Service
Grafton was laid down by John I. Thornycroft & Company, at Woolston, Hampshire on 30 August 1934, launched on 18 September 1935 and completed on 20 March 1936. Excluding government-furnished equipment like the armament, the ship cost £248,485. Aside from a brief period when she was assigned to the 20th Destroyer Flotilla after her commissioning, Grafton spent the prewar period assigned to the 1st Destroyer Flotilla with the Mediterranean Fleet. Between 10 August and 9 September 1936, she escorted the yacht Nahlin as King Edward VIII cruised the eastern Mediterranean. Afterwards Grafton patrolled Spanish waters during the Spanish Civil War enforcing the policies of the Non-Intervention Committee. The ship was refitting in Malta when World War II began in September 1939.
Grafton and three of her sisters were transferred to the Western Approaches Command at Plymouth in October. The following month, however, the ship was reassigned at the end of the month to the 22nd Destroyer Flotilla in Harwich of the Nore Command for patrol and escort duties. On 10 January 1940, she was transferred to the reconstituted 1st Destroyer Flotilla, also based at Harwich, where Grafton inspected ships travelling between German and Dutch ports for contraband. Between 26 March and 14 April the ship was given a brief overhaul in Hull in the shipyard of Brigham and Cowan. As the Norwegian Campaign had begun while Grafton was refitting, she was reassigned to the Home Fleet where she escorted convoys to Norway until 11 May.
Read more about this topic: HMS Grafton (H89)
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