HMS Wessex (R78)
W-class destroyer
Service
- as Wessex11 May 1944 — 14 March 1946479 days of the war
- as SAS Jan van Riebeeck29 March 1950 — 1975
- Name
- HMS Wessex
- Pennant / hull number
- R78
- Builder
- Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan
- Ordered
- 3 December 1941
- Laid down
- 25 October 1942
- Launched
- 2 September 1943
- Commissioned
- 11 May 1944
- Decommissioned
- 14 March 1946
- Fate
- Sunk as target, 25 March 1980 (1980)
- Status
- Wreck
Specifications
- Displacement, standard
- 1,710 long tons (1,737 t)
- Displacement, full load
- 2,530 long tons (2,571 t)
- Length
- 110.34 m (362 ft)
- Beam
- 10.67 m (35 ft)
- Draught
- 4.27 m (14 ft)
- Speed
- 36 knots (66.7 km/h, 41.4 mph)
- Range
- 4,675 nmi (8,658 km)
- Complement
- 179
- Main gun
- 120 mm (4.7 in)
HMS Wessex was a W-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy. She carried the pennant number R78. Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan laid her keel on 25 October 1942. She entered service on 11 May 1944, having been launched on 2 September 1943.
She displaced 1,710 long tons standard and 2,530 long tons at full load. She measured 110.3 m (362 ft) long with a beam of 10.7 m (35 ft). Her designed speed was 36 knots, and she carried a complement of 179. Her main battery was of 120 mm (4.7 in) calibre.
40,000 shp drove two shafts.
She served with the Royal Navy as Wessex until 14 March 1946. She then passed to the South African Navy, serving as SAS Jan van Riebeeck from 29 March 1950. She was in commission for 479 days of the Second World War. She was decommissioned on 14 March 1946.
She was expended as a target on 25 March 1980. The wreck survives.
Written from the harvested record. Every figure above is sourced; the wording is this site's own.
Armament and machinery
Armament and machinery
- Propulsion
- 2 shafts
- 2 × geared steam turbines
- Power
- 2 Admiralty 3-drum boilers
- 40000 shp
- Armament
- 4 × single 4.7-inch (120 mm) guns
- 1 × quadruple 2-pounder (40 mm) "pom-pom" AA gun
- 4 × twin Oerlikon 20 mm AA guns
- 2 × quadruple 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes
- 70 depth charges; 4 throwers, 2 rails
Sister ships
Sources
- Facts harvested from HMS Wessex (R78) on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
- Photograph: Ralston W (of Glasgow) — This photograph FL 14221 comes from the collections of the Imperial War Museums (collection no. 8308-29) — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons