History

This HMS St Albans is the sixth ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name. The first was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line built in 1687. She was with the fleet that rallied to William of Orange in 1688 as well as the victory off Barfleur 3 years later. Whilst operating in the Western Channel in December 1693, she became the victim of a gale and was wrecked whilst trying to shelter in Kinsale harbour. The next St Albans was also a fourth rate ‘50’, built in 1706. She was commissioned in 1739 for the war with Spain, serving on blockade duties as well as convoying Army reinforcements to Jamaica. Remaining there to protect British Trade, she met a similar fate to her predecessor in 1744, being wrecked with three other warships in Kingston harbour during a hurricane. Three years later a new St Albans a 60-gun Forth Rate was completed. Part of a Squadron sent out in 1751 to discourage a French naval expedition from establishing a colony in West Africa, she also blockaded first Brest then Toulon in 1756, when the two countries were again at war. She took part in the battle of Lagos in 1759, off Cape St Vincent, before being paid off before the end of the war. However, before being disposed of, the fourth St Albans had been launched. Armed with 64 guns, she saw service in the American War of Independence, joining Howe’s fleet off New York in the late 1777, and she subsequently took part in the successful capture of St Lucia. She was also engaged in the British victories off St Kitts and The Saints, before her last action of the war in 1783.

The fifth St Albans had an interesting and unusual career, being originally launched on 4 July 1918 as the USS Thomas. Her time with the Royal Navy began in September 1940 under the Destroyers for Bases agreement. Engaged in several convoy and minelaying duties, she was later transferred to the Royal Norwegian Navy for a brief period before returning to the Royal Navy in the 7th Destroyer group operating from Liverpool. On 3 August 1941, whilst homeward bound from Sierra Leone, she joined other destroyers in the sinking of a German U-boat and made a score of other attacks. She continued escort duties until early 1944 when in July; she was transferred to the Russian Navy to become the DOSTOINYI, meaning ‘Worthy’. She returned to England in 1949, when, in April, she was scrapped, a veteran of four different navies.