HMS Savage (G20)

HMS Savage was an S-class destroyer of the Royal Navy completed on 8 June 1943. Following a successful Warship Week campaign held in March 1942, she was adopted by the town of Buxton. Savage took part in the Battle of North Cape.

Design
Savage was the second ship of the S-class of destroyers purchased as the 5th Emergency Flotilla. She differed from her sisters in armament. The Admiralty had designs for a new 4.5 in gun to be installed in twin and single turrets, the former for the upcoming Battle-class destroyers and the latter for the Z-class and C-class destroyers. Savage was equipped with a twin mount forward and two single mounts aft, replacing the single QF Mark XII 4.7 in guns of her sisters. To expedite completion still further, the twin mount was modified from a spare made for the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious (R87). Due to a shortage of Hazemeyer mounts, the Bofors 40 mm gun was also not deployed and anti-aircraft defence was restricted to Oerlikon 20 mm cannons. However, one additional twin and two single mounts were provided.

Wartime Service
After completion, Savage joined the aircraft carrier HMS Furious (47) and the battleships USS Alabama (BB-60), HMS Anson (79), HMS Duke of York (17), HMS Malaya and USS South Dakota (BB-57) in Operation Camera, a diversionary maneuver off the Norwegian coast to distract German forces from the Allied invasion of Sicily. The diversion was not successful as it was not detected by German aircraft.

On 25 July, Savage escorted the aircraft carriers Illustrious and HMS Unicorn (I72) on Operation Governor, an offensive sweep off Norway. On 11 August, she joined the fleet escorting them to Gibraltar in support of the Allied invasion of Italy, and on 13 October escorted HMS King George V (41) from Gibraltar to Scapa Flow.

For the majority of her wartime career, Savage supported Arctic convoys.

At the end of the war, on 12 May 1945, Savage escorted the 1st Cruiser Squadron led by HMS Devonshire (39) that returned Crown Prince Olav to Norway.

Battle of North Cape
Convoy JW 55B left Loch Ewe on 20 December 1943 and was expected to reach Bear Island on Christmas Day about the same time as Convoy RA 55A which had departed Kola two days later. Savage formed part of the destroyer screen for Force 2, the covering force led by Duke of York.

Early on 26 December the Admiralty signalled that the GERMAN BATTLESHIP Scharnhorst was at sea. Savage and the rest of heavy force intercepted the German vessel as she was heading away after unsuccessfully attacking the convoy. The combination of torpedo attacks from the destroyers and the cruisers HMS Belfast (C35) and HMS Jamaica (C44) and radar directed gunfire from Duke of York and the cruisers crippled Scharnhorst, which sank at 19:45. The four destroyers in the screen, HMS Saumarez (G12), Savage, HMS Scorpion (G72), and the Norwegian HNOMS Stord, scored at least three hits.

Post war service
HMS Savage was refitted and redeployed as a Gunnery Firing Ship at Portsmouth after September 1945. Reduced to Reserve status at Chatham in 1948, the ship was recommissioned for trials using new designs of shafts and propellers in 1950. Although refitted and modernised, Savage was never actively deployed. She was placed on the Disposal List in 1960 and arrived at Newport to be broken up on 11 April 1960.