V-class destroyer converted to Type 15 frigate of the Royal Navy
For other ships with the same name, see
HMS Venus .
Venus in August 1943
History United Kingdom Name HMS Venus Ordered 1 September 1941 Builder Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company , Govan , Scotland Laid down 12 January 1942 Launched 23 February 1943 Commissioned 28 August 1943 Identification Honours and Fate Sold for scrap in 1972 Badge On a Field Blue, the symbol of the planet Venus Gold. General characteristics V-class destroyer Class and type V-class destroyer Displacement
1,777 long tons (1,806 t) standard
2,058 long tons (2,091 t) full load
Length 363 ft (111 m) Beam 35 ft 8 in (10.87 m) Draught 10 ft (3.0 m) Propulsion
2 × Admiralty 3-drum water-tube boilers
Geared steam turbines, 40,000 shp (29,828 kW)
2 shafts
Speed 37 knots (43 mph; 69 km/h) Range 4,860 nmi (9,000 km) at 29 kn (54 km/h) Complement 180 (225 in flotilla leader) Armament General characteristics Type 15 frigate Class and type Type 15 frigate Displacement 2,300 long tons (2,337 t) standard Length 358 ft (109 m) o/a Beam 37 ft 9 in (11.51 m) Draught 14 ft 6 in (4.42 m) Propulsion Speed 31 knots (36 mph; 57 km/h) (full load) Complement 174 Sensors and
Radar
Type 293Q target indication (later Type 993)Type 277Q surface searchType 974 navigation
Type 262 fire control on director CRBF Type 1010 Cossor Mark 10 IFF
Sonar:
Type 174 search
Type 162 target classification
Type 170 attack
Armament
HMS Venus was a V-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that saw service during the Second World War . She was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company , of Govan , Scotland and launched on 23 February 1943.
Service history
Second World War service
She was part of the escorting destroyers of the 21st Aircraft Carrier Squadron involved in Operation Dracula from April to May 1945.
She participated in the Battle of the Malacca Strait with the destroyers Saumarez Verulam Vigilant Virago Japanese cruiser Haguro on 16 May 1945.
Post war service
Between 1946 and 1949 Venus was part of the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla , based in the Mediterranean. This included work as part of the Royal Navy patrols preventing illegal Jewish immigration into Mandatory Palestine . In June 1946 she intercepted Josiah Wedgewood .
On 2 August 1946 the British oil tanker Empire Cross Haifa Roads , Palestine , killing 25 people.[ 1] Virago and Venus took part in the rescue of survivors. Venus and Virago had been dropping depth charges in the area to deter Haganah frogmen from planting limpet mines .[ 2]
Between 1949 and 1951 she was held in reserve at Devonport Dockyard. Between 1951 and 1952 she was converted at Devonport into a Type 15 fast anti-submarine frigate , with the new pennant number F50 . Following conversion she became leader of the 6th Frigate Squadron . In 1953 she took part in the Fleet Review to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II .[ 3] Dartmouth Training Squadron .[ 4]
Decommissioning and disposal
In 1964 Venus went to reserve and in October 1969 was in use as a target to measure the effects of ship to ship use of the Sea Dart missile system. She was sold to Thos. W. Ward for scrapping and arrived at their Briton Ferry yard on 20 December 1972 to be broken up.
References
^ "Haifa Tanker Explosion". The Times . No. 50521. London. 5 August 1946. col E, p. 3. ^ Mitchell, WH; Sawyer, LA (1995). The Empire Ships . London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. ISBN 1-85044-275-4 [page needed ^ Souvenir Programme, Coronation Review of the Fleet, Spithead, 15th June 1953 , HMSO, Gale and Polden
^ Critchley, Mike (1982). British Warships Since 1945: Part 3: Destroyers . Liskeard, UK: Maritime Books. p. 72. ISBN 0-9506323-9-2
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