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| History | |
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 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMSSaumarez |
| Namesake | James Saumarez, 1st Baron de Saumarez |
| Ordered | January 1941 |
| Builder | Hawthorn Leslie, Hebburn,Newcastle upon Tyne |
| Launched | 20 November 1942 |
| Commissioned | 1 July 1943 |
| Identification | Pennant number: G12 |
| Honours and awards |
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| Fate |
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| Badge | On a Field White, within a crescent Red a leopard's face black |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | S-classdestroyer |
| Displacement | 1,730 tons (standard) |
| Length | 363 ft (111 m) |
| Beam | 35 ft (11 m) |
| Draught | 14 ft (4.3 m) |
| Propulsion | |
| Speed | 36.75knots (68.06 km/h; 42.29 mph) |
| Complement | 225 |
| Armament |
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HMSSaumarez was anS-classdestroyer of theRoyal Navy, completed on 1 July 1943. As a flotilla leader, her standard displacement was 20 tons heavier than other ships of her class. She continued the tradition of flotilla leaders being named after prominent British seamen, in her case Vice-AdmiralJames Saumarez, 1st Baron de Saumarez of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
After working up, theSaumarez was allocated to the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla,Home Fleet, and shortly after to the 23rd Destroyer Flotilla, working with theArctic convoys. She was one of the escorts which sailed fromSeyðisfjörður,Iceland on 23 October, taking with them five Russianminesweepers and six Russian motor launches, to bring back from theKola Inlet thirteen ships which had been there since the Spring. The convoy (RA 54A) sailed fromArkhangelsk on 1 November and arrived in United Kingdom ports on 13 and 14 November without loss, although it had been delayed by thick fog.Saumarez escorted an outgoing Arctic convoy shortly afterwards, which also arrived without loss or damage.
On 22 DecemberConvoy RA 55A sailed from Kola, escorted by eight destroyers, includingSaumarez, two Canadian destroyers, three corvettes and a minesweeper. The outgoing convoy,JW 55B, had leftLoch Ewe on 20 December and was expected to reachBear Island on Christmas Day about the same time as RA 55A.Cruiser cover was provided east of Bear Island byBelfast,Sheffield andNorfolk, and heavy cover by thebattleshipDuke of York and the cruiserJamaica.
Enigma intelligence alerted the Admiralty to the fact that Scharnhorst was being deployed, and early on 25 December allied ships were so informed. She was detected by the cruisers and after some hours trying to evade them and strike at the convoy, headed for home. The German vessel was intercepted and hit byDuke of York and a long chase followed. In theensuing action,Saumarez's guns fired continuously for eleven minutes, followed by torpedo attacks. A shell fromScharnhorst, which did not explode, passed through the Director Control Tower, killing eleven men and putting the tower out of action. A near miss also damaged the forced lubrication system.Duke of York and the cruisers sankScharnhorst, three hours after the first sighting. The four destroyers,Saumarez,Savage,Scorpion and the NorwegianStord had scored at least three hits.
Saumarez steamed toMurmansk on one engine and after temporary repairs by the Soviets left for the UK. Following a refit, completed in March 1944, she was again part of the escort of a pair of Arctic convoys,JW 58 andRA 58, both of which reached their destinations unscathed. The successfulFleet Air Arm attack on theGerman battleship Tirpitz, which took place on 3 April, was synchronised with the passage of JW 58.
InOperation Neptune, the landings in Normandy in June 1944,Saumarez was Senior Officer's ship of the 23rd Destroyer Flotilla, which gave naval gun fire support as part of Force S in the assault onOuistreham.Saumarez and the destroyerOnslaught engaged a convoy of three or four minesweepers and one merchant vessel offSt Peter Port,Guernsey on 14 August. The convoy was frequently hit and both destroyers sustained slight damage and casualties.
In SeptemberSaumarez was part of the escort of another Arctic convoy. She was refitted atNewcastle from November to January 1945, prior to joining the 26th Destroyer Flotilla,British East Indies Fleet.
Early in January 1945,Saumarez left from theClyde to rendezvous with theaircraft carrierFormidable and escort her fromAlexandria toColombo. She arrived at Colombo on 8 February andTrincomalee on 10 March. On 11 MarchSaumarez took part in a sweep in theAndaman Sea, with the destroyersVolage andRapid. They found and destroyed ajunk in Stewart Sound, butRapid andVolage sustained damage and casualties from hits from a coastal gun reported to be 6 inch or larger. On 25 March, a further sweep was made. A Japanese convoy was sighted the next day and engaged. Although the destroyers attacked with gunfire and torpedoes they made few hits and, being low on ammunition, called on twoLiberator bombers to sink the enemy. One of these sank one of the Japanese auxiliary,Risui with bombs.Volage sank the other auxiliary,Teshio Maru, with gunfire. Both escorts were also sunk.Saumarez was in Force 63 in April, when she bombardedOleelhoe,Sumatra.
She was part of the escorting destroyers of the21st Aircraft Carrier Squadron that took part inOperation Dracula from April to May 1945. She was part of the Carrier Force inOperation Bishop, formed to protect the convoys in the seaborne assault onRangoon, and then took part inOperation Dukedom, which was mounted to attack a Japanese naval force reported sailing fromSingapore on 10 May 1945. On this occasion, she was part of the newly constituted Force 61. TheJapanese cruiser Haguro and destroyerKamikaze had left theMalacca Strait on 14 May and early next day aGrumman Avenger torpedo bomber operating from theescort aircraft carrierHMSEmperor sighted them.Saumarez,Verulam andVigilant in one division andVenus andVirago in a second, were diverted to intercept. The destroyers attacked both ships early on 16 May.Haguro, overwhelmed by their torpedoes, went to the bottom at 0209 in a position some forty-five miles southwest of Penang, although she had straddledSaumarez twice prior.Kamikaze was damaged but managed to escape.
Saumarez was refitted atDurban from June to August. Although Japan had formally surrendered on 2 September, the occupation of Western Malaya (Operation Zipper) was carried out almost as planned originally.Saumarez was one of the fifteen destroyers screening the operation. The 26th Destroyer Flotilla left the East Indies Headquarters at Colombo on 17 November and arrived in the UK early in December.Saumarez went toPlymouth for refit and preparation for service in theMediterranean.
Early in March 1946Saumarez sailed for the Mediterranean, for service in the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla. In June she intercepted acaïque carrying 382 illegal immigrants bound forPalestine and towed the caique toHaifa. A boarding party fromSaumarez also arrested SSHochelaga off Haifa on 31 July, carrying 500 immigrants.
On 26 September 1946, she sailed on a Mediterranean cruise with twenty-four other ships. Orders were given for a part of the 1st Cruiser Squadron to pass through theCorfu Strait, from south to north. On 22 October theSaumarez, preceded by the cruisersMauritius and the New ZealandLeander, followed by the destroyerVolage, proceeded through the swept Medri channel.Saumarez struck amine at 14:53, which caused severe damage and 30 deaths among her crew.Damage control parties led by the ship's second-in-command,Teddy Gueritz, helped to minimise the casualty numbers.[1][2]Volage closed her to take her in tow and after some difficulty, passed the tow and began to towSaumarez stern first. Although his jaw had been broken by the explosion,Saumarez's signal officer,John Edmondson assisted in securing the tow.[3] At 16:06 however, a mine exploded nearVolage, wrecking the ship forward. She was able to re-connect the tow toSaumarez, and the two destroyers, both stern-first, reached the Corfu Roads at 03:10 on 23 October.
Saumarez was then moved toMalta, where she remained until September 1950. In February 1948 approval to scrapSaumarez was given. On 23 August 1950 the hulk arrived atGibraltar.[4] She was then towed back to the UK and broken up atRosyth.
 Royal Navy |
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 Royal Netherlands Navy |
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 Royal Norwegian Navy |
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