HMS Petard (G56) - Home and More Repairs

Home and More Repairs

More escort duties followed, but they were uneventful. With Paladin homeward bound for repairs, Petard sailed to Bombay, where she enjoyed a nine-day break before leading two River class frigates: Plym and Helford, the Dutch ship Derg and convoy BA 66A to Aden. Her next job involved meeting the French battleship Richelieu in the Red Sea and escorting her (but only as far as Aden). On her return to Trincomalee in April, Petard was soon employed on sallies with capital ships in various groups. This training preceded Operation Cockpit, a major diversionary attack to reduce pressure on American fleets further east. Petard joined Force 69, and took part in the bombardment of Japanese installations.

In late July Petard escorted a convoy from the Seychelles to Aden. She was then instructed to sail alone for Britain; most of the crew had not been home for over two years. Just after passing through a strangely quiet Suez Canal, Petard sighted and recovered the crew, complete with hand baggage, of the American Liberty ship Samslarnia in the eastern Mediterranean. The freighter had been torpedoed, but had not sunk. Part of her cargo was silver bullion.

After an overnight stop in Plymouth, Petard arrived in Portsmouth on 16 August 1944 bearing a total of 49 patches on her hull.

Following repairs and refit in dry dock, Petard set out for the naval base at Scapa Flow with a new crew in early 1945. En route she had 13 ASDIC contacts with German U-boats in the Irish Sea, firing patterns of depth charges without result. Leaving the 'Flow', she was in transit to meet a Russian convoy, but diverted into dry-dock at North Shields to rectify damage to her propeller which had apparently been caused by her own depth charges. While she was there the war in Europe ended, but Petard had not finished yet. She was heading for the Far East once more. On her way out of the Clyde she passed surrendered U-boats.