HMS Whelp (R37)

Whelp underway on the Tyne, 1944
History
United Kingdom
Name:	Whelp
Ordered:	3 December 1941
Builder:	Hawthorn Leslie and Company, Hebburn
Laid down:	1 May 1942
Launched:	3 June 1943
Commissioned:	25 April 1944
Decommissioned:	January 1946
Fate:	Sold to the South African Navy, 25 April 1952
South Africa
Name:	SAS Simon van der Stel
Namesake:	Simon van der Stel
Acquired:	25 April 1952
Commissioned:	20 March 1953
Out of service:	27 March 1972
Renamed:	20 March 1953
Reclassified:	Converted into an anti-submarine frigate, 1962–64
Fate:	Scrapped, 1976
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type:	W-class destroyer
Displacement:	1,710 long tons (1,740 t) (standard load) 2,530 long tons (2,570 t) (deep load)
Length:	362 ft 9 in (110.6 m)
Beam:	35 ft 8 in (10.9 m)
Draught:	14 ft 6 in (4.4 m) (deep load)
Installed power:	2 Admiralty 3-drum boilers 40,000 shp (30,000 kW)
Propulsion:	2 shafts 2 × geared steam turbines
Speed:	36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph)
Range:	4,675 nmi (8,658 km; 5,380 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement:	179
Sensors and processing systems:	ASDIC Type 272 surface-search radar Type 282 and 285 gunnery radars Type 291 early-warning radar
Armament:	4 × single 4.7-inch (120 mm) guns 1 × quadruple 2-pounder (40 mm) "pom-pom" AA gun 4 × twin Oerlikon 20 mm (0.8 in) AA guns 2 × quadruple 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes 70 depth charges; 4 throwers, 2 rails

HMS Whelp was one of eight W-class destroyers built for the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Completed in 1944, the ship spent most of the war assigned to the Eastern and Pacific Fleets. She screened British aircraft carriers as their aircraft attacked targets in the Japanese-occupied Nicobar Islands, the Dutch East Indies, Formosa and near Okinawa. Whelp was present at the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay in 1945 and later in Hong Kong. She was paid off in January 1946 and went into reserve.

Whelp was sold to the South African Navy (SAN) in 1952 and renamed Simon van der Stel. She was subsequently converted into a fast anti-submarine frigate in the early 1960s and served as a training ship from 1968 until 1972 when she went back into reserve. Simon van der Stel was recommissioned in 1975 for a refit, but that proved to be uneconomical and she was scrapped the following year.

The W-class ships displaced 1,710 long tons (1,740 t) at standard load and 2,530 long tons (2,570 t) at deep load. They had an overall length of 362 feet 9 inches (110.6 m), a beam of 35 feet 8 inches (10.9 m) and a mean deep draught of 14 feet 6 inches (4.4 m). The ships were powered by a pair of Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by two Admiralty three-drum boilers. The turbines developed a total of 40,000 shaft horsepower (30,000 kW) which gave a maximum speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph). They carried 615 long tons (625 t) of fuel oil that gave them a range of 4,675 nautical miles (8,658 km; 5,380 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph). Their crew numbered 179 officers and ratings.