HMS Lookout ( G32 ) HMS " Lookout " was an L class destroyer of the Royal Navy . She was launched on 4 November 1940 and broken up in 1948 . She was one of only two L class destroyers to survive the Second World War , the other being . Ordered under the 1937 Programme , Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company were awarded the contract to build her . She would be the second Royal Navy ship to bear the name " Lookout " . Build was completed on 30 January 1942 and the tender cost was £440 , 204 which excluded items such as weapons and communications equipment supplied by the Admiralty . After a successful Warship Week National Savings campaign in January 1942 , HMS " Lookout " was adopted by the civil community of Burnley , Lancashire . Operational history . Sea Trials . " Lookout ’ s " sea trials were generally satisfactory , but were rather protracted through no fault of the ship . On 18 January 1942 " Lookout " underwent her gunnery trials which were entirely satisfactory . Gun mountings B and X lost two cartridge cases overboard when firing abeam , but this didn ’ t affect the outcome of the trial . The next day " Lookout " carried out her preliminary full power trail at a mean displacement of 2 , 320 tons . Her first attempt at a four hour full power trial was carried out on 21 January 1942 but was abandoned due to bad weather conditions . Her next attempt at the trial was a success . On 20 January " Lookout " finally carried out the trial in a Force 6 wind . Her mean displacement was 2 , 625 tons with a mean power of 48 , 442 SHP giving a mean speed of 32 . 098 knots . Arctic Convoys . " Lookout " was with the Home Fleet in March 1942 when the German battleship " Tirpitz " made ineffective attempts to intercept Arctic convoys ( Operation Sportpalast ) . One of " Lookout ’ s " first operations took place on 4 March to 7 March , when she was part escort to a battle squadron which included , " King George V " and " Duke of York " . The battle squadron sailed to cover against any move by " Tirpitz " to intercept Russia n convoys QP8 and PQ12 . " Tirpitz " was out at sea during this time but failed to locate the convoys due to bad weather conditions . A straggler from PQ12 was however sunk by " Friederich Ibn " , a destroyer who was screening " Tirpitz " . Operation Ironclad . " Lookout " participated in the allied occupation of Madagascar . She joined her sisterships HMS " Lightning " and HMS " Laforey " at Durban on 22 April 1942 and they departed on 28 April 1942 , en route for Diégo Suarez ( now Antsiranana ) , with invasion transports and escort . On 7 May the three L class destroyers escorted HMS " Ramillies " to search for an enemy battleship and cruisers . None were found , but " Laforey " sank an enemy submarine . Operation Pedestal . In August 1942 , " Lookout " was escorting the aircraft carrier HMS " Eagle " when she was torpedoed on 11 August and sank . " Lookout " carried out an unsuccessful counter attack with " Charybdis " and then helped rescue the 927 survivors . " Lookout " later transferred 500 of the survivors to " Venomous " . The next day " Lookout " joined " Tartar " in an attack on an enemy submarine which they had sighted on the surface , but no kill was made . " Lookout " was then detached with " Chaybdis " , " Somali " and " Lightning " to assist aircraft carrier " Indomitable " after she had been hit by dive bombers . Shortly after Operation Pedestal , Lt . Cdr . Cecil Powis Frobisher Brown relinquished command of " Lookout " and was relieved by Lt . Cdr . Archibald George Forman . He was later promoted to commander while in command of " Lookout " . During her second patrol after Operation Pedestal , " Lookout " encountered a merchant ship which was identified as SS " Luarana " , an Italian vessel of about 4 , 000 tons . " Lookout " went to action stations but the vessel was found to have been abandoned and so a skeleton crew was put on board to examine her . Eventually the stokers managed to rise steam on her and " Lookout " escorted " Luarana " to Gibraltar . Having spent much of August and most of September 1942 operating out of Gibraltar , " Lookout " returned home as escort to the battleship " Malaya " , departing from Gibraltar on 30 September and arriving on the Clyde on 5 October before departing the next day for Rosyth where she arrived on 8 October . She then sailed north to Scapa arriving there on 9 October . " Lookout " then left Scapa on 23 October for Gibraltar as part escort to battleship Rodney , arriving on 29 October at which time she rejoined the 19th Destroyer Flotilla . Operation Retribution . In May 1943 " Lookout " took part in Operation Retribution and sailed from Bone with " Eskimo " and the hunts of the 57 Division , departing on 9 May . On their way up the swept channel they were bombed by Ju88s , but suffered no damage . The next morning the ships sighted the Italian hospital ship " Virgiglio " and " Lauderdale " was ordered to escort her to waters of Cape Carthage to examine her . The boarding party later reported that everything was as it should be and the Italian ship was released . On the 13 May " Lookout " sighted a small boat 10 miles north - east of Plane Island . Thirteen Germans and one Italian were captured . On the 22 May " Lookout " made radar contact with Italian auxiliary transport " Stella Maris " . " Lookout " fired 24 rounds of 4 . 7 inch and along with " Laforey " successfully sank the Italian vessel . " Lookout " then covered " Laforey " as she picked up survivors . Operation Corkscrew . On the 8 and 9 June " Lookout " was involved in Operation Corkscrew . It was during this operation that " Lookout " achieved the distinction of probably being the most heavily bombed destroyer to survive the war . The 19 Destroyer Flotilla , which included " Lookout " , bombarded a shore position . But soon white flags could be seen hanging out of windows and troops eventually landed with no resistance . As dusk approached , the other ships withdrew leaving " Lookout " patrolling the island as guard ship . When the other ships were about 10 miles away , the Luftwaffe appeared expecting to find an invasion fleet , but only found the destroyer " Lookout " . " Lookout " went to action stations and put up an anti aircraft barrage and took violent evasive action . By this time however her gunnery was impaired by the failing light . Despite many close misses from bombs , " Lookout " remained undamaged and after the bombers had moved on , " Lookout " continued to patrol . " Lookout " supported the allied landings at Salerno ( Operation " Avalanche " ) in September 1943 , shelling German gun positions in support of 56 Division . A few days later she was nearly hit by a glider bomb but sustained little damage and was able to continue bombardments in support of the army until the 15 September , when she sailed back to Malta for repairs . After a major refit beginning on 13 November 1943 , " Lookout " returned to service on 23 July 1944 under the command of Lt . Cdr . Derrick Henry Fellowes Hetherington . She was assigned to the 14 Destroyer Flotilla . On the 12 October " Loyal " was severely damaged by a mine . " Lookout " towed her home . At the beginning of 1945 , " Lookout " was transferred to the 3 Destroyer Flotilla . On 15 January she bombarded targets in San Remo . On the 18 and 19 she bombarded targets near the Franco - Italian border . " Lookout " remained on bombardment and escort duties of the west coast of Italy until Victory Europe day . Reserve status and Demolition . " Lookout " took passage from Gibraltar to Plymouth on 19 October 1945 to be paid - off and reduced to Reserve status . The ship was laid - up in Reserve at Devonport and in October 1947 placed on the Disposal List . Sold to BISCO in January 1948 , she was taken in tow to Newport , Monmouthshire for demolition by John Cashmore and arrived at the breakers yard on 29 February that year . Burnley Sea Cadets lounge is named the Lookout Lounge in memory of the ship and her crew . The Greenock Museum in Scotland has a model of HMS " Lookout " ( G32 ) .