HMS Volunteer (D71)

HMS Volunteer underway on the River Clyde during World War II.
History
Class and type:	Admiralty Modified W-class destroyer
Name:	HMS Volunteer
Namesake:
Ordered:	January 1918
Builder:	William Denny and Brothers, Dunbarton, Scotland
Laid down:	16 April 1918
Launched:	17 April 1919
Completed:	7 November 1919
Commissioned:	7 November 1919
Decommissioned:	early 1930s
Recommissioned:	August 1939
Decommissioned:	May 1945
Motto:	Pro aris et focis ("For Hearths and Homes ")
Honours and awards:	Battle honours for: Atlantic 1939-1945 English Channel 1940-1945 Arctic 1942 Biscay 1943 Normandy 1944 North Sea 1945
Fate:	Sold for scrapping 3 or 4 March 1947
Badge:	A gold lion's mask on a gold shield over a silver barry of three, all on a blue field
General characteristics
Class and type:	Admiralty Modified W-class destroyer
Displacement:	1,140 tons standard, 1,550 tons full
Length:	300 ft o/a, 312 ft p/p
Beam:	29.5 feet (9.0 m)
Draught:	9 feet (2.7 m), 11.25 feet (3.43 m) under full load
Propulsion:	Yarrow type Water-tube boilers, Brown-Curtis geared steam turbines, 2 shafts, 27,000 shp
Speed:	34 kt
Range:	320–370 tons oil 3,500 nmi at 15 kt 900 nmi at 32 kt
Complement:	127
Sensors and processing systems:	Type 286M Air Warning Radar fitted 1940 Type 271 Surface Warning Radar fitted 1940
Armament:	As built 1920: 4 × BL 4.7 in (120-mm) Mk.I guns, mount P Mk.I 2 × QF 2 pdr Mk.II "pom-pom" (40 mm L/39) 6 × 21-inch Torpedo Tubes 1940 SRE conversion: 3 × BL 4.7 in (120mm) Mk.I L/45 guns 1 × 3 in (76 mm) AA gun 2 × QF 2 pdr Mk.II "pom-pom" (40 mm L/39) 3 × 21-inch Torpedo Tubes (one triple mount) 2 × depth charge racks twin 6 pounder army gun (1942 – replaced ‘A’ gun)

The fourth HMS Volunteer (D71), later I71, was a Modified W-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in World War II.

Volunteer was ordered in January 1918 as part of the 13th Order of the 1918-1919 Naval Programme. She was laid down on 16 April 1918 by William Denny and Brothers at Dumbarton, Scotland, and launched on 17 April 1919. She was completed on 7 November 1919 and commissioned into service the same day with the pennant number D71.

Volunteer entered service with the fleet in 1919. During 1921 she was assigned to the 4th Destroyer Flotilla in the Atlantic Fleet, and in 1925 she was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet along with the rest of the flotilla. During the early 1930s, she was decommissioned, transferred to the Reserve Fleet, and placed in the Nore Reserve. She later was moved to Rosyth, Scotland, remaining in reserve there.

In August 1939, Volunteer was recommissioned with a reserve crew for the Royal Review of the Reserve Fleet in Weymouth Bay by King George VI. She then remained in commission as the fleet mobilised because of deteriorating diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and Nazi Germany