Allied Warships

HMS Cambrian (R 85)

Destroyer of the Ca class

Navy	The Royal Navy
Type	Destroyer
Class	Ca
Pennant	R 85
Built by	Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. (Greenock, Scotland)
Ordered	24 Mar 1942
Laid down	14 Aug 1942
Launched	10 Dec 1943
Commissioned	17 Jul 1944
End service
History	Scraped at Briton Ferry, Wales starting on 3 September 1971.
Former name	HMS Spitfire

Commands listed for HMS Cambrian (R 85)

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	Commander	From	To
1	Lt.Cdr. Herbert Terrence Harrel, RN	10 Jun 1944	mid 1946

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Notable events involving Cambrian include:

8 Sep 1944
HMS Scythian (T/Lt C.P. Thode, RNZNVR) conducted A/S exercises at Scapa Flow with HMS Cambrian (Lt.Cdr. H.T. Harrel, RN). (1)

21 Sep 1944
HMS Scythian (T/Lt C.P. Thode, RNZNVR) conducted A/S exercises at Scapa Flow with HMS Cambrian (Lt.Cdr. H.T. Harrel, RN). (1)

22 Sep 1944
HMS Malaya (Cdr. D.H. Fuller, RN) departed Plymouth for Rosyth. She was being escorted by HMS Hart (Cdr. (retired) M.B. Sherwood, DSO and Bar, RN), HMS Lark (Cdr. H.L. Pryse, DSC, RNR) and HMS Skate (Lt. J.H. Macalister, RNVR).

At 1145/22 they were joined by HMS Affleck (Cdr.(Retd.) C. Gwinner, DSO and Bar, DSC, RN), HMS Garlies (Lt.Cdr. R.L. Calpe, DSC, RN) and HMS Gore (Lt. J.V. Reeves-Brown, DSC, RN).

At 1325/24, HMS Cassandra (Cdr. P.F. Powlett, DSO and Bar, DSC, RN) and HMS Cambrian (Lt.Cdr. H.T. Harrel, RN) took over from HMS Hart and HMS Lark. [The other escorts apparently had been detached by this time.]

At 1650/24, Verdun (Cdr. D. Parsons, RD, RNR) and HMS Vega (Lt. C.G. Forsberg, RN) took over from HMS Cassandra and HMS Cambrian.

Around 0945/25, HMS Malaya arrived off Rosyth. (2)

29 Oct 1944
HMS Virulent (Lt. S.J. Fovargue, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Scapa Flow with HMS Cassandra (Cdr. P.F. Powlett, DSO and Bar, DSC, RN), HMS Cambrian (Lt.Cdr. H.T. Harrel, RN) and HMS Zealous (Cdr. R.F. Jessel, DSO, DSC and Bar, RN). (3)

29 Mar 1945
HMS Tactician (Lt.Cdr. L.N.A. Jewell, DSC, MBE, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Campbeltown with HMS Carron (Lt.Cdr. J.V. Wilkinson, DSC, RN) and HMS Cambrian (Lt.Cdr. H.T. Harrel, RN). (4)

12 Apr 1945
At 0645 hours, HMS Cambrian (Lt.Cdr. H.T. Harrel, RN), HMS Carron (Lt.Cdr. J.V. Wilkinson, DSC, RN) and HMS Cavendish (Cdr. R.H. Maurice, DSO, RN) took over the escort of HMS Renown (Capt. B.C.B. Brooke, RN) from HMS Havelock (Cdr. R.A. Currie, DSC, RN) and HMS Hesperus (Lt. A.C.D. Leach, RN). (5)

14 Apr 1945
At 0700 hours, HMS Renown (Capt. B.C.B. Brooke, RN), HMS Cambrian (Lt.Cdr. H.T. Harrel, RN), HMS Carron (Lt.Cdr. J.V. Wilkinson, DSC, RN) and HMS Cavendish (Cdr. R.H. Maurice, DSO, RN) arrived at Scapa Flow. (5)