Allied Warships

HMS Cattistock (L 35)

Escort destroyer of the Hunt (Type I) class

NavyThe Royal Navy
TypeEscort destroyer
ClassHunt (Type I) 
PennantL 35 
Built byYarrow Shipbuilders Ltd. (Scotstoun, Scotland) 
Ordered21 Mar 1939 
Laid down9 Jun 1939 
Launched22 Feb 1940 
Commissioned1 Aug 1940 
End service 
History

Scrapped at Newport in June 1957.

This was the 2nd ship of the name.

Battle Honours;
North Sea 1941 - 1945
English Channel 1942 - 1944
Normandy 1944

 

Commands listed for HMS Cattistock (L 35)

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

CommanderFromTo
1Lt.Cdr. Robert Alastair Ewing, RN< Aug 4024 Jun 1941
2Lt. Robert Meryon William MacFarlan, RN24 Jun 1941Jun 1943
3Lt. Richard George Damyon Keddie, DSC, RNJun 194329 Aug 1944 (+)
4Lt. Thomas Stephen Sampson, RN29 Aug 19443 Sep 1944
5Lt. Phillip Graham Sharp, DSC, RNVR3 Sep 1944late 1945

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Notable events involving Cattistock include:


10 Aug 1940
HMS Jaguar (Lt.Cdr. J.F.W. Hine, RN) and HMS Cattistock (Lt.Cdr R.A. Ewing, RN) departed Scapa Flow for exercises to the west of the Orkneys on completion of which they were ordered to join the escort of convoy HX 61 from Cape Wrath to the Pentland Firth.

HMS Jaguar was however soon ordered to proceed to position 58°38'N, 04°35'W to rescue the crew of the small merchant vessel Albula (Dutch, 329 GRT, built 1936), from convoy OA 196, which had been in a collision and was reported to be in a sinking condition.

Convoy HX 61 was not contacted at all as it had been delayed by heavy weather and the destroyers returned to Scapa Flow at 0900/11.

(1)

12 Dec 1940
After a delay of 24 hours due to a reported enemy submarine the British battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth (Capt. C.B. Barry, DSO, RN) departed Portsmouth for Rosyth where she was to complete her reconstruction.

She was escorted by the destroyers HMS Kashmir (Cdr. H.A. King, RN), HMS Kipling (Cdr. A. St. Clair-Ford, RN), HMS Jupiter (Lt.Cdr. N.V.J.T. Thew, RN) and HMS Punjabi (Cdr. J.T. Lean, DSO, RN) and the escort destroyers HMS Cattistock (Lt.Cdr R.A. Ewing, RN), HMS Cleveland (Lt.Cdr. W.S. Clouston, RN), HMS Fernie (Lt.Cdr. R.McC.P. Jonas, RN) and HMS Holderness (Lt.Cdr. D.E. Holland-Martin, DSC, RN).

Around 1600A/13 the original escort was relieved by the destroyer HMS Brilliant (Lt.Cdr. F.C. Brodrick, RN) and the escort destroyers HMS Exmoor (Lt.Cdr. R.T. Lampard, RN), HMS Pytchley (Lt.Cdr. H. Unwin, DSC, RN) and HMS Southdown (Cdr. E.R. Condor, DSO, DSC, RN).

At 1630A/14 the light cruiser HMS Nigeria (Capt. J.G.L. Dundas, RN) and the AA cruiser HMS Curacoa (Capt. C.C. Hughes-Hallett, RN) joined the escort coming from Scapa Flow.

The battleship and her escort arrived at Rosyth around 1330A/15. HMS Nigeria had parted company around 1115A/15 and arrived back at Scapa Flow later the same day.

19 Jul 1941
HMS Euryalus (Capt. E.W. Bush, DSO, DSC, RN) departed Sheerness for Rosyth. On departure from Sheerness she was escorted by the destroyer HMS Worcester (Lt.Cdr. E.C. Coats, RN) and the escort destroyer HMS Cattistock (Lt. R.M.W. MacFarlan, RN). (2)

9 Aug 1941
HMS Penelope (Capt. A.D. Nicholl, RN) shifted from the Tyne to Rosyth. She was escorted by the escort destroyers HMS Westminster (Lt.Cdr. A.A.C. Ouvry, RN) and HMS Cattistock (Lt. R.M.W. MacFarlan, RN).

At Rosyth, HMS Penelope is immediately docked in No.1 dock. (3)

26 Feb 1942
Around 0830A/26, the heavy cruiser HMS Shropshire (Capt. J.T. Borrett, OBE, RN) departed Sheerness for Scapa Flow. She is escorted by the destroyer HMS Veteran (Cdr. W.E.J. Eames, DSC, RN) and escort destroyers HMS Cattistock (Lt. R.M.W. MacFarlan, RN) and HMS Hambledon (Lt.Cdr. J.R. Barnes, RN).

The escort destroyers parted company around 0740A/27.

Around 1200A/27, HMS Shropshire arrived at Scapa Flow.

HMS Veteran continued on to Londonderry where she arrived on the 28th. (4)

3 May 1942
Around 1300B/3, the heavy cruiser HMS Cumberland (Capt. A.H. Maxwell-Hyslop, AM, RN), departed Sheerness for Scapa Flow. She was being escorted by the escort destroyers HMS Cattistock (Lt.Cdr. R.M.W. MacFarlan, RN) and HMS Meynell (Lt.Cdr. W.H. Farrington, RN).

HMS Meynell parted company at 2317B/3.

HMS Cattistock parted company at 0515B/4.

HMS Cumberland arrived at Scapa Flow around 1540B/4. (5)

1 Aug 1943
HMS Umbra (Lt. P.H. May, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Plymouth with HMCS Athabascan (Cdr. G.R. Miles, DSO, OBE, RCN), HMS Cattistock (Lt. R.G.D. Keddie, DSC, RN), HMS Cambridgeshire (T/Lt. H.F.B. Ashby, RNVR), HMS Ambrose Pare (Skr. J.W. Morris, RNR), HMS Victrix (T/Lt. J.D. Craighead, RNR) and HMS Kingston Andalusite (T/Lt. W.S. Lowe, RNVR). (6)

Sources

  1. ADM 199/3676
  2. ADM 53/114245
  3. ADM 53/114494 + ADM 53/114849
  4. ADM 53/116646
  5. ADM 53/115685
  6. ADM 173/18331

ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.


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