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HMS ''Saintes'' was a 1942 fleet destroyer of the Royal Navy (RN). She and 15 sister ships being ordered under the 1942 defence estimates. The ship was named after the Battle of the Saintes, a Royal Navy victory over a French fleet intending to invade Jamaica in 1782. So far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name. ''Saintes'' was built by Hawthorn Leslie and Company on the Tyne. The vessel was launched on the on 19 July 1944 and commissioned on the on 27 September 1946. ==Royal Navy service== When ''Saintes'' first commissioned in 1946 she joined the 5th destroyer flotilla and was used to trial the new 4.5-inch Mk 6 twin turret which became the standard destroyer main armament until well into the 1970s.〔Marriott, 1989. p.72〕 ''Saintes'' paid off on completion of the trials and was refitted with the conventional main armament of the class. In 1949, ''Saintes'' recommissioned into the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla and deployed to the Mediterranean where she took over as Captain (D)3, the senior officer in command of the flotilla. In 1954, whilst still in the Mediterranean, ''Saintes'' came to the assistance of the merchant vessel , which had suffered an engine room explosion and fire whilst carrying troops and their families home from the Far East. ''Saintes'' took charge of the rescue operation and put fire and towing parties aboard and attempted to tow the ship to Gibraltar but ''Empire Windrush'' foundered whilst under tow. Apart from the four engine room staff killed in the original explosion all crew and passengers were rescued unharmed. ''Saintes'' remained Captain of the 3rd Destroyer Squadron until she went for a major refit in 1956 at Rosyth when her crew transferred to her sister ship . On completion of her refit in 1958, ''Saintes'' again took over as Captain of the Squadron, this time as part of a General Service commission spending a part of the time with the Home Fleet and part of the time with the Mediterranean Fleet. In 1960, ''Saintes'' recommissioned with the 1st Destroyer Squadron, again having spells with the Home and Mediterranean Fleets.〔Marriott, 1989. p.75〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「HMS Saintes (D84)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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