HMS Savage (G20)

HMS Savage was an S-class destroyer of the Royal Navy completed on 8 June 1943.[1] Following a successful Warship Week campaign held in March 1942, she was adopted by the town of Burton On Trent.[2] Savage took part in the Battle of North Cape.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Savage.

HMS Savage at anchor in December 1943
History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Savage
Ordered:	9 January 1941
Builder:	Hawthorn Leslie, Hebburn, Newcastle upon Tyne
Laid down:	7 December 1941
Launched:	24 September 1942
Commissioned:	8 June 1943
Identification:	Pennant number: G20
Honours and awards:	Arctic 1943-44 North Cape 1943
Fate:	Broken up in Newport on 11 April 1962.
Badge:	On a Field White a savage affronte holding a club Proper
General characteristics
Type:	Destroyer
Displacement:	1,710 long tons (1,737 t) (standard nominal) 1,780 long tons (1,809 t) (actual) 2,505 long tons (2,545 t) (deep load)
Length:	339 ft 6 in (103.48 m) pp 362 ft 9 in (110.57 m) oa
Beam:	35 ft 8 in (10.87 m)
Draught:	14 ft 2 in (4.32 m)
Propulsion:	2 shaft Parsons geared turbines 2 Admiralty 3-drum boilers 40,000 shp (30,000 kW)
Speed:	36.75 knots (42.29 mph; 68.06 km/h)
Range:	4,675 nautical miles (8,658 km) at 20 knots (23 mph; 37 km/h)
Complement:	180-225
Sensors and processing systems:	Type 271 radar fitted amidships and Type 291 radar mounted on tripod mast
Armament:	2 × 4.5-inch (114 mm) QF Mk III guns (1×2) 2 × 4.5-inch (114 mm) QF Mk IV guns (2×1) 12 × 20 mm anti-aircraft guns (5x2 and 2x1) 8 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (2×4) 4 x depth charge throwers with 70 to 130 depth charges

Design

Savage was the second ship of the S-class of destroyers purchased as the 5th Emergency Flotilla. She differed from her sisters in armament.[3] The Admiralty had designs for a new 4.5 inches (114 mm) gun to be installed in twin and single turrets, the former for the upcoming Battle-class destroyers and the latter for the Z-class and C-class destroyers.[4] Savage was equipped with a twin mount forward and two single mounts aft, replacing the single QF Mark XII 4.7 in guns of her sisters. To expedite completion still further, the twin mount was modified from a spare made for the aircraft carrier Illustrious.[5] Due to a shortage of Hazemeyer mounts, the Bofors 40 mm gun was also not deployed and anti-aircraft defence was restricted to Oerlikon 20 mm cannons. However, one additional twin and two single mounts were provided.

Wartime Service

After completion, Savage joined the aircraft carrier Furious and the battleships Alabama, Anson, Duke of York, Malaya and South Dakota in Operation Camera, a diversionary maneuver off the Norwegian coast to distract German forces from the Allied invasion of Sicily. The diversion was not successful as it was not detected by German aircraft.[2]

On 25 July, Savage escorted the aircraft carriers Illustrious and Unicorn on Operation Governor, an offensive sweep off Norway. On 11 August, she joined the fleet escorting them to Gibraltar in support of the Allied invasion of Italy, and on 13 October escorted King George V from Gibraltar to Scapa Flow.

For the majority of her wartime career, Savage supported Arctic convoys.[6]

Convoy sailed	Joined convoy	Convoy No.	Left convoy	Convoy arrived
1 November 1943	3 November 1943	RA 54A	9 November 1943	14 November 1943
22 November 1943	25 November 1943	JW 54B	02 December 1943	03 December 1943
12 December 1943	18 December 1943	JW 55A	20 December 1943	22 December 1943
20 December 1943	23 December 1943	JW 55B	27 December 1943	30 December 1943
22 December 1943	23 December 1943	RA 55A	25 December 1943	1 January 1944
12 January 1944	16 January 1944	JW 56A	27 January 1944	28 January 1944
22 January 1944	29 January 1944	JW 56B	1 February 1944	1 February 1944
3 February 1944	3 February 1944	RA 56	7 February 1944	11 February 1944
20 February 1944	22 February 1944	JW 57	28 February 1944	28 February 1944
2 March 1944	2 March 1944	RA 57	8 March 1944	10 March 1944
11 November 1944	11 November 1944	RA 61A	17 November 1944	17 November 1944
30 December 1944	1 January 1945	JW 63	8 January 1945	8 January 1945
11 January 1945	11 January 1945	RA 63	18 January 1945	21 January 1945
17 February 1945	21 February 1945	RA 64	26 February 1945	28 February 1945
11 March 1945	15 March 1945	JW 65	21 March 1945	21 March 1945
23 March 1945	23 March 1945	RA 65	30 March 1945	01 March 1945

At the end of the war, on 12 May 1945, Savage escorted the 1st Cruiser Squadron led by Devonshire that returned Crown Prince Olav to Norway.[7]

Battle of North Cape

Looking weather battered and worn, the destroyer HMS Savage enters Scapa Flow after the Battle of the North Cape which resulted in the sinking of the German battleship Scharnhorst

Convoy JW 55B left Loch Ewe on 20 December 1943 and was expected to reach Bear Island on Christmas Day about the same time as Convoy RA 55A which had departed Kola two days later. Savage formed part of the destroyer screen for Force 2, the covering force led by Duke of York.

Early on 26 December the Admiralty signalled that the German battleship Scharnhorst was at sea. Savage and the rest of heavy force intercepted the German vessel as she was heading away after unsuccessfully attacking the convoy. The combination of torpedo attacks from the destroyers and the cruisers HMS Belfast and Jamaica and radar directed gunfire from Duke of York and the cruisers crippled Scharnhorst, which sank at 19:45. The four destroyers in the screen, Saumarez, Savage, Scorpion, and the Norwegian Stord, scored at least three hits.

Post war service

HMS Savage was refitted and redeployed as a Gunnery Firing Ship at Portsmouth after September 1945.[2] Reduced to Reserve status at Chatham in 1948, the ship was recommissioned for trials using new designs of shafts and propellers in 1950. Although refitted and modernised, Savage was never actively deployed. She was placed on the Disposal List in 1960 and arrived at Newport to be broken up on 11 April 1960.

References

1. Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War 2. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-326-1.
2. Mason, Geoffrey B. (2003). "Service Histories of Royal Navy Warships in World War II". Retrieved 28 January 2017.
3. Raven, Alan; Roberts, John (1978). War Built Destroyers O to Z Classes. London: Bivouac Books. ISBN 0-85680-010-4.
4. Brown, Les (2013). British Destroyers: J-C and Battle Classes. Havertown: Seaforth Publishing. p. 8. ISBN 9781848321809.
5. Friedman, Norman (2006). British Destroyers & Frigates: The Second World War & After. London: Greenhill Books. p. 110. ISBN 9781848320154.
6. Kindell, Don (2013). "Convoy Escort Movements of Royal & Dominion Navy Warships, including Allied Navy Vessels under RN Command". Retrieved 28 January 2017.
7. Madsen, Chris (1998). The Royal Navy and German Naval Disarmament, 1942-1947. London: F. Cass. p. 66. ISBN 9780714643731.