~ HMS Chevron 1945 C Class Destroyer Main Battery Bronze Tompion ~
The tompion, originally fitted to the end of the barrel of one of the quick fire 4.25 inch main battery gun muzzles, has the ships name in relief above a trident with a chevron placed over it. The tompion has a twisted rope border and is secured to a wooden board by two screws.
~ HMS Chevron ~
HMS Chevron was a C-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that was in service from August 1945 to the 1960s. She was scrapped in 1969.
After the War Chevron was allocated the pennant number D51. On 9 December 1946, as part of the ‘Palestine Patrol’, tasked with intercepting illegal Jewish immigration to Mandatory Palestine, Chevron and the minesweeper Providence arrived at the small island of Syrna in the Dodecanese group of Greek islands, to rescue survivors of the coal-fired, ~650 gross tonne Athina Rafiah, carrying Jewish immigrants, which had wrecked on 7 December in Agiou Soassin Bay, on the south coast, while seeking shelter in heavy weather. Most of the approximately 800 Ma’apilim on board had struggled onto the island, some with injuries. “After dark, in heavy rain and a rough sea, they carried out the rescue operation and transported the miserable passengers to a landing ship tank (LST) near the island of Crete. Like thousands of Ma’apilim before them on board nine ships that sailed during the summer of 1946, the Ma’apilim were transported to detention camps in Cyprus.”
On 6 February 1952, the U.S. Navy Martin P4M-1Q Mercator, BuNo 124371, based in Port Lyautey, French Morocco, staging out of Nicosia, Cyprus, returning from an electronic reconnaissance mission over the Black Sea, made an open ocean dead-stick landing east of Cyprus. Of 15 crew aboard, 14 were rescued by Chevron, the aircraft commander being lost following the ditching.
On 31 October 1954, the aircraft carrier Triumph and Chevron were open to Malta visitors in the afternoon. Triumph was berthed in Grand Harbour and Chevron in Sliema Creek.
In 1954 Chevron returned to Portsmouth from the Mediterranean and decommissioned. In 1956 she was briefly recommissioned and served as part of the 1st Destroyer Squadron in Operation Musketeer during the Suez Crisis. From 1957 until 1969 she served in reserve as an accommodation ship at Rosyth. Jane’s Fighting Ships 1962-1963 states that “Chequers and Chevron are for disposal in the near future.”. She was placed on the disposal list in 1964.
Chevron was sold to Thos W Ward for scrapping at Inverkeithing in December 1969. Her bell is preserved at the Collingwood Area School, New Zealand.
~ Condition ~
The tompion is in excellent condition.
~ Dimensions ~
The tompion is 17 cm (6.75 inches) in diameter and 2 cm (0.75 inches) deep.
It weighs 2.6 Kg.
#10377