| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | ASW Trawler |
| Class | [No specific class] |
| Pennant | 4.76 |
| Built by | Deschimag (Bremerhaven, Germany) |
| Ordered | |
| Laid down | |
| Launched | |
| Commissioned | Sep 1939 |
| End service | |
| History | Completed in September 1936. Returned to her owner in November 1945. |
Commands listed for HMS Northern Foam (4.76)
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.
| Commander | From | To | |
| 1 | Lt. George William Houchen, RNR | 5 Sep 1939 | Oct 1940 |
| 2 | T/Lt. Martin Todd, RNR | Oct 1940 | early 1942 |
| 3 | T/Lt. Keir Francis Rasmussen, RNR | early 1942 | 9 Jul 1942 |
| 4 | T/Lt. Bryan Webster Harris, RNVR | 9 Jul 1942 | 18 Oct 1943 |
| 5 | T/Lt. John Alexander Crockett, RNR | 18 Oct 1943 |
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Notable events involving Northern Foam include:
12 Apr 1940
Around 1840A/12, HMS Suffolk (Capt. J.W. Durnford, RN), departed Greenock with about 250 Marines on board which were to be taken to the Faeroer Islands.
The destroyers HMS Havant (Lt.Cdr. A.F. Burnell-Nugent, RN) and HMS Hesperus (Lt.Cdr. D.G.F.W. MacIntyre, RN) had arrived at Thorshavn on this day to inform the Governor of the Faroes Islands that a garrison of Royal Marines would be garrisoned there to repel a possible German invasion. The destroyers then went out to sea to await the arrival of HMS Suffolk. They made rendezvous at 1450A/13 and arrived at Thorshavn around 1630A/13.
The armed boarding vessels HMS Northern Foam (Lt.Cdr. G.W. Houchen, RNR) and HMS Northern Sky (Lt. J.E. Bromley, RNR) which were already waiting there then went alongside HMS Suffolk to take over the Marines.
The operation was completed late in the evening of the 13th when HMS Suffolk departed for the Vestfjord area near Narvik, Norway. HMS Havant and HMS Hesperus departed for Scapa Flow arriving there around 1030A/14. HMS Northern Sky resumed duties with the Northern Patrol. HMS Northern Foam remained at Thorshavn for the moment. (1)
23 Sep 1943
HMS Northern Foam (Lt. H.G. Ross) picks up 30 survivors from the British merchant Fort Jemseg and 43 survivors from the Norwegian merchant Skjelbred that were torpedoed and sunk by German U-boat U-238 in the North Atlantic, south-southeast of Cape Farewell, in position 53°18'N, 40°24'W.
Sources
- ADM 53/113277 + ADM 199/361 + ADM 199/376
ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.