HMS Boadicea was a built for the Royal Navy (RN) around 1930. Initially assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet, she was transferred to the Home Fleet in 1936. Before her departure, the ship evacuated civilians from Spain during the beginning of the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939. Boadicea later spent considerable time in Spanish waters, enforcing the arms blockade imposed by Britain and France on both sides of the conflict. During World War II, the ship spent the bulk of the war on convoy escort duty in British waters and participated in the Battle of the Atlantic, Operation Torch, the Russian Convoys, and in the Normandy landings. Badly damaged by German dive bombers in 1940, she was sunk almost exactly four years later by German aircraft.
Description
Boadicea displaced at standard load and at deep load. The ship had an overall length of , a beam of and a draught of . She was powered by Parsons geared steam turbines, driving two shafts, which developed a total of and gave a maximum speed of . Steam for the turbines was provided by three Admiralty 3-drum boilers. Boadicea carried a maximum of of fuel oil that gave her a range of at . The ship's complement was 134 officers and ratings, although it increased to 142 during wartime.
The ship mounted four 45-calibre quick-firing (QF) 4.7-inch Mk IX guns in single mounts, designated 'A', 'B', 'X', and 'Y' from front to rear. For anti-aircraft (AA) defence, Boadicea had two QF 2-pounder Mk II AA guns mounted on a platform between her funnels. She was fitted with two above-water quadruple torpedo tube mounts for torpedoes. One depth charge rail and two throwers were fitted; 20 depth charges were originally carried, but this increased to 35 shortly after the war began. The ship was fitted with a Type 119 ASDIC set to detect submarines by reflections from sound waves beamed into the water.
By October 1940, the ship's anti-aircraft armament was increased when the rear set of torpedo tubes was replaced by a (12-pounder) AA gun. The 'Y' gun was later removed to compensate for the additional depth charges added. When Boadicea was converted into an escort destroyer at the end of 1943, her 'A' gun was replaced by a Hedgehog anti-submarine spigot mortar and additional depth charge stowage replaced the 12-pounder high-angle gun. In addition, two QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss guns were added to deal with surfaced submarines at close range and the 2-pounder guns were replaced by Oerlikon autocannon and four additional Oerlikon guns were also added.
Construction and service
The ship was ordered on 4 March 1929 from Hawthorn Leslie, under the 1928 Naval Programme. She was laid down at Hebburn-on-Tyne on 11 July 1929, and launched on 23 September 1930, as the fifth RN ship to carry this name. Boadicea was completed on 9 April 1931 at a cost of £225,325, excluding items supplied by the Admiralty such as guns, ammunition and communications equipment. After her commissioning, she was assigned to the 4th Destroyer Flotilla with the Mediterranean Fleet until 1936. She was damaged whilst refuelling at sea with the battleship on 15 March 1935; her repairs lasted until 18 April. Later that year she was deployed to Famagusta, Cyprus, and Haifa, Palestine to assist British forces in putting down riots from December 1935 – January 1936. Boadicea had to return to Haifa in June to help put down the beginnings of the Arab Revolt. Afterwards the ship was deployed to Cartagena and Valencia to evacuate civilians at the start of the Spanish Civil War before beginning a refit at Portsmouth that lasted until 26 September. She remained with the 4th Flotilla until January 1939 and made multiple deployments off the coast of Spain enforcing the embargo until April 1938 when she was again refitted. After leaving the 4th Flotilla, Boadicea served as the plane guard for the aircraft carriers of the Mediterranean Fleet for a few months until she became the emergency destroyer at the Nore. She was attached to the Reserve Fleet at Portland for the Fleet Review in August 1939.
