| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | Escort destroyer |
| Class | Hunt (Type II) |
| Pennant | L 24 |
| Built by | Cammell Laird Shipyard (Birkenhead, U.K.) |
| Ordered | 4 Sep 1939 |
| Laid down | 18 Nov 1939 |
| Launched | 6 Aug 1940 |
| Commissioned | 14 Dec 1940 |
| End service | |
| History | Scrapped at Barrow on 2 January 1957. |
Commands listed for HMS Blencathra (L 24)
Please note that we're still working on this section.
| Commander | From | To | |
| 1 | Cdr. Hugh Waters Shelley Browning, RN | 6 Nov 1940 | 26 Apr 1941 |
| 2 | Cdr. John Henry Ruck-Keene, DSC, RN | 26 Apr 1941 | 20 Jul 1942 |
| 3 | Lt. Edgar George Warren, RN | 20 Jul 1942 | 24 Apr 1944 |
| 4 | Lt. Peter Gerald Charles Dickens, DSO, DSC, RN | 24 Apr 1944 | Jun 1945 |
| 5 | Lt. Neil Derrick Cornwall, RN | Jun 1945 |
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Notable events involving Blencathra include:
24 Dec 1940
At 1530 hours a walrus aircraft reported having attacked a surfaced U-boat west of the Shetland Islands in position 60°25'N, 02°34'W. The destroyer HMS Kelly (Capt. L.F.A.V.N. Mountbatten, GCVO, RN) and the escort destroyers HMS Blencathra (Cdr. H.W.S. Browning, RN) and HMS Tynedale (Lt.Cdr. H.E.F. Tweedie, RN) departed Scapa Flow in the early evening to hunt down the enemy submarine. No submarine could be detected thought, which is not surprising as no German submarine reported the aircraft attack which therefore must have been against a non-sub target.
2 Apr 1941
Around 1900 hours, HMS Resolution (Capt. A.R. Halfhide, CBE, RN) departed Portsmouth for Greenock. She was escorted by the destroyers HMS Kelly (Capt. L.F.A.V.N. Mountbatten, GCVO, DSO, RN), HMS Kashmir (Cdr. H.A. King, RN), HMS Kelvin (Cdr. J.H. Allison, DSO, RN) and HMS Jackal (Lt.Cdr. R.McC.P. Jonas, DSC, RN) and the escort destroyers HMS Atherstone (Lt.Cdr. R.F. Jenks, RN), HMS Blencathra (Cdr. H.W.S. Browning, RN) and HMS Tynedale (Lt.Cdr. H.E.F. Tweedie, RN). HMS Tynedale was an additional escort for the night, she was to part company at dawn the next day. (1)
4 Apr 1941
HMS Resolution (Capt. A.R. Halfhide, CBE, RN), (Cdr. H.A. King, RN), HMS Kelvin (Cdr. J.H. Allison, DSO, RN), HMS Jackal (Lt.Cdr. R.McC.P. Jonas, DSC, RN), HMS Atherstone (Lt.Cdr. R.F. Jenks, RN) and HMS Blencathra (Cdr. H.W.S. Browning, RN) arrived at Greenock. (2)
10 Mar 1944
German U-boat U-450 was sunk in the western Mediterranean south of Ostia, in position 41°11'N, 12°27'E, by depth charges from the British escort destroyers HMS Blankney (Lt.Cdr. D.H.R. Bromley, RN), HMS Blencathra (Lt.Cdr. E.G. Warren, RN), HMS Brecon (Lt. N.R.H. Rodney, RN), HMS Exmoor (Lt. D.D. Howson, RN) and the US destroyer USS Madison (Cdr. D.A. Stuart, USN).
30 Mar 1944
German U-boat U-223 was sunk in the Mediterranean north of Palermo, in position 38°48'N, 14°10'E, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS Laforey (Capt. H.T. Armstrong, DSO, DSC and Bar, RN) and HMS Tumult (Lt.Cdr. N. Lanyon, RN) and the British escort destroyers HMS Hambledon (Lt. L.G. Toone, RN) and HMS Blencathra (Lt.Cdr. E.G. Warren, RN).
24 Nov 1944
HMS Vengeful (Lt. A.S. Melville-Ross, DSC, RN) conducted A/S exercises at/off Scapa Flow with HMS Blencathra (Lt. P.G.C. Dickens, MBE, DSO, DSC, RN), HMS Ulster (Lt.Cdr. R.J. Hanson, DSO and Bar, DSC, RN) and HMS Mendip (Lt. P.D. Davey, RN). (3)
Sources
- ADM 53/114987
- ADM 187/12
- ADM 173/19364
ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.