Allied Warships

HMS Cassandra (R 62)

Destroyer of the Ca class

Navy	The Royal Navy
Type	Destroyer
Class	Ca
Pennant	R 62
Built by	Yarrow Shipbuilders Ltd. (Scotstoun, Scotland)
Ordered	16 Feb 1942
Laid down	30 Jan 1943
Launched	29 Nov 1943
Commissioned	28 Jul 1944
End service
History	Arrived at Inverkeithing to be broken up for scrap on 28 April 1967. Hit by U-boat Damaged on 11 Dec 1944 by U-365 (Todenhagen).
U-boat Attack	See our U-boat attack entry for the HMS Cassandra
Former name	HMS Tourmaline

Commands listed for HMS Cassandra (R 62)

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	Commander	From	To
1	Cdr. Philip Frederick Powlett, DSO, DSC, RN	12 Jun 1944	early 1945

2	Lt. Charles Courtney Anderson, RN	10 Jul 1945	mid 1945

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Notable events involving Cassandra include:

14 Sep 1944
HMS Trusty (Lt. E.T. Stanley, DSO, DSC, RN) conducts A/S exercises with HMS Verulam (Lt.Cdr. W.S. Thomas, DSC, RN), HMS Cassandra (Cdr. P.F. Powlett, DSO and Bar, DSC, RN) and later on the day with HMS Zephyr (Lt.Cdr. J.F.D. Bush, DSC and 2 Bars, RN). (1)

16 Sep 1944
HMS Trusty (Lt. E.T. Stanley, DSO, DSC, RN) conducts A/S exercises with HMS Cassandra (Cdr. P.F. Powlett, DSO and Bar, DSC, 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)

20 Nov 1944
HMS Vengeful (Lt. A.S. Melville-Ross, DSC, RN) conducted A/S exercises at/off Scapa Flow with HMS Carron (Lt.Cdr. J.V. Wilkinson, DSC, RN) and HMS Cassandra (Cdr. P.F. Powlett, DSO and Bar, DSC, RN). (4)

11 Dec 1944
British destroyer HMS Cassandra (Cdr. P.F. Powlett, DSO and Bar, DSC, RN) was hit by a Gnat torpedo fired by German U-boat U-365. The entire bow ahead of the forward magazine, including 'A' gun turret were blown off and the structure abaft this to the forward bulkhead of the fuel tanks was wrecked. Cassandra was taken in tow (stern first) by the British frigate HMS Bahamas (T/A/Lt.Cdr. W.S. Thomson, RNR). Later the tow was passed over to a Soviet tug which towed her to the Kola Inlet. 62 men lost their lives in this attack.