HMS Lance (G87)
Lance in Grand Harbour, 8 January 1942
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| History | |
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 United Kingdom
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| Name: | HMS Lance |
| Ordered: | 31 March 1938 |
| Builder: | Yarrow Shipbuilders, Scotstoun, Glasgow |
| Laid down: | 1 March 1939 |
| Launched: | 28 November 1940 |
| Commissioned: | 13 May 1941 |
| Fate: | Damaged by bombs on 5 and 9 April 1942. Declared a constructive total loss and scrapped. |
| Badge: | Badge: On a Field barry wavy of four White and Blue, issuant from the base a Lance Red. |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | L-class destroyer |
| Displacement: | 1,920 tons |
| Length: | 362.5 ft (110.5 m) |
| Beam: | 36.7 ft (11.2 m) |
| Draught: | 10 ft (3.0 m) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 36 kt (66.7 km/h) |
| Range: | 5,500 nmi (10,200 km; 6,300 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement: | 221 |
| Armament: |
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HMS Lance was an L-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She entered service during World War II, and had a short but eventful career, serving in Home waters and the Mediterranean Sea. She was damaged in two consecutive air attacks at Malta in 1942. She was towed back to Britain, declared a constructive total loss and was scrapped. She had been adopted by the civil community of Bexley and Welling, Kent in November 1941.
Lance was ordered from the yards of Yarrow Shipbuilders, Scotstoun, Glasgow on 31 March 1938 under the 1937 Naval Estimates. She was laid down on 1 March 1939 at the same time as her sister, Laforey. She was launched on 28 November 1940 and commissioned on 13 May 1941. She cost £440,204, excluding items such as weapons and communications equipment supplied by the Admiralty. On commissioning she was assigned to the 4th Destroyer Flotilla.
Once commissioned, Lance was based at Scapa Flow with other ships of the Home Fleet. On 22 May she escorted the battleship King George V in the search for the German battleship Bismarck. She suffered machinery defects whilst at sea and was detached from the Home Fleet units and returned to Scapa Flow. She rejoined the search on 26 May, and then escorted King George V back to the UK after the sinking of Bismarck.
In June she was assigned to the Western Approaches Command with the 11th Escort Group, based at Greenock. On 22 June she and Legion escorted the aircraft carrier Furious through the Atlantic Ocean to Gibraltar as part of an operation to deliver aircraft to Malta. She continued to participate in the operation, escorting the aircraft carrier Ark Royal and other units of the Mediterranean Fleet to Malta throughout the month. She returned to Greenock in July and resumed escort and convoy defence duties.
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