Hero during the Interwar period
History
United Kingdom
Name	Hero
Builder	Vickers-Armstrongs,High Walker
Yard number	4
Laid down	28 February 1935
Launched	10 March 1936
Commissioned	23 October 1936
Identification	Pennant number: H99
Fate	Transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy on 15 November 1943
Canada
Name	Chaudière
Commissioned	15 November 1943
Decommissioned	17 August 1945
Stricken	19 March 1946
Honours & awards	Atlantic 1944 Normandy 1944 Biscay 1944
Fate	Sold for scrap in 1950
General characteristics as built
Class & type	H-class destroyer
Displacement	1,350 long tons (1,370 t) (standard) 1,883 long tons (1,913 t) (deep load)
Length	323 ft (98.5 m)
Beam	33 ft (10.1 m)
Draught	12 ft 5 in (3.8 m)
Installed power	34,000 shp (25,000 kW)
Propulsion	2 shafts,Parsons gearedsteam turbines 3 Admiralty 3-drumwater-tube boilers
Speed	36knots (67 km/h; 41 mph)
Range	5,530 nmi (10,240 km; 6,360 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	137 (peacetime), 146 (wartime)
Sensors & processing systems	ASDIC
Armament	4 × singleQF 4.7-inch (120 mm) Mk IX guns 2 × quadruple.50 cal machine guns 2 × quadruple21 inch (533 mm)torpedo tubes 20 ×depth charges, 1 rail and 2 throwers

HMSHero was anH-classdestroyer built for theRoyal Navy in the mid-1930s. During theSpanish Civil War of 1936–1939 the ship enforced the arms blockade imposed by Britain and France on both sides as part of theMediterranean Fleet. During the first few months ofWorld War II,Hero searched for Germancommerce raiders in theAtlantic Ocean and took part in theSecond Battle of Narvik during theNorwegian Campaign of April–June 1940 before she was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in May where she escorted a number ofconvoys to Malta. The ship took part in theBattle of Cape Spada in July 1940,Operation Abstention in February 1941, and theevacuations of Greece andCrete in April–May 1941.

The ship covered anamphibious landing during theSyria–Lebanon Campaign of June 1941 and began escorting supply convoys in June toTobruk,Libya shortly afterwards. She was damaged by Germandive bombers while rescuing survivors from theminelayerLatona in October 1941 and resumed escorting convoys to Malta.Hero took part in theSecond Battle of Sirte in March 1942 and inOperation Vigorous in June. She sank two German submarines whilst stationed in the Mediterranean in 1942, and was transferred back home late in the year to begin converting to anescort destroyer. The ship was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) in 1943 and renamedHMCSChaudière. She became part of theMid-Ocean Escort Force in early 1944 until her transfer back to British coastal waters in May to protect the build-up forOperation Overlord. Together with other ships, she sank three more German submarines during the year.Chaudière was refitting when the war ended in May 1945 and was in poor shape. The ship waspaid off in August and later sold forscrap. The process of breaking her up, however, was not completed until 1950.

Hero displaced 1,350 long tons (1,370 t) atstandard load and 1,883 long tons (1,913 t) atdeep load. The ship had anoverall length of 323 feet (98.5 m), abeam of 33 feet (10.1 m) and adraught of 12 feet 5 inches (3.8 m). She was powered byParsons gearedsteam turbines, driving two shafts, which developed a total of 34,000shaft horsepower (25,000 kW) and gave a maximum speed of 36knots (67 km/h; 41 mph). Steam for the turbines was provided by three Admiralty 3-drumwater-tube boilers.Hero carried a maximum of 470 long tons (480 t) offuel oil that gave her a range of 5,530nautical miles (10,240 km; 6,360 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). The ship's complement was 137 officers and men in peacetime,^[1] but this increased to 146 in wartime.^[2] In Canadian service, the crew numbered 10 officers and 171 men.^[3]

The ship mounted four4.7-inch Mk IX guns in single mounts, designated 'A', 'B', 'X', and 'Y' from front to rear. Foranti-aircraft (AA) defence,Hero had two quadruple Mark I mounts for the0.5 inch Vickers Mk IIImachine gun. She was fitted with two above-water quadrupletorpedo tube mounts for21-inch torpedoes.^[1] Onedepth charge rail and two throwers were fitted; 20 depth charges were originally carried, but this increased to 35 shortly after the war began.^[4] By mid-1940, this had increased to 44 depth charges.^[5]

Ordered on 13 December 1934 fromParsons Marine Steam Turbine Company,Hero was subcontracted toVickers-Armstrongs and laid down by theirHigh Walker Yard atNewcastle-on-Tyne, England, on 28 February 1935. She was launched on 10 March 1936 and completed on 21 October 1936. Excluding government-furnished equipment like the armament, the ship cost £249,858.^[6]

Most ships ofHero's class had the rear torpedo tubes replaced by a12-pounder AA gun after theevacuation of Dunkirk in 1940, but it is not clear if she underwent this refurbishment as she was deployed in the Mediterranean until 1943. Other changes made before her conversion to an escort destroyer in 1943 probably included exchanging her two quadruple .50-calibre Vickers machine guns mounted between her funnels for two Oerlikon 20 mm AA guns, the addition of two Oerlikon guns to hersearchlight platform and another pair on the wings of the ship'sbridge. The ship'sdirector-control tower andrangefinder above thebridge were most likely removed in exchange for aType 271 target indication radar during the conversion, as was the replacement of 'B' gun by aHedgehog anti-submarinespigot mortar, and the addition of aType 286 short-range surface search radar. TwoQF 6-pounderHotchkiss guns were fitted on the wings of her bridge to deal with U-boats at short ranges. The ship also received aHF/DFradio direction finder mounted on a polemainmast.^[7] 'Y' gun was also removed to allow her depth charge stowage to be increased. Late in the war, her Type 286 was replaced by aType 291 radar.^[8]

Hero was assigned to the2nd Destroyer Flotilla of the Mediterranean Fleet upon commissioning. She patrolled Spanish waters during the Spanish Civil War enforcing the policies of theNon-Intervention Committee.Hero received a refit in June–July 1939 in the UK and rejoined the Mediterranean Fleet upon its completion. The ship remained in the Mediterranean until 5 October when she was transferred toFreetown,Sierra Leone to search for German commerce raiders.Hero returned to the UK in January 1940 and received a refit atPortsmouth from 15 February to 16 March. In the meantime, the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla had been assigned to Home Fleet and the ship rejoined them when her refit was finished.^[9]

On 5 AprilHero escorted thebattlecruiserRenown as she covered theminelayers preparing to implementOperation Wilfred, an operation to lay mines in theVestfjord to prevent the transport of Swedishiron ore fromNarvik to Germany. The ship and hersister shipHyperion pretended to lay aminefield offBud, Norway on 8 April and reported its location to the Norwegians.Hero and the destroyerFoxhound streamed their TSDSminesweeping gear in advance of thebattleshipWarspite and her escort as they steamed up theVestfjord to engage the remaining German destroyers atNarvik on 13 April. The ship and four other British destroyers pursued the remaining German ships into theRombaksfjorden (the easternmost branch of theOfotfjord), east of Narvik, where the lack of ammunition had forced the German ships to retreat. Most of the German destroyers hadscuttled andbeached themselves at the head of thefjord, but the scuttling charges onZ18 Hans Lüdemann had failed to detonate properly and she was boarded by a small party fromHero. They found nothing of any significance as she'd been abandoned by her crew and the destroyer put a torpedo into her to prevent anysalvage.^[10]

Hero was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet on 17 May as part of the reconstituted 2nd Destroyer Flotilla. During the Battle of Cape Spada on 19 July, the ship escorted Australian light cruiserSydney and rescued some of the 525 survivors from theItalian cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni together with the other escorting destroyers.^[11]Hero, together with her sister,Hostile, and the destroyersNubian andMohawk, were ordered to Gibraltar on 22 August where they were to joinForce H.Hostile struck a mine en route on the early morning of 23 August offCap Bon that broke her back. The explosion killed five men and wounded three others.Mohawk took off the survivors whileHero fired two torpedoes to scuttle her.^[12] The ship took part inOperation Hats in September, before refitting inMalta during November. She sortied into the North Atlantic when Convoy WS-5A reported that it had been attacked by theGerman cruiser Admiral Hipper on 25 December to round up the scattered ships.^[11]

On 1 January 1941,Hero was one of the ships that intercepted aVichy French convoy offMellila and seized all four merchant ships of the convoy.^[13] The ship took part inOperation Excess early in January 1941 and was transferred back to the Mediterranean Fleet.^[11] On 27 February, she evacuated a few surviving commandos from the island ofKastelorizo who had attacked the island inOperation Abstention. In mid-April she escorted the fast transportBreconshire and three battleships from Alexandria to Malta before going on to escort the battleships as they bombardedTripoli on 20 April. After refueling in Alexandria on 23 April,Hero took part in Operation Demon,evacuating British and Australian troops from Greece. On 27 AprilHero towed the Dutchtroop shipCosta Rica, which had been damaged by a German air attack.^[14] When it was clear that the troop ship could not be saved from sinking,Hero, her sisterHereward, the destroyerDefender and cruiserPhoebe rescued all ofCosta Rica's crew and all 2,600 troops.^[15] During theevacuation of Crete,Hero and the destroyerDecoy evacuated theKing of Greece and his entourage on the night of 22/23 May.^[16]

Hero escorted theLSI(L)Glengyle as she conducted an amphibious landing in early June 1941 on the Lebanese coast during the opening stages of theOperation Exporter.^[17] She spent most of the rest of the year escorting convoys to Tobruk.^[11] Together with her sisterHotspur and the destroyerEncounter, the ship escortedLatona on 25 October whilst en route to Tobruk.^[18] They were attacked byJunkers Ju 87Stuka dive bombers of I./StG 1 that hitLatona and set her afire.^[19]Hero andEncounter came alongside and rescued the crew and passengers beforeLatona'smagazine exploded, butHero was damaged by three near misses whilst alongside. The ship returned to Alexandria for repairs^[18] and escorted a convoy to Malta in January 1942.^[20] She took part in the 2nd Battle of Sirte on 22 March whilst escorting a convoy to Malta. Together with theHunt-class destroyersEridge andHurworth on 29 May, she sank theGerman submarine U-568 north-east ofTobruk, at32°42′N24°53′E / 32.700°N 24.883°E /32.700; 24.883, and rescued 42 survivors.^[21]

During Operation Vigorous in June,Hero formed part of the escort for the covering force of the Mediterranean Fleet for the Malta-bound convoy. At time the ship still had not been fitted forradar.^[22] AfterPanzer Army Africa occupiedMersa Matruh in late June, the Admiralty ordered thesubmarine tendersMedway and the GreekCorinthia transferred toHaifa, butMedway was torpedoed and sunk en route despite the strong escort.^[23]Hero and the destroyerZulu rescued 1105 survivors between them. On 17 August, the ship rescued some 1,100 survivors of the torpedoedtroopshipPrincess Marguerite. In conjunction with four other destroyers and aWellesley light bomber of theRoyal Air Force,Hero sankU-559 60 nautical miles (110 km; 69 mi) north-east ofPort Said on 30 October. The ship was ordered back to the United Kingdom, via theCape of Good Hope, to be converted to an escort destroyer late in the year.^[21]

Her conversion at Portsmouth lasted from April to November 1943 andHero was transferred to theRoyal Canadian Navy as a gift on 15 November 1943 and renamed HMCSChaudière. Afterworking up, the ship was assigned to theEscort Group C2 in February 1944, based inDerry. On 6 March 1944, whilst defending Convoy HX 228 west of Ireland, the escorts forcedU-744 to the surface where she surrendered after a 32-hour hunt. The submarine could not be towed to port and wastorpedoed by the British destroyerIcarus. The ship was reassigned to the 11th Escort Group in May 1944 in preparation forOperation Overlord. The group was tasked to protect Allied shipping in theEnglish Channel and theBay of Biscay and, together with the destroyersOttawa andKootenay, the ship sankU-621 in theBay of Biscay nearLa Rochelle on 18 August. Two days later, the same ships sankU-984 in the Bay of Biscay west ofBrest. In November,Chaudière was sent toSydney, Nova Scotia for a refit.^[21]

The refit did not begin until late January 1945 and was still in progress when the war ended in May. She was found to be in the worst shape of any Canadian destroyer when inspected and was declared surplus to requirements on 13 June. She was paid off on 17 August 1945 and later sold for scrap to the Dominion Steel Company. Her demolition, however, was not completed until 1950.^[21]

The ship's completion onTyneside in 1936 inspired the poetMichael Roberts to write a poem entitled"H.M.S. Hero". The poem of twelve lines in threestanzas, begins;"Pale grey, her guns hooded, decks clear of all impediment, / Easily, between the swart tugs, she glides in the pale October sunshine...".^[24]

• English, John (1993).Amazon to Ivanhoe: British Standard Destroyers of the 1930s. Kendal: World Ship Society.ISBN 0-905617-64-9.
• Friedman, Norman (2009).British Destroyers From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 978-1-59114-081-8.
• Haarr, Geirr H. (2009).The German Invasion of Norway, April 1940. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 978-1-59114-310-9.
• Howse, Derek (1993).Radar at Sea: The Royal Navy in World War 2. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 1-55750-704-X.
• MacPherson, Ken; Barrie, Ron (2002).The Ships of Canada's Naval Forces 1910–2002. St. Catharines, ON: Vanwell.ISBN 1-55125-072-1.
• Osborne, Richard (February 2011). "Ration: Royal Navy Operations Against the Vichy French Merchant Fleet 1940–1942, Part One".Warships (165). London: World Ship Society:21–34.ISSN 0966-6958.
• Rohwer, Jürgen (2005).Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
• United Kingdom, Admiralty Historical Section (2002).The Royal Navy and the Mediterranean. Whitehall histories., Naval Staff histories. Vol. 2, November 1940 – December 1941. London: Whitehall History in association with Frank Cass.ISBN 0-7146-5205-9.
• Whitley, M.J. (1988).Destroyers of World War 2. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 0-87021-326-1.

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