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Allied Warships

HMS Foxhound (H 69)

Destroyer of the F class


HMS Foxhound as seen prewar.

Valentine Postcard (Valentine & Sons Ltd, Dundee and London) with thanks to Jan Visser.

NavyThe Royal Navy
TypeDestroyer
ClassF 
PennantH 69 
Built byJohn Brown Shipbuilding & Engineering Company Ltd. (Clydebank, Scotland) 
Ordered17 Mar, 1933 
Laid down21 Aug, 1933 
Launched12 Oct, 1934 
Commissioned6 Jun, 1935 
End service8 Feb, 1944 
Loss position
 
HistoryHMS Foxhound was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy as HMCS Qu'appelle on 8 February 1944.

Commanding Officers:
Lt.Cdr. Philip Henry Hadow, RN
7 December 1937 – 26 January 1940
Promoted to Cdr. on 31 December 1939

Cdr. Geoffrey Hendley Peters, RN
26 January 1940 – 26 July 1942
DSC awarded on ???

Cdr. Cecil John Wynne-Edwards, DSC, RN
26 July 1942 – 8 February 1944 

Career notesBecame the Canadian destroyer Qu'appelle

Noteable events involving Foxhound include:

14 Sep, 1939
The German submarine U-39 was sunk north-west of Ireland in position 58º32'N, 11º49'W by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS Faulknor (Capt. C.S. Daniel, RN), HMS Foxhound (Lt.Cdr. P.H. Hadow, RN) and HMS Firedrake (Lt.Cdr. S.H. Norris, RN). (see map)

6 Feb, 1941
British raid on Genoa.

Force H (Vice Admiral Somerville) left Gibraltar on 6 February 1941. The battlecruiser HMS Renown (Capt R.R. McGrigor, RN), battleship HMS Malaya (Capt. A.F.E. Palliser, DSC, RN), aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal (Capt. C.S. Holland, RN), light cruiser HMS Sheffield (Capt. C.A.A. Larcom, RN) and the destroyers HMS Fearless (Cdr. A.F. Pugsley, RN) HMS Foxhound (Lt.Cdr. G.H. Peters, DSC, RN), HMS Foresight (Cdr. J.S.C. Salter, RN), HMS Fury (Lt.Cdr. T.C. Robinson, RN), HMS Encounter (Lt.Cdr. E.V.St.J. Morgan, RN) and HMS Jersey (Lt.Cdr. A.F. Burnell-Nugent, DSC, RN) left Gibraltar to the west with convoy HG-53. This was done to fool German and Italian observers in Spain. In the meantime 4 destroyers HMS Duncan (Capt. A.D.B. James, RN), HMS Isis (Cdr. C.S.B. Swinley, DSC, RN) HMS Firedrake (Lt.Cdr. S.H. Norris, DSO, DSC, RN) and HMS Jupiter (Lt.Cdr. N.V.J.P. Thew, RN) left Gibraltar and steamed to the east to conduct a anti-submarine sweep. During the night Force H reversed course and passed Gibraltar on a westerly course back into the Mediterranean. There they were joined by the 4 destroyers that conducted the anti-submarine sweep.

On 8 February the Italian fleet left port and steamed south after they received reports of British carrier aircraft south of the Balearen. The Italians thought that there was another convoy to Malta.

Early in the morning of 9 February Renown, Malaya and Sheffield bombarded the Italian city of Genua. In the harbour 4 ships were sunk and 18 were damaged. Also the city itself was damaged.

The Italian fleet turned around and tried to intercept the British ships but due to the bad weather this failed.

In the meantime Ark Royal's aircraft raided Livorno and mined the harbour of La Spezia.

Force H safely returned to Gibraltar on 11 February.

7 Apr, 1941
HMS Foxhound (Cdr. G.H. Peters, RN) picks up 3 survivors in position 07°25'N, 13°55'W from the British merchant Umona that was torpedoed and sunk on 30 March 1941 by the German submarine U-124 about 90 nautical miles south-west of Freetown in approximate position 06º52'N, 15º14'W. (see map)

18 Jun, 1941
The German submarine U-138 was sunk west of Cadiz, in position 36º04'N, 07º29'W, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS Faulknor (Capt. A.F. de Salis, DSO, RN), HMS Fearless (Cdr. A.F. Pugsley, RN), HMS Forester (Lt.Cdr. E.B. Tancock, DSC, RN), HMS Foresight (Cdr. J.S.C. Salter, RN) and HMS Foxhound (Cdr. G.H. Peters, DSC, RN). (see map)


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