HMS Ledbury ( L90 ) HMS " Ledbury " ( Pennant L90 ) was an escort destroyer of the Hunt class Type II . The Royal Navy ordered " Ledbury " s construction two days after the outbreak of the Second World War and J . I . Thornycroft Ltd laid down her keel at their Southampton yard on 24 January 1940 . Air raid damage to the yard delayed her construction and she did not launch until 27 September 1941 . Her initial assignment was to perform escort duties between Scapa Flow and Iceland . She remained in this theatre for the first part of the war , during which time she served with the ill - fated Arctic convoy PQ 17 in June 1942 , from which twenty - four ships were lost . Only two months later she took up the role of close escort in the Pedestal convoy to Malta . During the fierce attacks that dogged the convoy , " Ledbury " claimed three enemy aircraft destroyed and five damaged , and was one of three destroyers that helped the crippled oil tanker into the Grand Harbour . She added to her battle honours with the Allied landings in Sicily , Salerno , and operations in the Adriatic and Aegean . The Royal Navy finally scrapped " Ledbury " in 1958 . Early service record . The Arctic Convoy PQ 17 . " Ledbury " was engaged in escorting major warships and Fleet auxiliaries in the North Sea until late June 1942 , when she was attached to the ocean escort of the convoy PQ17 . Mariners that took part in convoys delivering supplies to Russia remember vividly the biting cold and the continual fear of attack by air or sea . The supplies were vital in that they were needed to keep Russia in the war following her invasion by German forces in 1941 . The PQ17 convoy , which left Iceland at the end of June 1942 , is known particularly for the tremendous losses among the merchant ships . The problems for convoy PQ17 started early on the morning of 4 July 1942 , with the appearance of a copper - yellow warhead of a torpedo , clearly visible just below the surface of the sea . The freighter sounded her siren to warn the leading ships in column eight , but it was too late : the weapon was heading straight for the midship section of the Liberty ship , at the head of that column . The ship ’ s Armed Guard ordered the machine guns to be turned on the torpedo racing towards them . The " Newport " s merchant seamen loading the guns lost their nerve and scrambled to the ship ’ s port side . One gunner remained at his post , directing bullets at the torpedo ; but these were deflected by the water . The torpedo slammed into the ship ’ s engine - room , tearing a gaping hole and knocking the steering gear out of action with an enormous explosion . The helpless ship was yawing out of control across the sixth and seventh columns of the convoy , narrowly missing collisions with other ships , before she lurched round in the opposite direction to that of the convoy and slowed to a standstill . The surviving ships rolled past her , and the convoy sped on in the fog . " Christopher Newport " ( code - number in the convoy , ‘ Penway ’ ) wirelessed the leading ship : ‘ Hit by aerial torpedo . ’ The Convoy Commander , Jack Broome , ordered " Ledbury " , and to ‘ . . . take all possible action to keep U - boats down . ’ " Ledbury " was one of the ships chosen to stay behind to tend to , and if necessary scuttle , the torpedoed ship and they themselves could have been an easy target to any submarines ; however , none of the U - boats had maintained contact with the convoy . The next front action for " Ledbury " came later on that day , at 08 : 20 , when the destroyer began signalling , ‘ Eight air torpedo - bombers 210 degrees , five miles ’ , and then two minutes later , ‘ for eight read ten ’ . Suddenly after " Ledbury " s signals , all the escorts seemed to be blinking morse - signals at once . The loudspeakers were booming , ‘ Bombers approaching . . . there ’ s six of them . . . there ’ s twelve . . . there ’ s eighteen . . . good God , there ’ s twenty - five ! ’ The anti - aircraft ship lurched forward and altered course to head off the attack . Commodore Dowding signalled " Keppel " to ask if the convoy should make an ‘ emergency turn ’ ; but it was deemed too late for such a manoeuvre , since half the ships would most likely miss the signal altogether and Broome flashed back , ‘ I do not think it worth it . ’ The developing air attack spotted by " Ledbury " turned into a blitz of the convoy , with Luftwaffe aircraft being shot down over the formation , and one plane crashed into the sea about four thousand yards from the destroyer , on the convoy ’ s starboard bow . The crash occurred not far from " Ledbury " and seamen on board saw four German airmen climbing out into a rubber dinghy with the bomber sinking soon after . The pilot , Lieutenant Kaumeyr , and his three crewmen were picked out of their dinghy by " Ledbury " . The attack however , continued and throughout the fierce fighting the escorts distinguished themselves by screening the merchantmen from many attacks , especially U - boat sorties ; " Ledbury " alone had sighted seven . The Admiralty believed that the convoy faced an imminent attack from elements of the German Kriegsmarine , possibly a combined attack of the commerce raiding capital ships , , and the . A series of signals were issued to the convoy , culminating in an order to ' scatter ' to Soviet ports . In order to protect the convoy the destroyers and cruisers , believing that they were steaming to intercept a larger force , headed west thereby abandoning the merchantmen . Broome led his six destroyers round at twenty knots , and headed off in line ahead to join a number of cruisers and destroyers racing off to the south - west into a wall of fog . By 11 : 00 , his destroyers were drawing very close to the cruisers . The destroyer signalled " Ledbury " , ‘ How fast are you going ? ’ " Ledbury " replied , ‘ Full ahead . ’ However the threat posed by the capital ship s failed to materialise and the scattered merchant ships came under U - boat and Luftwaffe attack , resulting in the sinking of twenty three ships . As well as the loss of precious lives and supplies , there was widespread bitterness and the recriminations reverberated for many months , as stated by the commander of " Ledbury " , Roger P . Hill : Pedestal and the Ledbury . Background and preliminary movements . In 1942 , Great Britain was waging war against Italian forces in North Africa and their allies , Rommel ' s Afrika Korps . Malta was critical to this campaign During this stage of the war , Malta was critically short on munitions , food and aviation fuel . Attempts to run the blockade and resupply Malta proved to be a failure ; previous convoys such as Harpoon ( from Gibraltar ) and Vigorous ( from Alexandria , Egypt ) had lost most of their merchantmen and their escorts had been damaged . A new convoy was hence planned for mid - August , and named Pedestal . On 9 August 1942 , " Ledbury " sailed from Gibraltar , sighted the convoy in the afternoon , and took its convoy screening station . An hour before midnight on 10 August she left the convoy and proceeded to refuel from the tanker " Dingledale " , an operation that took place early in the morning of 11 August . " Ledbury " took aboard 101 tons of fuel . Just before ten o ’ clock in the morning , the destroyer took station as starboard wing ship of screen . In the afternoon , was hit by torpedoes , with " Derwent " ordering " Ledbury " to stand by the stricken aircraft carrier . As " Eagle " sank , one destroyer and the tug " Jaunty " stopped , picking up survivors in the oil patches in the water . As " Ledbury " reached survivors , she was ordered to rejoin the convoy . The convoy now suffered a series of aerial attacks with the gunner of " Ledbury " ’ s port Oerlikon thought to have shot down one plane , although many other ships were firing at this machine . At 21 : 00 , " Ledbury " was ordered to Anti - Aircraft station , with one cable on the starboard beam of No . 43 . Early on the morning of 12 August , the destroyer was ordered by to investigate a periscope reported on the starboard quarter of No . 43 . The " Nelson " reported a submarine periscope bearing north of her , and the " Ledbury " deployed single scare charges to cover from this submarine , and destroyers astern of her appeared to follow up this contact . At nine o ’ clock in the morning , an air attack by Junkers 88s developed on the convoy , with one Junkers 88 crashing at bearing 058 degrees . Four small bombs were seen to go by the bridge , landing on the starboard side , and a large bomb came near the port quarter . In the ensuing mayhem , the " Ledbury " was ordered to fill in gaps in the screen caused by ships falling back on contact . On the way to this position three airmen were seen coming down by parachute . One was picked up and found to be German , the others were abandoned . The captured airman stated that the last raid consisted of Luftwaffe airmen flying Junkers 88s from Sicily ; and that he had been shot down by close range weapons from the convoy . The crew of the " Ledbury " noted that the most interesting thing about the pilot was that the nails of his boots were made of wood . Yet another aerial attack ensued , this time by dive - bombers . Two groups approached from ahead , but neither got over the convoy . Two of these planes were shot down by gunfire . After this attack , the destroyer resumed station on the starboard side of the convoy . An attack by Junkers 88s soon started whilst escort fighters were still refuelling . The " Ledbury " suffered another near miss off her port quarter . One ship in the convoy was damaged , and stood by her . The convoy now continued on its route , harassed and attacked at each step of its journey ; it soon encountered submarines . One was forced to surface astern and it was sunk by a destroyer . A Junkers 87 dropped parachute mines , all of which fell clear . Twelve torpedo bombers approached from the starboard side but these were turned away by gunfire . At the same time , Junkers 87s carried out dive - bombing attacks , and HMS " Indomitable " was hit . At 19 : 00 , Force " Z " , ( the battleships , the aircraft carriers , and three cruisers ) , retired from the convoy . Fifty minutes after " Force Z " turned back , the convoy was in the process of forming two lines with the three T . S . D . S . destroyers ahead , and the remaining ships in their Anti - Aircraft stations in the column of the convoy . A signal , " " Form two columns " " was still flying , but most ships were anticipating the movement and moving to their new positions . Four minutes before 20 : 00 , and and the tanker were torpedoed . The convoy carried out an emergency turn to starboard , and most destroyers turned back to stand by the damaged cruisers . The " Ledbury " was in station on the starboard side of the convoy - about half way up two columns roughly formed with , and ahead . A cruiser reported aircraft detected by R . D . F on the port bow of the convoy and the " Ledbury " was taken through the convoy to get to the engaged side ; but a heavy and sustained attack by Junkers 88s dive bombing developed when the destroyer was still in between the two columns . The attack became increasingly indefensible ; two ships were hit , one exploded , the other remained afloat but both were creating a huge mass of burning petrol on the water . Torpedo planes were now sighted on the starboard bow very close , but the light was failing quickly . The " Ledbury " engaged the torpedo planes , but one delivered a very good attack , dropping two torpedoes . Another ship exploded , and Captain Hill assumed that the " Brisbane Star " was torpedoed at this time . The " Ledbury " called the " Manchester " to make sure that she was standing by the damaged ships ; the destroyer sighted six ships out in the darkness steaming on various courses , mostly in a north or north - western direction . The destroyer called up the nearest ship and ordered course 120 . This ship was the " Melbourne Star " . The orders were repeated to the nearest merchantmen . The " Ledbury " then returned to the " Ohio " intending to take her in tow , but the tanker reported that she could steam with her steering aft but had no compass . The destroyer switched on a brighter stern light and told the tanker to follow her to Malta . The " Ledbury " informed stragglers of the presence of a minefield near Zembra , while she also contacted that the survivors from the damaged ships had not been picked up and that she was going on with the tanker . It seemed to the crew that a very long time had passed before the ships were clear of the glare of the burning ships . During the night , the " Ledbury " sighted four E - Boat wrecks just around the next corner ( These were sighted at 02 : 04 , 03 : 32 , 03 : 45 and 04 : 31 respectively ) . Rescue operations . On 13 August , after sighting a small patrol boat , three abandoned merchant ships were passed , some of them close by with boats showing flares . The convoy was sighted early in the morning , with the destroyer leading the tanker in astern of the line . The destroyer then informed the Convoy Commander of the tanker ' s condition . Torpedo planes flew in to distract attention from Junkers 88 s which were coming in from a height . The convoy had detected these by R . D . F but could not sight them and the escorts were slow in opening fire on them . The " Waimarama " was hit , probably by about three or four bombs , and blew up with a tremendous explosion leaving " a great pylon of flame on the sea " . The " Ashanti " signalled " Ledbury " to pick up survivors . The destroyer went to the scene , but it was originally thought impossible that anyone could survive such a terrific explosion and mass of flames , but on approaching , men were seen in the water . The destroyer entered the inferno , and after manoeuvring around the debris field the destroyer picked up forty - four survivors , and one body was buried that evening with military honours . Some time later it was discovered that " Ledbury " had on board survivors from both the " Waimarama " and the " Melbourne Star " . This happened because when the " Waimarama " blew up it happened so suddenly that the " Melbourne Star " steamed right through the flames . Those aft on board the " Melbourne Star " thought that their own ship had gone up and had jumped over the side . By half past - nine the " Ledbury " had completed the recovery of survivors . By this time the Commander estimated that the destroyer was about thirty miles astern of the convoy , which meant that they had to speed up in order to reach the ships . Captain Hill then sent a message to Admiral Burrough , ' Interrogative STOP rejoin or go home ' . When the signal rating brought in Burrough ' s reply it became apparent that the signal groups had been received corruptly , since the admiral was apparently ordering the " Ledbury " to " proceed to the Orkney and Shetland Islands " . After considering the signal , Captain Hill assumed that it plainly intended the destroyer to return to Gibraltar , however that he might be forgiven for not interpreting it correctly , and so the " Ledbury " ignored the signal and set course for the " Ohio " . The " Ledbury " found the " Ohio " with the " Penn " standing by the " Dorset " and the " Bramham " dropping depth charges . The remnants of the convoy were about ten miles ( 16 km ) away , under attack from the air . Just as Captain Hill suggested to the " Penn " to take the " Ohio " in tow , the " Ledbury " received a signal from the Convoy Commander to stand by the " Manchester " in the Gulf of Hammamet . In view of the delay in signals , and as " Penn " and " Bramham " were standing by these two ships , the " Ledbury " proceeded at to look for the " Manchester " , which according to the signal given by S . O . Cruiser Force had a flooded engine room and was ablaze . As the destroyer searched for the missing ship , it had passed alongside the wreckage of the " Almeria Lykes " , and it had also shot down two three - engined Savoia - Marchetti bombers . After making landfall and identifying a headland as Ras - Mahmur , course was set to follow the coastline looking for the " Manchester " . When the destroyer was almost certain that the " Manchester " was not in the bay , the coast was closed in case there might be any survivors on the beach . At this moment , the signal station at Neboel started calling up " VHM - VHA " but " Ledbury " did not reply . The signal station at Hammamet made a flag signal , " show your signal letters " . The destroyer hoisted an Italian group consisting of flag " I " and three other flags tied in knots so as to be unreadable . This apparently satisfied the shore station as they hoisted a large French ensign . During this period the " Ledbury " was showing no ensign and no Italian ensign was carried on board . The destroyer carried on down the coast until it was twelve miles ( 19 km ) south of Hammamet . During this time there were enemy reports of a cruiser near Zembra and also that two destroyers were making for Pantelleria . The destroyer changed course to pass five miles ( 8 km ) south of Linosa , and she altered the course after dark in order to rejoin the " Ohio " . " Ledbury " and the " Ohio " . By 14 August the " Ohio " was stopped with no hope of getting her engines going as she had been hit again whilst in tow of the " Penn " . As the " Ledbury " approached the estimated position of the tanker , the destroyer could find no sign of her . A little later , Commander Hill sighted gunfire ahead , and considering it to be " Ohio " ' s escorts beating off reconnaissance snoops , the destroyer turned course towards the flashes on the horizon . As " Ledbury " approached the " Ohio " , it was seen that the tanker was lying deep in the water , with a bent line of deck . Here , Hill turned towards his number one and said ' " It looks as though we ' re too late " ' . A six - inch manilla rope was passed from the tanker ' s stern to the destroyer ' s midship oiling bollard , the idea being to take the stern to port , whilst the minesweeper towed her ; but the " Ledbury " put on too much weight and the minesweeper ' s tow parted . The " Penn " then asked the " Ledbury " to take the tanker in tow from ahead , which was done , using the tanker ' s tow and a shackle of " Ledbury " s towing hawser - cable . The " Rye " took the destroyer in tow to keep the ship from falling off , whilst " Penn " went alongside the starboard side of the tanker to act as a drag to keep her straight . " Ledbury " s gunner , who was in charge of the towing party on board the tanker tried out all the tanker ' s guns , which proved valuable as at 10 : 44 the flotilla was attacked by nine Stuka s . Just before the attack , American survivors from the merchantman " Santa Elisa " asked Commander Hill to take a party on board the " Ohio " to repair and man one of the anti - aircraft guns , an offer gratefully accepted by the " Ledbury " s captain . In the attack , the " Ledbury " received a near miss within a few feet of the fo ' c ' sle , which fortunately was an oil bomb and caused no casualties . There was also a near miss astern . Help was however on the way , since Malta based Spitfires covered the ships and broke many enemy formations . This was the last successful attack , and the " Ledbury " , " Penn " and " Bramham " secured either side of the tanker , and by some very skilful seamanship and endurance on the part of the crews brought the " Ohio " into Valletta Harbour . Further action . The action of the " Ledbury " during Operation Pedestal was the pinnacle of an otherwise uneventful career . After Operation Pedestal the " Ledbury " was involved in several other convoys throughout the latter stages of the Second World War . On 17 January 1943 Convoy JW - 52 set sail with fifteen ships of Loch Ewe , with a Western close escort made up of the destroyers " Ledbury " , " Middleton " and " Blankney " , between 17 January and 21 January . The " Ledbury " and the other destroyers left the convoy with the arrival of the Eastern escort , made up of the destroyers " Onslaught " , " Beagle " , " Bulldog " , " Matchless " , " Musketeer " , " Offa " and the Polish " Piorun " . In June 1943 , HMS " Ledbury " proceeded again to the Mediterranean after further service on escort duties between Iceland and the Orkney Islands and took part in the invasion of Sicily , codenamed Operation Husky . During this operation , the " Ledbury " formed part of Support Force East , in support of the troops of Forces N , B and V that formed XXX Corps . The " Ledbury " was one of a group of upwards of fifty destroyers stationed to escort the landings ' main force of cruisers . She was also involved in the Salerno invasion in September 1943 , but thereafter her main employment was as a convoy escort to the Italian front , based at first on Malta and latterly at Alexandria . Occasional offensive patrols in the Adriatic and Aegean were undertaken . Between 15 January and 12 February 1944 the " Ledbury " was engaged in patrols along the supply lines of the Dalmatian coast , where heavy Axis losses were involved , becoming untenable due to the increased employment of Allied fighter - bombers from bases in Italy . Between 15 January and 16 January , the destroyers " Ledbury " and " Blackmore " bombarded Durazzo while other elements on the same patrol , were approaching Curzola . After taking a minor covering role in the return of British troops to Athens in October 1944 , the " Ledbury " was reduced to reserve in March 1946 , and was not again commissioned for active service , remaining in peacetime commission longer than most of her class , before being sold for scrap in 1958 . The destroyer was broken up at Rosyth in April 1958 .