HMS Fidelity (D57)

HMS Fidelity (D57) was a Special Service Vessel (Q-Ship) of the British Royal Navy during World War II, originally the French merchant vessel La Rhin.

Ship history
The 2,456 ton ship was built by H. & C. Grayson Ltd. of Garston, Liverpool, and completed in 1920 for Compagnie de Navigation Paquet, Marseilles.

In June 1940 La Rhin sailed for Gibraltar under the command of Lieutenant de Vaisseau Claude Andre Michel Peri, and was turned over to the Royal Navy at Barry, Wales. The ship was converted into the special service vessel, and commissioned on 24 September 1940 as HMS Fidelity (D57) under the command of Lt. Peri, serving as Lieutenant Commander Jack Langlais RNVR. Her officers included Lt-Cmdr. Patrick Albert O'Leary RNVR and First Officer Madeleine Barclay WRNS.

In 1941 Fidelity operated off the coast of Southern France under the direction of the Special Operations Executive (SOE), landing agents and picking up escaped prisoners, disguised as Spanish or Portuguese freighter. She also took part in small-scale sabotage operations. In 1942 Fidelity was refitted to operate as a commando carrier for operations in south-east Asia. She was armed with four 4-inch guns, four 21-inch torpedo tubes, and carried two OS2U Kingfisher floatplanes, the motor torpedo boat MTB-105, and the landing craft HMS LCV-752 and LCV-754.

In December 1942 Fidelity, with T Company, 40 Commando aboard, joined Convoy ON 154. The convoy was attacked by U-boats from 27 December while north of the Azores. Fidelity, suffering from engine problems, was left behind by the convoy. On 30 December she was torpedoed and sunk by GS U-435 under the command of Siegfried Strelow at position 43.38333°N, -27.11667°W with the loss of 274 crew, 51 Marines and 44 survivors from SS Empire Shackleton. The only survivors were the eight crew of the motor torpedo boat, detached on anti-submarine patrol, who were later picked up by HMCS Woodstock, and two crewmen of a seaplane that had crashed on take off on 28 December and been picked up by HMCS St. Laurent.