World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseWhitehall was a Admiralty Modified W-subclass destroyer of the V and W-class. She was among the most advanced destroyers during WW1. Her first action experience of WW2 took place on 1 Jun 1940, when she was damaged by German aircraft during the Dunkirk, France evacuation; she was repaired at Plymouth, England, United Kingdom until 26 Aug. After a few patrols, she was drydocked for modernization. As she returned to active service in Aug 1942, she was assigned to the Long Rage Escort group under the command of Lieutenant Commander R. S. Stafford. On 8 Oct 1942, Lieutenant Commander Charles Leigh de Hauteville Bell took command, who oversaw the 31 Oct 1943 sinking of the German submarine U-306 by Whitehall and corvette HMS Geranium's depth charges east of the Azores. In Nov 1943, Lieutenant Commander P. James Cowell took command of the ship. On 30 Jan 1944, together with destroyer HMS Meteor, she sank the German submarine U-314 in the Barents Sea southeast of Bear Island, Norway. On 2 Sep, together with a Swordfish aircraft, sloops HMS Mermaid and HMS Peacock, and destroyer HMS Keppel, she sank the German submarine U-394 southeast of Jan Mayen Island, Norway. She was removed from the active list in Jul 1945 and was sold for scrapping in Oct 1945.

Photographs

Whitehall Operational Timeline