HMS Woolwich ( F80 ) HMS " Woolwich " was a depot ship and destroyer tender built for the Royal Navy during the 1930s . The ship was initially deployed to support destroyer s of the Mediterranean Fleet . During World War II , she was assigned to the Home , Mediterranean and Eastern Fleet s . She briefly returned home in 1946 , but rejoined the Mediterranean Fleet the following year . " Woolwich " permanently returned to the United Kingdom in 1948 where she became a maintenance and accommodation ship . The ship was sold for scrap in 1962 . Description . " Woolwich " had an overall length of , a beam of , and a draught of at deep load . She normally displaced and at ( full load ) . Each of the ship ' s two sets of Parsons geared steam turbines drove one propeller shaft . Steam was supplied by four Admiralty three - drum water - tube boilers . The turbines were rated at and gave " Woolwich " a speed of . The ship carried of fuel oil , which gave her a range of at . Her crew numbered 666 officers and enlisted men . She was initially armed with four quick - firing ( QF ) four - inch Mk V gun on single high - angle mounts amidships . The gun mount had a maximum elevation of + 80 degrees , and the gun could fire a projectile with a muzzle velocity of to a maximum height of or a range of . They had a rate of fire of about 15 rounds per minute . The guns were controlled by a High Angle Control System ( HACS ) fire - control director mounted above the bridge . To resupply her destroyers , the ship carried seventy - two torpedo es and 200 depth charge s . During World War II , " Woolwich " s anti - aircraft armament was reinforced by two QF two - pounder light anti - aircraft ( AA ) guns in single mounts on the forecastle . The gun fired a shell at a muzzle velocity of to a distance of . The gun ' s rate of fire was approximately 96 – 98 rounds per minute . Four Oerlikon 20 mm guns in single mounts were also fitted as well as two quadruple Vickers . 50 machine gun mounts . Several radar s were added during the war . A Type 285 gunnery radar was mounted on top of the HACS director and a Type 271 / 73 surface search radar was installed abaft the two - pounder guns on the forecastle . " Woolwich " s main deck consisted of armour plate over the machinery spaces and her platform deck was thick over the magazine s . Construction and service . The ship was ordered on 4 April 1933 as part of the 1932 Naval Construction Programme . She was laid down by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in Govan on the River Clyde on 24 May 1933 . " Woolwich " was launched on 20 September 1934 and completed on 28 June 1935 . She was deployed to the Mediterranean after completion and was in Alexandria at the beginning of World War II in September 1939 . The ship returned home and was based at Scapa Flow supporting destroyers of the Home Fleet by mid - 1940 . " Woolwich " sailed again for the Mediterranean in September ; while circumnavigating Africa , she had to put into Mombasa , Kenya for repairs to her boilers before she arrived in Alexandria in November . In mid - June 1942 , Vice - Admiral Henry Harwood , Commander - in - Chief , Mediterranean Fleet , ordered all non - essential ships to leave Alexandria as he was preparing to demolish the port facilities there to prevent their capture by the advancing Panzer Army Africa . " Woolwich " and the repair ship , escorted by six destroyers , were transferred south of the Suez Canal until the victory at the Second Battle of El Alamein in October allowed them to return to Alexandria . She remained there until late 1943 when she was assigned to the Eastern Fleet and based at Trincomalee for the rest of the war . " Woolwich " sailed back to England in 1946 , but rejoined the Mediterranean Fleet the following year where she served as flagship for the Flag Officer , Mediterranean Fleet Destroyers . The ship sailed from Valetta , Malta on 7 February 1948 for Harwich where she served as a maintenance and accommodation ship for reserve ships based there . " Woolwich " was refitted in Rosyth in 1952 and then transferred to Gare Loch to perform similar duties there . She was refitted again in Rosyth five years later and served as an accommodation ship in Devonport from 1958 – 1962 . " Woolwich " was sold to Arnott Young in 1962 for scrap and arrived at Dalmuir , Scotland , on 18 October to be broken up .