HMS Anthony (H40)
HMS Anthony (H40) was an A-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that served in World War II. Built in Scotland, she was ordered in 1928, laid down in 1928, launched in 1929 and commissioned in 1930.
At the start of the war she served with the 18th Destroyer Flotilla based at Portland, operating in the English Channel and the Western Approaches. She then moved to the East coast and helped escort the battleship Royal Sovereign to Halifax. In March 1940 she joined the 16th Destroyer Flotilla at Portsmouth and took part in the Dunkirk evacuation in May, rescuing about 3,000 people before sustaining damage from an air attack.
Anthony returned to duty with convoy and anti-submarine work around the British coast, later joining the 12th Destroyer Flotilla at Greenock. She helped rescue survivors from the torpedoed merchant ship City of Benares in September 1940. In 1941 she was damaged in a Clyde air raid but was repaired and back in service by December. She spent time escorting ships and taking part in minelaying operations.
On 23 May 1941 she formed part of the escort for the battlecruiser Hood and battleship Prince of Wales as they hunted the German battleship Bismarck, though she was refueling at Iceland and missed the decisive Denmark Strait battle. In August 1941 she supported the Spitsbergen raid (Operation Gauntlet) and then escorted PQ 1 to Russia and QP 1 back to the UK.
After a refit in the Humber, Anthony moved to Gibraltar in January 1942 to help escort convoys and support operations delivering Spitfires to Malta. In March 1942 she joined Force H for Operation Ironclad, the Madagascar landings at Diego Suarez. She helped land Royal Marines in the rear area, contributing to the fall of Diego Suarez in May.
Later in 1942 she escorted ships to the United States and then supported troop convoys for Operation Torch, the invasion of French North Africa. Early 1943 onward she spent time on convoy duties along the West African coast and in the Western Mediterranean, and she helped support the Allied invasion of Sicily in July.
On 24 February 1944, Anthony, together with the destroyer Wishart and aircraft from No. 202 Squadron and the US Navy, sank the German submarine U-761 west of Gibraltar. She returned to Britain in September 1944 to continue escort duties in the Western Approaches and the English Channel.
Tragedy struck on 24 December 1944 when Anthony and the troopship Leopoldville were escorting Leopoldville when it was torpedoed and sunk by U-486, with heavy loss of life. In early 1945 Anthony was converted into an air target ship to train aircrew in ship identification and attack techniques, continuing in that role for the rest of the war.
Anthony was placed in reserve in March 1946, briefly reactivated for damage-control trials from late 1946 to February 1948, and finally sold for scrap on 21 February 1948. She was towed to Troon, Ayrshire for breaking.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 11:38 (CET).