| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | Escort destroyer |
| Class | Hunt (Type III) |
| Pennant | L 86 |
| Built by | Yarrow Shipbuilders Ltd. (Scotstoun, Scotland) |
| Ordered | 28 Jul 1940 |
| Laid down | 28 Jul 1941 |
| Launched | 20 Jun 1942 |
| Commissioned | 30 Oct 1942 |
| End service | 21 Nov 1944 |
| History | HMS Wensleydale (A/Lt.Cdr. William Patterson Goodfellow, DSC, RNVR) was heavily damaged off Southend (in the Thames Estuary) in a collision with the British landing ship HMS LST-367 on 21 November 1944. See also this website on HMS Wensleydale (offsite link). |
Commands listed for HMS Wensleydale (L 86)
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| Commander | From | To | |
| 1 | Lt. John Aylmer McClure, DSC, RN | 22 Sep 1942 | 28 Jun 1943 |
| 2 | Lt. William Pattisson Goodfellow, RNVR | 28 Jun 1943 | late 1944 |
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Noteable events involving Wensleydale include:
11 Jul 1943
The British escort destroyers HMS Melbreak (Lt. G.E.C.G. Baines, RN), HMS Wensleydale (Lt. W.P. Goodfellow, RNVR) and the Norwegian escort destroyer HNoMS Glaisdale (Lt. D.E. Kjeholt, RNN) intercept a German convoy off Quessant, France. In the resulting battle the German minesweeper M-153 (874 tons) is sunk by the Glaisdale but Melbreak in turn is heavily damaged by the German torpedo boats T-24 and T-25.
Oct 1943
Around the 10th of October 1943 HMS Wensleydale was ordered to first find and then escort the Free French Submarine Minerve (P26) back to port. Ken England remembers that "the submarine was transmitting the morse letter 'A' on a known frequency and by manning our MF D/F set we were able to get a fix on the sub's position". This submarine had been a victim of 'friendly fire' and was unable to dive. A Liberator, piloted by Mick Ensor spotted a submarine about 300 miles west of Brest. The submarine was attacked with eight 5"rockets. One 25lb rocket entered the starboard side just below the external torpedo tubes. Two men were killed. One by the rocket head and another by a fragment of the pressure hull. The submarine was off course and not reported in the area. Pilot Mick Ensor (see Enser's Endevour, by Vincent Orange) was cleared of any blame. The damage to Minerve proved very useful to navy intelligence. Many photographs were taken of the damage, angle of entry etc. The projectile was said to be virtually undamaged, but was unfortunately thrown overboard as it was considered likely to explode. (source: http://www.hmswensleydale.co.uk)
5 Aug 1944
German U-boat U-671 was sunk at 0200hrs on 5 Aug 1944 in the English Channel south of Brighton, in position 50°23'N, 00°06'E, by depth charges from the British frigate HMS Stayner (Lt.Cdr. H.J. Hall, DSO, DSC, RNR) and the British escort destroyer HMS Wensleydale (A/Lt.Cdr. W.P. Goodfellow, RNVR). (see map)
20 Aug 1944
German U-boat U-413 was sunk in the English Channel south of Brighton, in position 50°21'N, 00°01'W, by depth charges from the British escort destroyer HMS Wensleydale (A/Lt.Cdr. W.P. Goodfellow, RNVR) and the British destroyers HMS Forester (Lt. D.C. Beatty, RN) and HMS Vidette (T/A/Lt.Cdr. G.S. Wooley, RNVR). (see map)