In addition to escorting the perilous Arctic convoys during 1943–44, Virago participated with other British destroyers in the Battle of North Cape on 26 December 1943, where her torpedoes helped sink the badly beaten German battleship Scharnhorst, following a fierce fight between the Germans and the battleship Duke of York.[1] On 30 January 1944, while escorting Convoy JW 56B to Murmansk, Virago rescued 78 men from the stricken HMS Hardy, whose stern had been blown off by an acoustic torpedo (resulting in 35 casualties).[2] Following a bow collision between the two ships, Virago disengaged and HMS Venus rescued the rest of the crew and her officers (and then scuttled Hardy). On 3 April 1944 Virago escorted the carrier HMS Searcher during Operation Tungsten, which was an inconclusive air attack on the German battleship Tirpitz at her base in Kaafjord in the far north of Norway.
Normandy landings
During the invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944 she fired on German positions behind Lion-sur-Mer on Sword Beach, and later gave cover fire for troops advancing inland.[3]Virago remained off the coast of Normandy at various stations providing support for the invasion force until 6 July, when she departed and resumed operations off Norway and with the Arctic convoys through the end of September.
Far East
Transferred to the Eastern Fleet in January 1945. On 26 March 1945 she, along with the destroyers Saumarez, Volage, and Vigilant, intercepted a Japanese supply convoy east of Khota Andaman, Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean. She and Vigilant sank the Japanese submarine chaser CH-34.
She patrolled the Malacca Strait and supported Operation Dracula off the coast of Burma in late April 1945 as part of the 21st Aircraft Carrier Squadron. Virago subsequently participated in the Battle of the Malacca Strait with Saumarez, Verulam, Venus and Vigilant which culminated in the sinking of the Japanese heavy cruiser Haguro in the early morning of 16 May 1945. This was a textbook destroyer night action, and was the last naval gun battle of the Second World War. Later in the afternoon of 16 May, Virago was ordered to refuel from the carrier HMS Hunter. As the two ships closed, they were suddenly bombed by Japanese aircraft in a surprise attack and splinters from a near miss killed five of Virago's crew (Hunter was unscathed). These were the only casualties on board Virago during the entire war. Virago subsequently participated in preparations for Operation Zipper (the invasion of Malaya) in July/August 1945, and its eventual execution as a reoccupation manoeuvre in September 1945 following the surrender of Japan. Based in Hong Kong with the British Pacific Fleet after VJ day, Virago returned to Chatham, Kent in December 1945.
Throughout her wartime commission, Virago was under the command of Lt. Cdr. Archibald John Ramsay White (1910-1991).[4]
Post War service
Between 1946 and 1949 Virago was part of the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla, based in the Mediterranean. On 2 August 1946 the British oil tankerEmpire Cross exploded, burned and sank in Haifa Roads, Palestine, killing 25 people.[5]Virago and Venus took part in the rescue of survivors. Venus and Virago had been dropping depth charges in the area to deter Haganahfrogmen from planting limpet mines. A depth charge dropped by Virago was suspected of having caused the explosion. An inquest was held, at which the page in Virago's logbook for that day was found to be missing. However, the Admiralty dismissed the idea that a depth charge could have caused the explosion.[6]
On 19 September 1946, gunfire from Virago was used to scuttle the forward half of the wreck of Ohio, the tanker which had played a pivotal role in the Siege of Malta.[7]
Between 1949 and 1951 she was held in reserve at Chatham Dockyard.[8] Between 1951 and 1953 she was converted to a Type 15 frigate at Chatham Dockyard. On re-commissioning in 1953 she became part of the 6th Frigate Squadron and in that year took part in the Fleet Review to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.[9]
Virago was decommissioned in 1963 and held in reserve at Devonport. She arrived in Faslane for breaking up in June 1965.
Citations
^Virago was unusual in having on its crew an American citizen, Douglas Hooker (1925–2006), who later wrote about his experiences in An American in the Royal Navy during World War II, published by Southwestern University, 2011. He eventually became a Professor of Psychology at Southwestern University, Texas.
^As described by Hooker (op cit.). Another member of the crew of Virago was Stanley Bonnett, a wireless operator, who later became a journalist and wrote a novel based on his time on board. The title of his novel Jump, Boy, Jump (Michael Joseph, 1979) was the order given by an officer on Virago to sailors on Hardy to jump ship at the opportune moment as the ships converged.
^Hooker (op cit.) reports the Captain of Virago (Lt. Cdr. White) announcing his intention (on the eve of D Day) that "in the event of Virago sustaining damage enough to sink her, I will endeavor to beach her. We shall then fight our ship to the last man and the last shell", (page 57).
^Hooker (op cit.) summed up White's command thus: "The quality of his leadership was reflected in his calmness and decisiveness in action and in emergency situations. I always thought that under the most difficult conditions at sea he was at his very best" (page 19).
^"Haifa Tanker Explosion". The Times. No. 50521. London. 5 August 1946. col E, p. 3.
