Built at Devonport in 1934, HMS Wellington served in the Pacific mainly on station in New…

Built at Devonport in 1934, HMS Wellington served in the Pacific mainly on station in New Zealand and China before the Second World War. As built, Wellington mounted two 4.7 inch guns and one three inch gun. Additionally, anti-aircraft guns were fitted for self-defence. Depth charges for use against submarines were also carried. The Wellington served primarily in the North Atlantic on convoy escort duties. She shared in the destruction of one enemy U boat and was involved in Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of troops from Dunkirk. A fuller account of Wellington’s war service has been written by Captain A.D. Munro in his book HMS/HQS Wellington. During 1943 she was briefly commanded by Capt. John Treasure Jones, at that time a Lieut. Commander RNR, who would later be the last Captain of RMS Queen Mary.

The Grimsby-class anti-submarine sloops of 1933-36, which included HMS Wellington, were the predecessors of the famous Black Swan sloops of 1939, including HMS Starling which sank 14 U-boats, and HMS Amethyst, the hero of the 1949 Yangste Incident. These wartime sloops further evolved during the Battle of the Atlantic into the River and Loch-class ASW frigate types.

HMS President is moored near Wellington on the Embankment. This ship, built as HMS Saxifrage in 1918, was a Flower-class anti-submarine Q-Ship, and is one of the last three surviving warships of the Royal Navy built during the First World War. President was one of the first types of warship built specifically for anti-submarine warfare. Wellington and President together represent the first and second generation ancestors of modern frigates, which are the most numerous type of front-line warship in today’s navy.