen, Norway. As there were indications that these two were contemplatibf a raid on the ocean trade routes.

The two British capital ships were escorted by the destroyers HMS Electra (Cdr. C.W. May, RN), HMS Anthony (Lt.Cdr. J.M. Hodges, RN), HMS Echo (Lt.Cdr. C.H.deB. Newby, RN), HMS Icarus (Lt.Cdr. C.D. Maud, DSO, RN), HMS Achates (Lt.Cdr. Viscount Jocelyn, RN) and HMS Antelope (Lt.Cdr. R.B.N. Hicks, DSO, RN).

13 Jul, 1943
The Italian submarine Nereide was sunk off Augusta, Sicily by the British destroyers HMS Echo (Lt.Cdr. R.H.C. Wyld, RN) and HMS Ilex (Lt.Cdr. V.A. Wight-Boycott, OBE, RN).


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