HMS Undine – R 42 – D-Day – Battle of Normandy

HMS Undine history

This U-class destroyer was launched on June 1, 1943 and entered active service on December 23 of the same year. Baptized HMS Undine, it is deployed in the 25th fleet of destroyers in the Mediterranean Sea and carries out escort and patrol missions until April 1944.

In May 1944, as part of the preparation for Operation Overlord, it joined the Bombarding Force K, which was itself subordinated to Task Force G. HMS Undine escorted the G12 convoy across the English Channel on the night of 5 June 6, 1944 heading for Gold Beach. On D-Day, it participated in the fire support of the English troops and patrolled in the bay of the Seine until June 11, when Undine was withdrawn from Operation Neptune to be deployed to the Mediterranean Sea.

In support of military operations in Corsica, it also provided fire support along the west coast of Italy. Transferred to Pacific waters on 11 December 1944, it participated in several operations in the Sumatra region alongside Task Force 63 and Task Force 65 in January 1945. From 15 March to August it was placed under command of the 5th then the 3rd American fleets before returning to Sidney where it went back under the authority of the Royal Navy.

Based in the Pacific after the end of the Second World War, HMS Undine was then placed in reserve from 1946 to 1952, when it was selected to be transformed into an anti-submarine frigate. This warship was definitively placed in reserve in 1960 and was scrapped in 1965.

HMS Undine technical sheet

Creator/User: Great-Britain
Denomination: R 42 – H.M.S. Undine
Class: U-class destroyer

Crew: 180-225 sailors

Armament (1944): 4x 120 mm guns, 2x 40 mm anti-aircraft guns, 6x 20 mm anti-aircraft guns, 8x 533 mm torpedo tubes

Displacement: 1,710 tons
Speed: 37 knots
Length: 111 m
Beam: 10,87 m
Draught: 3 m