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Allied Warships

HMS Veteran (D 72)

Destroyer of the Admiralty V & W class

NavyThe Royal Navy
TypeDestroyer
ClassAdmiralty V & W 
PennantD 72 
Built byJohn Brown Shipbuilding & Engineering Company Ltd. (Clydebank, Scotland) 
Ordered 
Laid down30 Aug, 1918 
Launched26 Aug, 1919 
Commissioned13 Nov, 1919 
Lost26 Sep, 1942 
Loss position54.34N, 25.44W (See a map)
 
HistoryOn 27 September 1942 HMS Veteran (Lt.Cdr Trevor Henry Garwood, RN) was torpedoed and sunk by U-404 in position 54º34'N, 25º44'W while escorting convoy RB-1. When torpedoed she was rescuing survivors of the American passenger ship New York. She was lost with all hands together with rescued survivors from the American passenger ships Boston and New York. The convoy was attacked by three wolf packs totalling 17 U-boats.

Commanding Officers:
HMS Veteran was in Dockyard Control during refit at the start of the 2nd World War

Cdr. John Egerton Broome, RN
11 October 1939 – 4 December 1940

Cdr. Walter Thomas Couchman, RN
4 December 1940 – 6 July 1941
OBE 31 December 1940

Cdr. William Edward James Eames, RN
6 July 1941 - ???
DSC awarded on 23 January 1942

Lt.Cdr Trevor Henry Garwood, RN
??? - 26 September 1942+
Promoted to Lt.Cdr. on 16 August 1942 

Hit by U-boat
Sunk on 26 Sep, 1942 by U-404 (Bülow).


Noteable events involving Veteran include:

4 Apr, 1941
The British merchant Harbledown is torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-94 south-south-west of Iceland in position 58º24'N, 23º20'W. HMS Veteran (Cdr. W.T. Couchman, OBE, RN) later picks up 25 survivors.

1 May, 1941
HMS Veteran (Cdr. W.T. Couchman, OBE, RN) picks up 83 survivors from the British passenger ship Nerissa that was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-552 south-east of Rockall in position 55º57'N, 10º08'W.

10 Jun, 1941
HMS Veteran (Cdr. W.E.J. Eames, RN) picks up 29 survivors from the British merchant Ainderby that was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-552 130 nautical miles west by north of Bloody Foreland in position 55º30'N, 12º10'W.

11 Sep, 1941
The German submarine U-207 was sunk in the Straits of Denmark south-east of Angmassalik, Greenland, in position 63º59'N, 34º48'W, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS Leamington (Lt.Cdr. H.G. Bowerman, RN) and HMS Veteran (Cdr. W.E.J. Eames, RN). (see map)

3 Jul, 1942
HMS Veteran took over the attack on U-215 from the British ASW Trawler HMS Le Tiger with depth charges and Hedgehog. U-215 was sunk but credited to Le Tiger.


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