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Allied Warships

HMS Petard (G 56)

Destroyer of the P class

NavyThe Royal Navy
TypeDestroyer
ClassP 
PennantG 56 
Built byVickers Armstrong (Newcastle-on-Tyne, U.K.) : Vickers Armstrong (Barrow-in-Furness, U.K.) 
Ordered20 Oct, 1939 
Laid down26 Dec, 1939 
Launched27 Mar, 1941 
Commissioned15 Jun, 1942 
End service 
Loss position
 
HistoryScrapped at Bo-ness in June 1967.

Commanding Officers:
Lt.Cdr. Mark Thornton, RN
28 April 1942 – January 1943

Lt.Cdr. Rupert Cyril Egan, RN
January 1943 – around September 1944
DSO awarded on 30 March 1944
DSC awarded on 28 April 1944

Petard refitting

Lt.Cdr. Reginald Lacey Caple, DSC, RN
November 1944 – still in command in October 1945 according to the Navy List 

Former nameHMS Persistant

Noteable events involving Petard include:

30 Oct, 1942
The German submarine U-559 was sunk in the Mediterranean north-east of Port Said, in position 32º30'N, 33º00'E, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS Pakenham (Capt. E.B.K. Stevens, DSO, DSC, RN), HMS Petard (Lt.Cdr. M. Thornton, DSC, RN), HMS Hero (Lt. W. Scott, DSC, RN) and the British escort destroyers HMS Dulverton (Lt.Cdr. W.N. Petch, DSO, OBE, RN), HMS Hurworth (Lt.Cdr. J.T.B. Birch, DSO, DSC, RN) and a British Short Sunderland aircraft from RAF 47 Sqn. (see map)

15 Dec, 1942
The Italian submarine Uarsciek (620 tons) was sunk south off Malta by the British destroyer HMS Petard (Lt.Cdr. M. Thornton, DSC, RN) and the Greek destroyer Vasilissa Olga.

4 May, 1943
The British destroyers HMS Nubian (Cdr. D.E. Holland-Martin, DSC, RN), HMS Paladin (Lt.Cdr. L.St.G. Rich, RN) and HMS Petard (Lt.Cdr. R.C. Egan, RN) sinks the Italian transport ship Campo Basso (3566 GRT) and its escort the Italian torpedo boat Perseo (652 tons) about 8 nautical miles east of Kelibia, Tunisia.




Capturing Enigma
Harper, Stephen

Books dealing with this subject include:

Capturing Enigma, Harper, Stephen, 2000 (transl.)
Fighting Destroyer, Connell, G. G., 1994


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