Aerial view ofGarland in 1945
History
United Kingdom
Name	Garland
Builder	Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering,Govan
Laid down	22 August 1934
Launched	24 October 1935
Completed	3 March 1936
Identification	Pennant number: H37
Fate	Loaned toPolish Navy, 3 May 1940
Poland
Name	Garland
Acquired	3 May 1940
Commissioned	3 May 1940
Decommissioned	24 September 1946
Fate	Returned toRoyal Navy, 24 September 1946
United Kingdom
Name	Garland
Acquired	23 July 1946
Decommissioned	23 July 1946
Fate	Sold toRoyal Netherlands Navy, 14 November 1946
Netherlands
Name	Garland
Acquired	14 November 1946
Decommissioned	31 January 1964
Renamed	Marnix, 16 January 1950
Fate	Scrapped
General characteristics as built
Class and type	G-classdestroyer
Displacement	1,350long 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	3Admiralty 3-drum boilers 34,000 shp (25,000 kW)
Propulsion	2 shafts, 2 gearedsteam turbines
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 and processing systems	ASDIC
Armament	4 × single4.7 in (120 mm) guns 2 × quadruple0.5 in (12.7 mm) machine guns 2 × quadruple21 in (533 mm)torpedo tubes 20 ×depth charges, 1 rail and 2 throwers

HMSGarland, also known by her Polish designationORPGarland, was aG-classdestroyer built for theRoyal Navy in the mid-1930s. During theSpanish Civil War of 1936–1939 the ship spent considerable time in Spanish waters, enforcing the arms blockade imposed by Britain and France on both sides of the conflict. Shortly afterWorld War II began, she was badly damaged by the premature explosion of her own depth charges and required over six months of repairs. Before these were completed,Garland was loaned to thePolish Navy in May 1940. The ship was assigned to theMediterranean Fleet afterwards and escorted convoys there before being assigned to theWestern Approaches Command in September for escort duties. She escorted a convoy fromGibraltar toMalta duringOperation Halberd in September 1941 and escortedConvoy PQ 16 fromIceland toMurmansk in May 1942. She was badly damaged by a near miss from a German bomber during that operation and required three months of repairs.

Garland was then assigned to theMid-Ocean Escort Force in the North Atlantic until December 1943, when she was transferred toFreetown,Sierra Leone, to escort convoys offWest Africa. In April 1944, the ship was transferred to back to the Mediterranean Fleet where she escorted convoys. She sank one German submarine in September before returning to the UK for a lengthy refit that lasted until March 1945.Garland was then assigned to the Western Approaches Command, but carried emergency supplies to coastal towns in Belgium and the Netherlands immediately after the war ended in May. She waspaid off and reclaimed from the Polish Navy in July 1946. In mid-November that same year, she was sold to theRoyal Netherlands Navy for use as aschool ship.Garland was refitted as an anti-submarinetraining ship in 1948 and renamedMarnix in 1950. Reclassified as afrigate in 1952, the ship was not decommissioned until 1964 and scrapped afterwards.

Garland 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 threeAdmiralty 3-drum boilers.Garland 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 in increased to 146 in wartime.^[2]

The ship mounted four 45-calibre4.7-inch Mk IX guns in single mounts, designated 'A', 'B', 'X', and 'Y' from front to rear. Foranti-aircraft (AA) defence,Garland 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.^[3] By mid-1940, this had increased to 44 depth charges.^[4]

Most ships ofGarland's class had the rear torpedo tubes replaced by a12-pounder AA gun after theevacuation of Dunkirk in 1940, but it is not known exactly when this modification was made. By 1942, the ship's short range AA armament had been augmented by twoOerlikon 20 mm cannons on hersearchlight platform and another pair on the wings of the ship'sbridge. 'Y' gun was also removed to allow her depth charge stowage to be increased.^[5] The .50-calibre machine gun mounts were replaced by a pair of Oerlikons later. The ship'sdirector-control tower andrangefinder above thebridge were removed in exchange for aType 271 target indication radar, after 1942, and 'B' gun was replaced by aHedgehog anti-submarinespigot mortar. AType 286 short-range surface search radar was probably also fitted mid-way through the war. The ship also received aHF/DFradio direction finder mounted on a polemainmast.^[6]

Ordered on 5 March 1934 fromFairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering,Garland waslaid down atGovan, Scotland, on 22 August 1934. She waslaunched on 24 October 1935 and completed on 3 March 1936. Excluding government-furnished equipment like the armament, the ship cost £250,664.^[7] She was assigned to the1st Destroyer Flotilla of the Mediterranean Fleet upon commissioning.^[8]Garland took part in the evacuation of British and foreign nationals fromBarcelona and other Spanish coastal ports at the start of theSpanish Civil War,^[9] and patrolled Spanish waters during the war, enforcing the edicts of theNon-Intervention Committee in 1937 and 1938. The ship was overhauled atSheerness between 24 May and 5 July 1937 and 31 May to 28 July 1938 during which her low-pressure turbines were repaired.Garland patrolled offCyprus in July 1939.^[8]

When World War II began, the ship was en route toAlexandria fromAden and arrived there on 6 September. Whilst escorting a convoy to Malta, some of her depth charges detonated prematurely on 17 September and badly damaged the aft end of the ship.Garland had to be towed back to Alexandria where temporary repairs were made. She was towed to Malta for permanent repairs which lasted from 11 October to 8 May 1940. Shortly before the completion of the repairs, she was loaned to thePolish Navy on 3 May 1940, the anniversary of the 1791Polish Constitution of 3 May.^[10]

Afterworking up, the ship escorted a convoy to and from Greece in late June 1940.^[11] DuringOperation Hats,Garland was lightly damaged by Italian aircraft on 31 August whilst escorting a convoy toMalta. She was transferred to the Western Approaches Command in mid-September and was assigned to the10th Escort Group. On 13 November,Garland was badly damaged by storm whilst escorting thebattleshipRevenge and required over a month to make repairs. Two men were lost overboard during the storm. In early January 1941, the ship was fitted with a new ASDIC system. She was transferred to the 14th Escort Group in April and was then briefly attached to the Home Fleet, escorting a tanker, during the Allied landing onSpitsbergen in July. Upon her return,Garland was assigned to Escort Group B3 for escort duties in the North Atlantic.^[10]

In late September, she joined the Polish-manned destroyerPiorun in Operation Halberd, escorting a large convoy to Malta. The two ships escorted the battleshipNelson back to Gibraltar after she had been torpedoed during the operation.Garland then rejoined Escort Group B3. The ship was refitted between 28 February and 5 May 1942 inMiddlesbrough and was assigned to escort Convoy PQ 16 in late May after working up. On 27 May, a bomb was dropped by aJunkers Ju 88 bomber 10 yards (9.1 m) off the starboard side of the ship, that decimated the crews of 'A' and 'B' guns and the starboard Oerlikon and .50-calibre machine guns (22 killed and 37 wounded). The ship'sfire-control director and rangefinder were destroyed and she was ordered to proceed independently to Murmansk for temporary repairs. These took over a month to complete andGarland sailed on 4 July forTroon,^[10] as part of the escort forConvoy QP 13,^[12] for permanent repairs that were not completed until 21 September.^[10]

The ship rejoined Escort Group B3 until she began a lengthy refit in May 1943 that lasted until 8 September.^[13]Garland was assigned to the 8th Support Group after working up and escorted several small convoys transporting Allied troops to theAzores to build airbases after the Portuguese gave their consent in late September.^[14] From November to April 1944, the ship was based in Freetown to escort convoys between Freetown and Gibraltar. In May she was assigned to the14th Destroyer Flotilla of the Mediterranean Fleet where she escorted convoys and supported Allied operations in the Aegean. On 19 September 1944, together with two other British destroyers, she sank theGerman submarine U-407 offSantorini. The following monthGarland supported the Allied liberation of Greece after the German withdrawal.^[13]

On 20 November, the ship sailed for the UK to begin a lengthy refit atDevonport that lasted until 31 March 1945. She was assigned to the8th Destroyer Flotilla in theWestern Approaches Command, but had barely finished working up when the war ended in May. The ship transported emergency supplies to Belgium and the Netherlands immediately afterwards. At the end of 1945,Garland took part inOperation Deadlight, thescuttling of captured German U-boats. In early 1946, the ship patrolled Norwegian waters and then was assigned to the Polish Squadron atRosyth through June. In late July she was ordered to be paid off and the loan terminated. The ship was disarmed in late August before entering Category C reserve.^[13]

On 14 November 1946,Garland was sold "as is" to the Royal Netherlands Navy for £9,000 and was initially used as a school ship. She was refurbished in 1948 as an anti-submarine training ship.^[13] This is probably whenGarland was rearmed with two 105-millimetre (4.1 in) anti-aircraft guns in 'A' and 'X' positions, a Hedgehog in 'B' position and six 20-millimetre Oerlikons. She carried four depth charge throwers and two depth charge rails.^[15] The ship was renamed HNLMSMarnix on 16 January 1950 and made port visits in southern British ports the following March.Marnix was reclassified as a frigate in 1952 and received a thorough overhaul in 1955–56. She was decommissioned on 31 January 1964 and later scrapped.^[13]

• English, John (1993).Amazon to Ivanhoe: British Standard Destroyers of the 1930s. Kendal, England: World Ship Society.ISBN 0-905617-64-9.
• Friedman, Norman (2009).British Destroyers From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 978-1-59114-081-8.
• Lenton, H. T. (1998).British & Empire Warships of the Second World War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 1-55750-048-7.
• Rohwer, Jürgen (2005).Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
• Whitley, M. J. (1988).Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 0-87021-326-1.

• Naval-history.net : HMS Garland
• Uboat.net : ORP Garland

• G and H-class destroyers of the Royal Navy
• Ships built on the River Clyde
• 1935 ships
• World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom
• G-class destroyers of the Royal Netherlands Navy

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• Use dmy dates from January 2017
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