page_title: HMS Faulknor (H62)
section_title: Arctic and Atlantic convoys
hierarchical_section_title: HMS Faulknor (H62) / Construction and career / World War II / Arctic and Atlantic convoys
caption_attribution_description: English: One of HMS Victorious' Fairey Albacore torpedo bombers overflies the flotilla leader HMS Faulknor
context_page_description: HMS Faulknor was the flotilla leader for the F-class destroyers built for the Royal Navy during the 1930s. The ship had a particularly active operational role during World War II, being awarded 11 battle honours, and was known as "The hardest worked destroyer in the Fleet". She was the first ship to sink a German U-boat, took part in the Norwegian Campaign, served with Force H in the Mediterranean on the Malta Convoys, escorted convoys to Russia and across the Atlantic, and saw action during the invasions of Sicily, Italy and Normandy, and was at the liberation of the Channel Islands. She was then decommissioned and sold for scrap in late 1945.
context_section_description: Faulknor was assigned to the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow after the completion of her refit, and led the escort for the battleship Duke of York as she ferried Prime Minister Winston Churchill to meet with U.S President Roosevelt in the Atlantic Conference in mid-December. Both Faulknor and Foresight suffered weather damage en route, and were forced to break off and seek refuge in the Azores, Portugal, before returning to Scapa Flow on 23 December.
  On 27 January 1942, Captain Alan Scott-Moncrieff relieved de Salis. she was deployed with units of the Home Fleet escorting convoys to Russia. Scott-Moncrieff commanded the close escort for Convoy PQ 9/10 and the returning Convoy QP 7 in February, and, while escorting the covering force for Convoy PQ 12 at the beginning of March, was ordered to assist the damaged light cruiser Sheffield after she had encountered a drifting mine. After escorting her to Seidisfjord, Iceland, Faulknor rejoined the covering force on the 9th, shortly before it turned back for Scapa Flow. Several days later, the ship led a destroyer sweep off the Norwegian coast on an unsuccessful search for the German battleship Tirpitz, arriving back at Scapa on the 14th. After some repairs for some weather damage, Scott-Moncrieff again commanded the escorts for the covering force for Convoys PQ 13 and the returning QP 9 at the end of the month.
  On 1 April Faulknor led a force of five other destroyers that were to escort ten Norwegian merchant ships attempting to reach Britain from Sweden via the Skagerrak. The Germans were expecting the breakout and damaged or sank six of them while causing two others to return to Sweden. Faulknor sank the burning SS Rigmor after her crew had been taken off by another destroyer, despite heavy attacks by the Luftwaffe. As usual, she led the escorts of the distant covering force for Convoys PQ 14 on 11–18 April, PQ 15 on 22 April–5 May and PQ 16 on 23–30 May, and then PQ 17 on 29 June–8 July with little incident other than the usual heavy weather. Five days later Faulknor began a refit at a shipyard at Hull that lasted until 27 August.
  Type 285 fire control radar and Type 286PQ warning radar was fitted, a 3-inch (76 mm) HA gun replaced the 4.7-inch mounting in the X position, and the after torpedo tube mounting was also replaced. She then returned to convoy escort duty, screening Convoy PQ 18 in September, and sinking the U-88 south of Spitsbergen. In October she escorted returning Convoy QP 15, and Convoy JW 51A in December. Further escort duty followed in 1943, escorting Convoy JW 52 in January, Convoy JW 53 in February, and Convoy RA 53 in March. In April she was detached for convoy escort duties in the North Atlantic with the Flotilla as the 4th Escort Group, escorting convoys HX 234, SC 127, ONS 6, ONS 182, and HX 239.
caption: A Fairey Albacore torpedo bomber from the aircraft carrier Victorious overflies Faulknor in May 1942
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