HMS Volage was a V-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy, commissioned on 26 May 1944, that served in the Arctic and the Indian Oceans during World War II. She was the fifth Royal Naval ship to bear the name (a sixth was planned during World War I as a modified V-class destroyer but the order was cancelled in 1918).
She was ordered on 1 September 1941 as part of the 8th Emergency flotilla and fitted for Arctic service.
On 22 October 1946, Volage and the destroyer were badly damaged by mines laid in the North Corfu Channel. She was subsequently rebuilt as a Type 15 fast anti-submarine frigate, with the new pennant number "F41", during 1952–53, and scrapped in 1972.
Second World War service
Home Fleet
Volage completed her trials and she was commissioned on 26 May 1944 into the 26th Destroyer Flotilla (26DF) of the Home Fleet. She joined the Fleet at Scapa Flow and commenced active service on August with her flotilla on an exercise for a planned operation (Operation Offspring) off Norway. (During one exercise, oiling from the battleship , the two ships locked together and Volage suffered superficial damage.) On 10 August, 26DF escorted other warships for air attacks on shipping and shore targets between the islands of Lepsøya and Haramsøya in Norway.
From 17 to 23 September, Volage joined the screen for a strong force providing cover for Convoy JW60, en route to Kola Inlet, northern Russia and repeated the role for the return convoy RA60 to Loch Ewe between 29 September and 3 October. The escort had been assembled in case of attack by the but Tirpitz had been disabled by an air attack some days before and the outward passage was uneventful. On the return, however, two merchant ships were lost to the .
During the rest of October 1944, Volage was included in the escort for aircraft carriers on two anti-shipping and one reconnaissance operation off Norway.
Indian Ocean
As the surface naval threat in western Europe had greatly reduced with the sinking, in November 1944, of Tirpitz, Royal Naval units were transferred to the far East to confront the Japanese. The 26DF, including Volage, was consequently nominated for service with the Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean. She was refitted in Leith for foreign service and subsequently arrived at Trincomalee in February 1945.
Towards the end of the month, on 24 September, Volage was part of the escort for aircraft carriers on an air photo-reconnaissance of the Malacca Straits. The opportunity was taken en route to bombard targets in the Andaman Islands (Operation Stagey).
On 14 March, Volage, and the destroyers Saumarez and formed Force 70 for a reconnaissance of Langkawi Sound and sailed for the Malacca Straits (Operation Transport). The reconnaissance task was abandoned soon after and, instead, Force 70 patrolled for enemy shipping. The British ships bombarded the railway works at Sigli, on Sumatra, on 17 March and resuming their anti-shipping sweep, without success, off the Nicobar islands.
Force 70 arrived off the Andamans on 19 March with the intent of entering the natural harbour at Port Blair and attacking any shipping found there. Volage had developed engine defects which limited her to the use of only one propeller shaft and consequentially she remained offshore, firing air bursts over the shore batteries. Rapid was hit by 6 inch fire from shore batteries shortly after entered the harbour, disabled and unable to make headway. Volage was also hit and briefly disabled by shore fire while Rapid was being towed to safety by Saumarez; three of Volages ratings were killed and another eight wounded. All three ships of Force 70 reached Akyab under their own power.
On 25 March, Force 70, now consisting of Saumarez, Virago, Vigilant and Volage sailed on an anti-shipping sweep between the Andamans and the Malayan coast (Operation On Board). Next day, Force 70 located and attacked an enemy convoy of four transports escorted by two Japanese anti-submarine vessels that were en route from Singapore to Port Blair with supplies, troops and "comfort women". Ships' gunfire and torpedoes were used without success until Liberator aircraft, from No. 222 Group RAF, provided support. The four transports were then sunk by a series of air and surface attacks, during which one Liberator crashed. There were 52 Japanese survivors taken prisoner from the convoy and delivered to Trincomalee on 28 March.
