HMS Whimbrel (1942) - The Battle of the Atlantic Memorial

The HMS Whimbrel is a Royal Navy “Black Swan” class sloop built 1942 at Yarrow Shipbuilders Ltd, Scotstoun, Glasgow, Scotland, UK. She was commissioned in January 1943 as one of the famous Black Swan class sloops. Like corvettes, sloops were specialized convoy-defence vessels, with anti-aircraft and anti-submarine capability. They were designed to have a longer range than a destroyer at the expense of a lower top speed, while remaining capable of outrunning surfaced Type VII and Type IX U-Boats. She served in the Second World War during the Battle of the Atlantic as part of the famous Captain Walker’s hunter killer group. She is typical of the convoy escorts that bore the brunt of the Battle of the Atlantic and is a sister ship of Johnnie Walker’s own command, HMS Starling, which was credited with sinking a record 16 enemy submarines.

HMS Whimbrel’s service was typical of the class; initially she was used on the Atlantic & Russian convoy routes, then at the Normandy landings prior to being transferred to the Pacific Fleet in 1945.  She was sold by the Royal Navy to the Egyptian Navy in 1949, subsequently giving her new owners some 50 years further service as ENS El Malek Farouq and then from 1954 she was renamed ENS Tariq. In 2002, the Egyptian Navy put her up for disposal. So her historical context extends beyond the Battle of the Atlantic as well. Most significantly, she was one of the representatives of the British Pacific Fleet at the surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay in September 1945, thereby giving her a part in the celebrations that marked the end of six years of conflict. As a result HMS Whimbrel is the last surviving Royal Navy warship that was present at the Japanese Surrender in Tokyo Bay.

Today she is laid up in Alexandria as an accommodation ship following conclusion of her service as the Egyptian navy’s ENS Tariq. HMS Whimbrel is one of only a handful of Royal Navy warships that remain from the Second World War and the only one to survive in largely original condition. She therefore represents a virtual treasure trove of life at sea during the wartime years. Quite simply, there is nothing like her anywhere else in the World.

The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest continuous campaign of the Second World War, lasting from the declaration of war in 1939 to the unconditional surrender of Germany in 1945. In spite of this, it is the only British campaign of the War not commemorated by a major national memorial. 

Apart from the Battle of the Atlantic, there was nowhere else in the theatre of war, where British seamen were exposed for so long to such great danger during the Second World War, from the declaration of war in 1939 until Germany’s surrender in 1945. Some 100,000 merchant ships crossed the Atlantic to arrive safely at their destinations with food, clothing, weapons, raw materials & fuel.  The cost was high: over 2,000 ships were sunk & 22,000 merchant sailors & some 10,000 naval personnel died. Even those who survived were left carrying the life long effects of their memories. For these reasons, the Battle of the Atlantic has left a powerful emotional legacy. 

Every year until 2003, the battle has been remembered by commemorative events in the City of Liverpool, the Royal Navy’s wartime campaign headquarters. With the surviving participants now of advancing years, there will be no more annual commemorations. Now is therefore the time for a more permanent memorial and the HMS Whimbrel is the ideal candidate.

In spite of the Battle of the Atlantic’s importance to British history, we are the only major country involved not to have created a memorial to the campaign. Canada (in Halifax), the United States (in Chicago) and even Germany (in Kiel) all have campaign memorials that have been built around preserved warships. The project aims to repatriate and preserve the ship as a memorial and museum for the Battle of the Atlantic in Liverpool. Thus the aim to recognise the importance of the Battle of the Atlantic in Britain’s history and commemorate the sacrifices of all those involved in the battle by the creation of a permanent educational memorial to the Atlantic Campaign focussed on the former Second World War, Black Swan class sloop, HMS Whimbrel.

Discussions with the Egyptians are well advanced and work is ongoing on refining the business plan. However your assistance is still needed to raise the remaining £2 million funding that is needed before she can return to the UK. A berth has been granted by British Waterways in Canning Dock for the HMS Whimbrel and it is hoped that the ship will be back by 2008 in time for the Liverpool European Capital of Culture 2008 celebrations.