View source for HMS Witch (D89)

{{short description|Destroyer of the Royal Navy}}
{{distinguish|HMS Waterwitch}}
{{for|the fictional ship ''Witch of Endor''|Horatio Hornblower}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2017}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[File:The Royal Navy during the Second World War A1453.jpg|300px|HMS ''Witch'' (D89)]]
|Ship caption=At dawn off [[Plymouth]], [[England]], HMS ''Witch'' (foreground) leads other destroyers during [[World War II]].
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=[[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]]
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
|Ship class=[[V and W class destroyer|Modified W-class]] [[destroyer]]
|Ship name=HMS ''Witch''
|Ship namesake=
|Ship ordered=January 1918<ref name="navalhistory">[http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-10DD-09VW-Witch.htm HMS WITCH (D 89) -  V & W-class Destroyer]</ref>
|Ship cost=
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=*[[John I. Thornycroft & Company]], [[Woolston, Hampshire]], [[Hampshire]]<ref name="navalhistory"/>
*[[HMNB Devonport|Devonport Dockyard]], [[Devonport, Devon|Devonport]], [[Devon]]
|Ship laid down=13 June 1918<ref name="navalhistory"/>
|Ship launched=11 November 1919<ref name="navalhistory"/>
|Ship christened=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship completed=March 1924<ref name="navalhistory"/>
|Ship commissioned=March 1924<ref name="uboatnet">[http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/5453.html uboat.net HMS Witch (D 89)]</ref>
|Ship decommissioned=1920s<ref name="navalhistory"/>
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship recommissioned=1939<ref name="navalhistory"/>
|Ship decommissioned=soon after 15 August  1945<ref name="navalhistory"/>
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified=
|Ship refit=
|Ship captured=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship fate=Sold for scrapping 12 July 1946<ref name="navalhistory"/>
|Ship homeport=
|Ship motto=''I{{'}}ll do and I{{'}}ll do''<ref name="navalhistory"/>
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honours=*[[Battle honour]]s for:
*[[Battle of the Atlantic|Atlantic 1940-1943]]
*[[Norwegian Campaign|Norway 1940]]
*[[North Sea|North Sea 1944]]<ref name="navalhistory"/>
|Ship badge=A black [[cat]] ''affronte cantant'' before a silver [[Lunar phase|crescent moon]] on a blue field<ref name="navalhistory"/>
|Ship notes=
}}{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship displacement=1,140&nbsp;tons standard, 1,550&nbsp;tons full
|Ship length= 300&nbsp;ft [[Length overall|o/a]], 312&nbsp;ft [[Length between perpendiculars|p/p]]
|Ship beam= 30&nbsp;ft
|Ship draught= 10&nbsp;ft 11&nbsp;in
|Ship propulsion=3 Yarrow type Water-tube boilers, Brown-Curtis steam turbines, 2 shafts, 27,000&nbsp;shp
|Ship speed=*34&nbsp;kt
*Reduced to 25 &nbsp;kt 1943
|Ship range=*320-370&nbsp;tons oil
*3,500&nbsp;[[nautical mile|nmi]] at 15&nbsp;kt
*900&nbsp;nmi at 32&nbsp;kt
|Ship complement=134
|Ship sensors= Type 271 surface warning radar fitted 1942
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=
*4 × [[BL 4.7 inch /45 naval gun|BL 4.7 in (120-mm) Mk.I guns]] mount P Mk.I
*2 × [[QF 2 pounder naval gun|QF 2 pdr Mk.II "pom-pom" (40 mm L/39)]]
*6 × [[British 21 inch torpedo|21-inch Torpedo Tubes]]
|Ship armour=
|Ship notes=[[Pennant number]] D89
}}
|}
'''HMS ''Witch'' (D89)''' was a [[V and W class destroyer|Modified W-class]] [[destroyer]] of the [[United Kingdom|British]] [[Royal Navy]] that saw service in [[World War II]].

==Construction and commissioning==

''Witch'', the first Royal Navy ship of the name, was ordered in January 1918 as part of the 13th Order of the 1918–1919 Naval Programme, and was [[Keel laying|laid down]] on 13 June 1918 by [[John I. Thornycroft & Company]] at [[Woolston, Hampshire|Woolston]], [[Hampshire]]. The pace of her construction slowed greatly after the [[Armistice with Germany]] brought [[World War I]] to an end on 11 November 1918, and she was not [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] until 11 November 1919. She then was towed to [[HMNB Devonport|Devonport Dockyard]] at [[Devonport, Devon|Devonport]], [[Devon]], where her [[fitting-out]] took place slowly, and she was not completed until March 1924.<ref name="navalhistory"/>

==Service history==

===Interwar===
Upon completion, ''Witch'' was [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] in March 1924.  She saw little service and soon was [[Ship decommissioning|decommissioned]] and placed in [[Reserve fleet|reserve]] at [[Rosyth]], [[Scotland]].<ref name="navalhistory"/>

In 1939, ''Witch'' was recommissioned for the [[Naval review|Royal Review]] of the [[Reserve Fleet (United Kingdom)|Reserve Fleet]] by [[King George VI]].<ref name="navalhistory"/>

===World War II===

====1939-1940====
''Witch'' remained in commission after the United Kingdom entered [[World War II]] in September 1939, and on 3 September 1939 she was assigned to the [[15th Destroyer Flotilla]] at Rosyth for the defence of [[convoy]]s in the [[North Sea]] steaming along the east coast of [[Great Britain]]. In October 1939 she was transferred to the [[Western Approaches Command]] for convoy escort duty in the [[Western Approaches]] and [[North Atlantic Ocean]].<ref name="navalhistory"/>
gala
On 11 January 1940, ''Witch'' and the destroyers {{HMS|Wanderer|D74|2}} and {{HMS|Warwick|D25|2}} reinforced the escort of the [[Gibraltar]]-to-[[Liverpool]]-bound [[Convoy HG 14F]], which previously had consisted only of the [[Sloop-of-war|sloops]] {{HMS|Aberdeen|L97|2}}, {{HMS|Bideford|L43|2}}, and {{HMS|Leith|L36|2}}, while it transited the [[Southwestern Approaches]], staying with the convoy until it arrived at Liverpool on 13 January 1940. On 7 March 1940 she and the destroyer {{HMS|Whirlwind|D30|2}} relieved the escort of [[Convoy HG 21F]] in the Southwestern Approaches during the final leg of its voyage from Gibraltar to Liverpool, where it arrived on 10 March 1940. On 19 March 1940, ''Witch'' and the destroyers {{HMS|Vortigern|D37|2}} and {{HMS|Watchman|D26|2}} relieved the destroyer {{HMS|Vanquisher|D54|2}} of escorting [[Convoy HG 22F]] on the final segment of its Gibraltar-to-Liverpool voyage, returning to base at Liverpool after detaching from the convoy on 21 March 1940.<ref name="navalhistory"/>

On 8 April 1940, ''Witch'', the destroyers {{HMS|Vimy|D33|2}} and {{HMS|Viscount|D92|2}}, and the sloop {{HMS|Rochester|L50|2}} joined [[Convoy HG 25F]] to escort it on the final leg of its voyage from Gibraltar to Liverpool, but the following day ''Witch'' and ''Vimy'' were detached from the convoy with orders to proceed to [[Scapa Flow]] in the [[Orkney Islands]] for service with the [[Home Fleet]] in [[Operation Rupert]], escorting convoys carrying [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] troops to [[Norway]] to oppose the [[Nazi Germany|German]] [[Norwegian Campaign|invasion]] of the country. On 22 April 1940, ''Witch'' joined the [[light cruiser]]s {{HMS|Galatea|71|2}}, {{HMS|Glasgow|C21|2}}, and {{HMS|Sheffield|C24|2}}, and the destroyers {{HMS|Campbell|D60|2}}, {{HMS|Icarus|D03|2}}, {{HMS|Impulsive|D11|2}}, {{HMS|Ivanhoe|D16|2}}, and {{HMS|Vansittart|D64|2}} in [[Operation Sickle]], in which the ships transported troops from Rosyth to [[Molde]], Norway, to reinforce Allied forces at [[Andalsnes]], with each destroyer carrying 60 troops; the ships arrived at Molde on 23 April 1940. On 11 May 1940, ''Witch'' joined the light cruisers {{HMS|Calcutta|D82|2}} and {{HMS|Coventry|D43|2}} and the destroyers ''Campbell'', {{HMS|Isis|D87|2}}, and {{HMS|Zulu|F18|2}} in escorting the damaged light cruiser {{HMS|Penelope|97|2}} to [[Greenock]], Scotland. ''Witch'' soon was released from operations related to the Norwegian campaign and rejoined the [[15th Destroyer Flotilla]] at Rosyth, returning to convoy escort operations in the North Sea along the east coast of Great Britain and patrol duties in the North Sea.<ref name="navalhistory"/>

====1941====
In August 1941, ''Witch'' was transferred to the [[10th Destroyer Flotilla]] for convoy escort duties in the Western Approaches. On 5 August 1941, she and the light cruiser {{HMS|Cairo|D87|2}}, the destroyers {{HMS|Whitehall|D94|2}} and {{HMS|Winchester|L55|2}}, the [[Royal Netherlands Navy]] destroyer [[HNLMS Isaac Sweers (1940)|HNLMS ''Isaac Sweers'']], and the [[Polish Navy]] destroyer [[ORP Piorun (G65)|ORP ''Piorun'']] deployed as local escort for the military [[Convoy WS 10]] during the first leg of its voyage from the United Kingdom to [[Freetown, Sierra Leone|Freetown]] in [[Sierra Leone]]; the ships detached from the convoy on 7 August 1941 and returned to the [[River Clyde]]. On 9 August 1941, ''Witch'' joined the escort of [[Convoy WS 8C]], a military convoy which steamed from the Clyde to Scapa Flow as part of the build-up for a planned occupation of the [[Azores]] which later was cancelled; she returned to the Clyde on 10 August 1941. From 15 to 17 August 1941 ''Witch'', ''Whitehall'', and the Royal Netherlands Navy light cruiser {{HNLMS|Jacob van Heemskerck|1939|6}} escorted [[Convoy WS 10X]] from Liverpool to the Clyde.<ref name="navalhistory"/>

From 17 to 26 September 1941, ''Witch'', ''Whitehall'', ''Issac Sweers'', ''Piorun'', the destroyers {{HMS|Blankney|L30|2}}, {{HMS|Laforey|G99|2}}, {{HMS|Lightning|G55|2}}, and {{HMS|Oribi|G66|2}}, and the Polish Navy destroyer [[ORP Garland (H37)|ORP ''Garland'']] escorted [[Convoy WS 11X]] from the Clyde to Gibraltar in one of the preliminary moves of [[Operation Halberd]], an effort to steam a resupply convoy through the [[Mediterranean Sea]] to [[Malta]]. After the convoy arrived at Gibraltar on 26 September, ''Witch'' steamed back to the United Kingdom.<ref name="navalhistory"/>

''Witch'' repeated this pattern as 1941 wore on. From 1 to 4 October 1941 she formed part of the local escort of [[Convoy WS 12]]
during its passage through the Western Approaches along with ''Cairo'', ''Blankney'', ''Whitehall'', the destroyers {{HMS|Badsworth|L03|2}}, {{HMS|Bradford|H72|2}}, {{HMS|Brighton|I08|2}}, {{HMS|Lancaster|G05|2}}, {{HMS|Newark|G08|2}}, {{HMS|Stanley|I73|2}}, and {{HMS|Verity|D63|2}}, and the [[Royal Canadian Navy]] destroyers {{HMCS|Assiniboine|I18|2}} and {{HMCS|Saguenay|D79|2}}, returning to the Clyde with those ships after detaching from the convoy. From 13 to 16 November 1941, ''Witch'', ''Badsworth'', ''Verity'', ''Whitehall'', and the destroyers {{HMS|Exmoor|L08|2}}, {{HMS|Maori|F24|2}}, and {{HMS|Vanquisher|D54|2}} were the local escort for [[Convoy WS 12Z]] as it transited the Western Approaches, the ships returning to the Clyde after detaching from the convoy. From 13 to 15 December 1941, ''Witch'', ''Badsworth'', ''Vanquisher'' and the destroyers {{HMS|Beaufort|L19|2}} and {{HMS|Volunteer|D71|2}} provided the local escort for [[Convoy WS 14]] in the Western Approaches, as usual returning to the Clyde upon completion of this duty.<ref name="navalhistory"/>

====1942-1945====
''Witch'' continued her convoy escort duties in the North Atlantic into 1942 and was "adopted" by the civil community of [[Northwich]], [[Cheshire]], in March 1942 as a result of a [[Warship Week]] National Savings campaign. In 1942, she underwent conversion into a short-range escort.  Upon completion of this conversion and post-conversion [[Sea trials|trials]] and work-ups, she returned to convoy escort duty in September 1942 as part of the escort of [[Convoy ON 127]]. She continued North Atlantic convoy work until December 1942, when she deployed as part of the 5th Escort Group to the [[Caribbean]] for convoy duty. In January 1943, she escorted the [[Tanker (ship)|tanker]] convoy [[Convoy TM 1]] from the [[West Indies]] to Gibraltar; the convoy came under attack by German [[submarine]]s during its voyage.<ref name="navalhistory"/>

In early February 1943, ''Witch'' was part of the escort of [[Convoy ON 168]] from the United Kingdom to [[Halifax, Nova Scotia|Halifax]], [[Nova Scotia]], [[Canada]]. She then deployed with the 2nd Escort Group to oppose the German ''Pfeil'' ("Arrow") submarine group, which was threatening [[Convoy SC 118]] on its voyage from [[North America]] to the Clyde, and on 4 February 1943 ''Witch'', ''Vimy'', the destroyers {{HMS|Beverley|H64|2}} and {{HMS|Vanessa|D29|2}}, the [[corvette]]s {{HMS|Abelia|K184|2}} and {{HMS|Mignonette|K38|2}}, and the [[Free French Naval Forces]] corvette [[FFL Lobelia (K05)|FFL ''Lobelia'']] conducted [[antisubmarine warfare]] operations targeting the ''Pfeil'' group. The following day, ''Witch'' joined the escort of SC 118, remaining with the convoy until detaching to refuel, after which she returned to her duties with the 2nd Escort Group.<ref name="navalhistory"/>

Later in February 1943, the Royal Navy selected ''Witch'' for transfer to Freetown, Sierra Leone, for service with local escort forces there. Accordingly, she and the destroyer leader {{HMS|Malcolm|D19|2}}, and the destroyers {{HMS|Quadrant|G11|2}} and {{HMS|Wolverine|D78|2}} escorted [[Convoy WS 28]] from 16 to 27 March 1943 during its voyage from the United Kingdom to Freetown, detaching on the latter date when the convoy arrived there and remaining there in her new role.<ref name="navalhistory"/> In April 1943, she and ''Wolverine'' rescued 53 survivors of the British [[merchant ship]] ''Empire Whimbrel'', which the German submarine [[German submarine U-181|''U-181'']] had sunk on 11 April 1943 420 [[nautical mile]]s (778&nbsp;km) southwest of Freetown at position {{coord|02|31|00|N|015|55|00|W|name=''Empire Whimbrel'' sunk}}.<ref name="uboatnet"/> From 26 to 28 April 1943, she joined ''Malcolm'' and ''Wolverine'' in serving as local escort for [[Convoy WS 29]] during the final leg of its voyage to Freetown. ''Witch'', ''Malcolm'', ''Wolverine'', and the destroyers {{HMS|Boreas|H77|2}} and {{HMS|Rapid|H32|2}} departed Freetown on 6 May 1943 as local escort for [[Convoy WS 29]], detaching on 8 May 1943 to return to Freetown, and on 3 June 1943 ''Witch'', ''Rapid'', ''Wolverine'', and the destroyer {{HMS|Boadicea|H65|2}} departed Freetown as the local escort for [[Convoy WS 30]], remaining with it until 9 June 1943, when ''Quadrant'', the destroyer {{HMS|Redoubt|H41|2}}, and the [[Royal Australian Navy]] destroyer {{HMAS|Norman|G49|2}} relieved them and they detached to return to Freetown. From 10 to 12 July 1943, ''Witch'' and the corvette {{HMS|Armeria|K187|2}} escorted [[Convoy WS 31]] during a leg of its voyage from Freetown to the [[Cape of Good Hope]], detaching to return to Freetown when relieved by ''Rapid''.<ref name="navalhistory"/>

''Witch'' continued her duties at Freetown through December 1943, when she was selected for transfer to convoy escort duties in the North Sea. During the early months of 1944, she steamed back to the United Kingdom, and by May 1944 she had begun operations in the North Sea, which she continued &ndash; taking no part in operations related to the Allied [[Invasion of Normandy|invasion]] of [[Normandy]] during the summer of 1944 &ndash; until the [[surrender of Germany]] in early May 1945. After that, she served on local port duties and in support of reoccupation forces during the summer of 1945.<ref name="navalhistory"/>

==Decommissioning and disposal==
Selected for reduction to reserve status during the summer of 1945, ''Witch'' was decommissioned and placed in reserve after the 15 August 1945 [[Surrender of Japan|armistice]] with [[Japan]]. She was sold to [[British Iron & Steel Corporation|BISCO]] on 12 July 1946 for scrapping by G. Brunton, and later was scrapped in Scotland at [[Granton, Edinburgh|Granton]] on the [[River Forth]].<ref name="navalhistory"/>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book|last=Campbell|first=John|title=Naval Weapons of World War II|year=1985|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|isbn=0-87021-459-4}}
* {{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946|editor1-last=Chesneau|editor1-first=Roger|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=Greenwich, UK|year=1980|isbn=0-85177-146-7}}
* {{Cite Colledge2006}}
* {{cite book |first1=Maurice |last1=Cocker |publisher=Ian Allan |title=Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893–1981 |isbn=0-7110-1075-7}}
* {{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|title=British Destroyers From Earliest Days to the Second World War|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=2009|isbn=978-1-59114-081-8}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Gardiner|editor1-first=Robert|editor2-last=Gray|editor2-first=Randal|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921|year=1985|location=Annapolis, Maryland|publisher=Naval Institute Press|isbn=0-85177-245-5|name-list-style=amp}}
* {{cite book|last=Lenton|first=H. T.|authorlink=Henry Trevor Lenton|title=British & Empire Warships of the Second World War|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=1998|isbn=1-55750-048-7}}
* {{cite book|last=March|first=Edgar J.|title=British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892–1953; Drawn by Admiralty Permission From Official Records & Returns, Ships' Covers & Building Plans|year=1966|publisher=Seeley Service|location=London |OCLC=164893555}}
* {{cite book |last=Preston |first=Antony |title='V & W' Class Destroyers 1917–1945 |publisher=Macdonald |location=London |year=1971 |oclc=464542895}}
* {{cite book |last=Raven |first=Alan |last2=Roberts|first2=John |title='V' and 'W' Class Destroyers |publisher=Arms & Armour |location=London |year=1979 |series=Man o'War |volume=2 |isbn=0-85368-233-X|name-list-style=amp }}
* {{cite book|last=Rohwer|first=Jürgen|title=Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=2005|edition=Third Revised|isbn=1-59114-119-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Whinney |first=Bob |title=The U-boat Peril: A Fight for Survival |publisher=Cassell |year=2000 |isbn=0-304-35132-6 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/uboatperilfightf0000whin }}
* {{cite book|last=Whitley|first=M. J.|title=Destroyers of World War 2|publisher=Naval Institute Press|date=1988|isbn=0-87021-326-1|location=Annapolis, Maryland}}
* {{cite book|last=Winser|first=John de D.|title=B.E.F. Ships Before, At and After Dunkirk|publisher=World Ship Society|location=Gravesend, Kent|year=1999|isbn=0-905617-91-6}}

==Notes==
* [http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-10DD-09VW-Witch.htm HMS ''WITCH'' (D 89) -  V & W-class Destroyer]
* [http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/5453.html uboat.net HMS ''Witch'' (D 89)]

{{V and W class destroyer}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Witch (D89)}}
[[Category:V and W-class destroyers of the Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built in Southampton]]
[[Category:1919 ships]]
[[Category:World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom]]