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HMS Avon Vale – Bradford on Avon’s adopted warship
Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire
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HMS Avon Vale in 1944 (Royal Navy official photographer)
The crest of HMS Avon Vale was given to the Bradford on Avon Urban District Council when the town “adopted” the ship. It was given to the Museum by Bradford Town Council in March 1996.
HMS Avon Vale, L06, was a Hunt Class Type II destroyer/escort, built on Clydebank, Glasgow and commissioned on 23rd October 1940. It was named after the Avon Vale Hunt. 1,050 tons gross, 282.5 feet in length, 31.5 feet beam, 7.75 feet draught. Twin propellers driven by a steam turbine, capable of 25 knots. Crew complement: 168.
Armament: six 4-inch guns in twin mountings, one forward and two aft; one 2-pounder multiple pom-pom; two Oelikon 20mm cannon; depth charge launcher mounted aft; no torpedo tubes.
She was operating in the Mediterranean in 1941 and was still there in March 1942 when she was badly damaged by a torpedo and four crew were killed, possibly while operating in the Malta area, towed back home from Gibraltar and rebuilt at Falmouth in time to take part in the D-Day invasion in 1944 and later returned to the Mediterranean.
The Hunt Class destroyers HMS Wheatland and HMS Avonvale together sank three enemy destroyers within 1½ hours on 1 November 1944, in the Adriatic near the island of Pag, Croatia.
She was sold and scrapped on 15th May 1958, after being laid up as part of the Reserve.
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The cast iron crest of HMS Avon Vale was given the Lords of the Admiralty to Bradford on Avon Urban District Council on the occasion of the ship’s adoption of the ship during Warships Week, 21 February 1942. It is now on display in Bradford on Avon Museum. Another copy was given to the Bradford and Melksham Rural District Council and is now in Melksham Town Hall, although the RDC had been based in Bradford.