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     HMS Wakeful

History

H.M.S. Wakeful (H88) was a Admiralty V & W class destroyer. It was build by Beardmore in Clyde in 1917.

Most of these vessels were reduced to reserve before the Second World War. During the early part of the war these ships served on fleet duties as well as convoy escort. As the war progressed their fleet duties were taken over by new, more modern destroyers and they were only used as convoy escorts.

In 1937 the Admiralty recognized the need for ships with a good long-range anti-aircraft armament and it was decided that a number of the old V&W-class destroyers were to be converted to fast escorts.

H.M.S. Wakeful was part of Operation Dynamo, the effort to evacuate the British Expeditionary Force from the beaches of Dunkirk. On 29 May 1940 she had just taken on between 600 and 700 evacuees, when she was torpedoed by a German destroyer. She sank in 15 seconds, taking all but 25 men with her.

Casualties of the H.M.S Wakeful, buried in the Netherlands.