HMS Finisterre (D55)

History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Finisterre
Builder:	Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company
Launched:	22 June 1944
Commissioned:	11 September 1945
Decommissioned:	1965
Identification:	Pennant number D55
Fate:	Broken up 1967
General characteristics
Class and type:	Battle-class destroyer
Displacement:	2,325 tons standard 3,430 tons full load
Length:	379 ft (116 m)
Beam:	40 ft (12 m)
Draught:	15.3 ft (4.7 m)
Propulsion:	2 steam turbines, 2 shafts, 2 boilers, 50,000 shp (37 MW)
Speed:	35.75 knots (66.21 km/h)
Range:	4,400 nautical miles (8,100 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h)
Complement:	268
Armament:	2 × dual 4.5-inch (114 mm) gun 1 × single 4-inch (102 mm) gun 14 × Bofors 40 mm gun 10 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes 1 × Squid mortar
Service record
Part of:	1st Destroyer Squadron

HMS Finisterre was a Battle-class destroyer of the Royal Navy (RN). She was named after one of the battles of Cape Finisterre.

Finisterre was built by Fairfields of Govan on the Clyde. She was launched on 22 June 1944 and commissioned on 11 September 1945.

Operational service

Finisterre in the North Atlantic, 1961.

Finnisterre first joined the Home Fleet upon her commissioning. After being in the Far East for some time, in which she performed a variety of duties there, Finisterre returned to the UK via the Mediterranean. In January 1950, Finisterre took part in the rescue attempt of the submarine Truculent, which had sunk after colliding with a Swedish merchant ship Divina in the Thames Estuary.^[1] The collision had resulted in the loss of 64 of those on board. The following year Finisterre became the Gunnery Training Ship, based at Whale Island, Portsmouth as part of HMS Excellent.^[2]

In 1953, Finisterre took part in the 1953 Coronation Fleet Review to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Finisterre was positioned adjacent to her sister ship St. James.^[3]

The following year Finisterre was placed in Reserve. After her sister ship Hogue collided with an Indian cruiser in 1959, Finisterre replaced her in the 1st Destroyer Squadron, based in the Far East.^[4] She took over duties of her sister ship Hogue in 1959 to complete a tour of Australia over the Christmas period of 1959. Finisterre, as part of that squadron, subsequently saw service with the Home and Mediterranean Fleets. She was one of a number of Royal Navy ships stationed off Kuwait to keep the peace as the country gained its independence in 1961.^[5]

Decommissioning and disposal

She was sold for scrap in 1965, being broken-up two years later at W.H.Arnott Young Co. Ltd of Dalmuir.

Commanding officers

From	To	Captain
1945	1946	Lieutenant-Commander Vere Alison Wight-Boycott OBE RN
1953	1953	Lieutenant-Commander F C Boys RN
1955	1956

References

1. The Times (London), Friday, 13 January 1950, p.4
2. Marriott, Leo (1989). Royal Navy Destroyers Since 1945. Ian Allen Ltd. pp. 71–75.
3. The Times (London), Monday, 15 June 1953, p.15
4. Critchley, Mike (1982). British Warships Since 1945: Part 3: Destroyers. Liskeard, UK: Maritime Books. pp. 106–7. ISBN 0-9506323-9-2.
5. The Times (London), Saturday, 29 July 1961, p.7

Publications

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475.
• Hodges, Peter (1971). Battle Class Destroyers. London: Almark Publishing. ISBN 0-85524-012-1.