HMS Hesperus ( H57 ) HMS " Hesperus " was an H - class destroyer that had originally been ordered by the Brazilian Navy with the name " Juruena " in the late 1930s , but was bought by the Royal Navy after the beginning of World War II in September 1939 and later renamed . She was damaged by German aircraft during the Norwegian Campaign in May 1940 and was assigned to convoy escort and anti - submarine patrols after her repairs were completed . The ship was assigned to the Western Approaches Command for convoy escort duties in late 1940 . She was briefly assigned to Force H in 1941 , but her anti - aircraft armament was deemed too weak and she was transferred to the Newfoundland Escort Force the next month for escort duties in the North Atlantic . " Hesperus " was transferred to the Mid - Ocean Escort Force in late 1941 and continued to escort convoys in the North Atlantic for the next three years . She was converted to an escort destroyer in early 1943 after suffering damage from one of her two ramming attacks that sank German submarine s . The ship sank two other submarines during the war by more conventional means . After the end of the war , " Hesperus " escorted the ships carrying the Norwegian government in exile back to Norway and served as a target ship through mid - 1946 . She was scrapped beginning in mid - 1947 . Description . " Hesperus " 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 water - tube boilers . " Hesperus " carried a maximum of of fuel oil , giving her a range of at . The ship ' s complement was 152 officers and enlisted men . The vessel was designed for four 45 - calibre 4 . 7 - inch Mk IX guns in single mounts , designated ' A ' , ' B ' , ' X ' , and ' Y ' from front to rear , but ' Y ' gun was removed to compensate for the additional depth charges added . For anti - aircraft ( AA ) defence , " Hesperus " had two quadruple Mark I mounts for the 0 . 5 inch Vickers Mark III machine gun . She was fitted with two above - water quadruple torpedo tube mounts for torpedoes . One depth charge rail and two throwers were originally fitted , but this was increased to three sets of rails and eight throwers while fitting - out . The ship ' s load of depth charges was increased from 20 to 110 as well . " Hesperus " was completed without a director - control tower ( DCT ) so the three remaining 4 . 7 - inch low - angle guns fired in local control using ranges provided by a rangefinder . She was fitted with an ASDIC set to detect submarine s by reflections from sound waves beamed into the water . Wartime modifications . " Hesperus " had her rear torpedo tubes replaced by a 12 - pounder AA gun while under repair in May – June 1940 . The ship received a HF / DF radio direction finder mounted on a pole mainmast and a Type 286 short - range surface search radar during her mid - 1941 refit . While under repair at Immingham , she received her DCT . During her early 1942 refit at Falmouth , Cornwall , the ship ' s short - range AA armament was augmented by two Oerlikon 20 mm guns on the wings of the ship ' s bridge . In addition , her recently installed DCT and rangefinder above the bridge were replaced by a Type 271 target indication radar . Whilst under repair in early 1943 , the ship was converted to an escort destroyer . ' A ' gun was replaced by a Hedgehog anti - submarine spigot mortar and the . 50 - calibre machine gun mounts were replaced by a pair of Oerlikons . Additional depth charge stowage replaced the 12 - pounder high - angle gun and " Hesperus " received the one - ton Mk X depth charge and four Mk IV depth - charge throwers during the same refit . " Hesperus " was also fitted with the Foxer acoustic decoy to protect her against German acoustically guided torpedoes . History . She was originally ordered as " Juruena " on 16 December 1937 by the Brazilian Navy . The ship was laid down by John I . Thornycroft and Company at Woolston , Hampshire on 6 July 1938 and launched by Senhora Heitora Gallienz on 1 August 1939 . The ship was purchased by the British on 5 September 1939 after the beginning of World War II . Renamed HMS " Hearty " , the ship was commissioned on 22 January 1940 under command of former Fleet Air Arm pilot Commander Donald Macintyre . " Hearty " was renamed " Hesperus " on 27 February , after the Hesperus of mythology , to avoid confusion with the destroyer . The six Brazilian H - class or " Havant " - class destroyers initially formed the 9th Destroyer Flotilla of the Home Fleet assigned to anti - submarine protection of Scapa Flow . Upon the German occupation of Denmark , " Hesperus " and her sister were assigned to cover the British occupation of the Faroe Islands in mid - April . During the Norwegian Campaign , " Hesperus " transported elements of the Scots Guards to Mo i Rana on 15 May and was damaged by near misses from Junkers Ju - 87 dive - bombers that same day . The ship was sent to Dundee for repairs that lasted a month . Upon their completion , the ship was assigned to convoy escort and anti - submarine patrol duties . In November 1940 , the 9th Destroyer Flotilla was transferred to the Western Approaches Command and re - designated the 9th Escort Group . During a tropical storm in January 1941 , the platform on which ' B ' gun was mounted was lifted until the gun pressed against the bridge . After repairs , she resumed her convoy escort duties until April when she was assigned to Force H in Gibraltar whilst Macintyre transferred to the destroyer in March . " Hesperus " escorted ships during Operations Tiger and Tracer in May and June . " Hesperus " was transferred out of Force H as her anti - aircraft capability was believed by Admiral James Somerville to be too weak for operations in the Mediterranean . She received a brief refit in Liverpool and was transferred to the Newfoundland Escort Force on 7 July . In August 1941 , " Hesperus " was one of the destroyers that escorted the battleship carrying Prime Minister Winston Churchill to the Atlantic Charter meeting with President Franklin D . Roosevelt at Placentia Bay . The ship was structurally damaged by heavy weather and was temporarily repaired by a repair ship in Iceland and then was given permanent repairs at Immingham . Upon their completion " Hesperus " rejoined the 9th Escort Group before she was attached to Force H in December for convoy duties at Gibraltar . Together with her sister , " Hesperus " sank the on 7 December 1941 in the Atlantic west of Gibraltar . On 15 January 1942 , whilst defending Convoy HG 78 , the ship ' s radar detected " U - 93 " on the surface and the captain , Lieutenant Commander A . A . Tait , ordered " Hesperus " to ram . Although a glancing hit , the collision was so violent that it flung the U - boat ' s captain and first lieutenant from the submarine ' s conning tower into the motorboat stowed on the destroyer ' s deck . By dropping depth charges at their shallowest setting and hitting the submarine multiple times with 4 . 7 - inch shells , the submarine ' s crew was persuaded to abandon ship . " Hesperus " rescued 40 of the submarine ' s crew , but was unable to board the submarine before it sank . The impact flooded part of the forward hull , buckled her starboard hull plating and bent the tips of her starboard propeller . She received temporary repairs at Gibraltar and then was given permanent repairs in Falmouth between 9 February and April . In March 1942 , the remaining five " Havant " - class destroyers were designated leaders of Escort Groups B - 1 through B - 5 . Commander Tait was transferred to " Harvester " ; and Commander A . F . St . G . Orpen assumed command of " Hesperus " and B - 2 Escort Group when " Hesperus " completed repairs in April . Commander Macintyre returned to the ship when Orpen was promoted to captain in June . Whilst escorting Convoy HX 219 near Rockall on 26 December , " Hesperus " and the destroyer " Vanessa " sank " U - 357 " by ramming . This time , the ship ' s bottom was ripped open for nearly a quarter of her length and she needed three months of repairs in Liverpool . The ship rejoined her group on 17 March and sank " U - 191 " with her Hedgehog on 23 April 1943 whilst escorting Convoy ONS 4 . Almost three weeks later , she sank " U - 186 " whilst defending convoy SC 129 on 12 May 1943 . " Hesperus " remained on convoy escort duties until she was refitted between January and 29 March 1944 . Commander G . V . Legassick assumed command of " Hesperus " in March 1944 and the group escorted convoys between Gibraltar and the United Kingdom . In July 1944 , the ship transported the remains of Captain Frederic John Walker for burial at sea . Later that year , she was transferred to the 19th Escort Group . In January 1945 , Commander R . A . Currie assumed command of " Hesperus " as commander of the 14th Escort Group , based in Plymouth . On 30 April 1945 , the ship , together with her sister , attacked the wreck of the " U - 246 " northwest of the island of Anglesey thinking that it was " U - 242 " which had been spotted by a Short Sunderland flying boat earlier that day . Two weeks later , " Hesperus " and the 14th Escort Group escorted a group of surrendered German U - boats from Loch Alsh to Lough Foyle . On 27 May , the ship and her sister " Havelock " escorted the exiled Norwegian government back to Oslo and remained there until 1 June . Ten days later , she began service as an aircraft target , a role that lasted for the next year . " Hesperus " was approved for scrapping on 18 February 1946 and was placed in Category C reserve in May . She was towed to Grangemouth for scrapping , but that did not begin until 17 May 1947 . " Hesperus " s ensign was preserved in Yeovil Parish Church .