HMS Aphis ( 1915 ) HMS " Aphis " was a Royal Navy . She was built by Ailsa Shipbuilding Company , launched on 15 September 1915 and completed in November 1915 . She was based in Port Said at the beginning of World War I , served in Romania and then the China Station until 1940 . All of her fighting service was in the Mediterranean , taking part in the invasion of Pantelleria and landings in the south of France , returning briefly to the Pacific in 1945 . She was scrapped at Singapore in 1947 . Her class was intended for shallow , fast flowing rivers and they also proved suitable for inshore operations when her relatively heavy weaponry could be used to support Army operations . In February 1942 after a successful Warship Week National Savings campaign , " Aphis " was adopted by the civil communities of Warminster and Westbury in Wiltshire . Service . During 1917 " Aphis " was operated on the Danube , in support of military operations , based at Bucharest . She remained there until 1919 . In 1919 she transferred to the China Squadron for service in the Yangtze Flotilla to support British shipping and nationals in China . The situation in China remained volatile and " Aphis " remained with the Yangtze Flotilla until June 1940 when she was redeployed to the Mediterranean Fleet at Alexandria . For the next three years , " Aphis " provided artillery support for the Army . For example , in early December 1940 , she bombarded Italian positions at Tobruk in company with her sister ships and and the monitor , and later that month , she bombarded harbour installations at Tobruk ( three merchant ships were sunk ) . This continued into February 1941 , when she was joined by three Australian destroyers ( , and ) . Army support operations continued into April when " Aphis " bombarded enemy positions at Bomba and Gazala during the 8th Army ' s withdrawal . " Aphis " remained based at Alexandria until Malta became available for use as a naval base in March 1943 . Based at Malta , nearer to the landings on the Italian islands and mainland Europe , she provided artillery support for the attack on Pantalleria in June ( deployed with headquarters ship and destroyers and . Her planned deployment in support of the Sicily landings was cancelled in view of the class ' vulnerability to air attack . Instead , after a period at Malta , " Aphis " supported British landings in Calabria in early September . She was deployed with her sister and monitors , and , to bombard enemy positions on the coast between Reggio Calabria and Pessaro before the Operation " Baytown " landings by the British XIII Corps . After another period at Malta , she participated in the support of the landings in the south of France , this time operating under United States command . She joined the Western Task Force , in June 1944 , attached to the Special Operations Group at Ajaccio . The group was to mis - direct German resources by simulating large Allied landings and in mid - August they carried out bombardments between Antibes and the Var river . The operation was a complete success . A second diversionary operation took place off La Ciotat ; " Aphis " and " Scarab " and the US destroyer bombarded the area . During the action , the allied ships were engaged by two German warships , the corvette " UJ6082 " and armed yacht " UJ6083 " . Both German ships were sunk . In mid - August 1944 , " Aphis " resumed duty with the Mediterranean Fleet and in September she was deployed in the Adriatic to support of Army operations , based at Ancona . She returned to Malta in January 1945 . In July 1945 , she left the Mediterranean to join the British Pacific Fleet at their forward base at Manus Island in the Admiralty Islands . By the time she arrived , Japan had surrendered and she did not join the fleet until after VJ Day . Subsequently , she was paid - off on arrival at Singapore and placed on the disposal list in 1946 . She was sold for scrapping in May .