Between October 1941 and the end of
March 1942, Warships Weeks were organised in cities, towns and villages
throughout Great Britain. The intention was to raise a sum by
investment or deposit in all types of war savings representing the cost
of building one of His Majesty’s ships ranging from the smallest to the
largest vessels. Once the target had been raised the community adopted
the vessel along with its crew and the bond was strengthened by
presentations in recognition of the money raised. Adoption plaques were
presented by the Admiralty to the community and a plaque presented by
the community to the adopted vessel. Links were maintained by the
writing of letters and the provision of comforts and whenever possible
visits were arranged to the adopting area.
Most of the V&W Class
destroyers in commission with the Royal Navy were adopted during the
Warship Week scheme and in a number of cases local sea cadet units
later took the name of the ship. To
find more about Warship Weeks see Peter Schofield’s article on‘National Savings and Warship Weeks’.
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Furness Withy & Co and West Hartlepool
West
Hartlepool owes its existence to the oppening of the Stockton to
Hartlepool Railway in 1839 and the building of the West Hartlepool
Harbour and Dock in 1847. It became a major centre for shipbuilding as
well as a large port. In 1891 having made a large fortune in
speculative shipbuilding,
Christopher Furness amalgamated his fleet of 18 wholly-owned steamers
and investments in 21 other ships with the West Hartlepool shipbuilding
firm of E. Withy and Co, shipbuilders of Middleton Ship Yard,
Hartlepool.
The new concern,Furness, Withy and Co,
was registered on 16 September with capital of £700,000. It would
amalgamate the businesses of Mr. Christopher Furness, steamship owner,
with that of Messrs. Edward Withy and Co, iron and steel steamship
builders and repairers. By 1910 Furness Withy was one of the Big Five
of British shipping, which also included Cunard, Royal Mail, P&O
and Ellerman. 1921 was the last year that the company showed a profit
due to the freight slump of the preceding year. The yards remained
closed until 1930.
Frederick Lewis, 1st Baron Essendon (1870–1944), a
Director and majority share owner of the Company, was the principal
backer for "Warships Week" in West Hartlepool. The Hatlepool Northern Daily Mail provided extensive coverage of Warships Week but consistently repeated the false statement that HMS Wivern
was a former American destroyer. The explantion is that the old town of
Hartlepool had its own Warships Week in March 1942 and adopted HMS Ludlow (G57), a Town Class destroyer transferred from the US Navy under the lend Lease Agreement, which was formerly the USS Stockton built in 1916.
I am hoping to locate the shield mounted with the ship's crest
presented by the Admiralty to the county borough of West Hartlepool on
the adoption of HMS Wivern and the plaque bearing the coat of arms of the borough presented to Wivern
and to be sent photographs of visits to the ship by civic dignitaries
and by the ship and her officers and men to the town while escorting
east coast convoys. Do please e-mail Bill Forster if you can be of assistance.
Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail Thursday 5 February 1942
"It was announced to-day that West
Hartlepool Warship Week, from 28 February to 7 March, will be opened by
Lord Essendon, who has close family and business ties with the town.
Lord Essendon, who is chairman of Furness Withy, and Co., Ltd., and of
26 other shipping and insurance companies associated with Furness
Withy, is the son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Edmund Lewis, of West
Hartlepool and Lady Essendon was formerly Miss Daisy Eleanor Harrison,
daughter of Captain R. H. Harrison, of West Hartlepool. Lord Essendon,
as Fred Lewis, attended the Wesleyan Higher Grade School at West
Hartlepool, where Mr. J. Dunbavand was headmaster. His mother (Mrs.
Spoor), a kind and cultured lady, was for many years a member of the
School Board. The organizing committee are going ahead rapidly with
their plans and today Sir William Gray, Bart., chairman of the
Investments Committee, Issued special message, in which he explains
that the idea of Warship Week is to stimulate the war savings campaign
and raise a sum which represents the cost of building one of H.M.
ships.
Sir William writes:
The Admiralty
have decided that, owing to technical considerations, it is
impracticable to name the ship after the town, but arrangements have
been made to adopt a ship, the cost of which would be equivalent to the
target aimed at. To commemorate this association the Admiralty will
present a replica of the ship’s badge, together with a history of the
ship's name, for permanent exhibition in the town, and the adopting
town will present a suitable plaque to be fixed on the Quarterdeck of
the ship.
The West Hartlepool Savings
Committee aims primarily at the cost of the hull of a destroyer
£210,000 and the Admiralty have decided that the ship to be adopted
shall be HMS Wivern
It is hoped that the first objective may be attained early in the week,
in which case a further target might the cost of the machinery,
£250,000. The total cost of destroyer is about £700,000. West
Hartlepool to date has raised £4,100,000 or £63/16/0 per head of
population, a not unsatisfactory amount, but we must not content to
rest on our oars. The need for saving is more urgent than ever, for
national war expenditure must Increase as our commitments in all
quarters of the world grow. The gap between expenditure and income must
be filled. Whilst fully appreciating your past and valued co-operation
I appeal with confidence for your renewed and continued support."
Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail Saturday 7 March 1942
West Hartlepool Warship Week total
last night stood at £557,601 - £142,399 short of its revised objective
of £700,000. It will not be known until Monday whether the balance is
subscribed to-day, but at any rate it seems likely that the original
aim of £210,000 will be trebled by then. Yesterday’s investments
amounted to £74,486 and included Sir Robt. Ropner and Co., £50,000, J.
W. Baird and Co. Ltd., £4,000: P. Leach and Son and West Hartlepool
Boilermakers' Institute, each £500; West Hartlepool Masonic Hall Co.
Ltd., £250. and Mr, Harry Clark Robson, 100 guineas. The total to date
comprises 2 1/2 per cent War Bonds £387,110, 3 per cent Savings Bonds
£99,150, National Savings Certificates £41,422, 3 per cent Defence
Bonds £25.197. Post Office Savings Bank deposits £4,319, savings stamps
£303, and loan free of interest £1OO.
It is interesting to note that
since the commencement of the savings campaign, West Hartlepool has
subscribed a grand total of £4,863,466, which is an average of more
than £7O per head of population. Last week’s investments amounted to
£124,306, made up of Defence Bonds £3,810, Savings Certificates £4,893,
2 1/2 per cent War Bonds £114,000, and Post Office Savings Bank
deposits £1.603.
Savings groups connected with
firms, schools, streets, and other organizations have all made special
efforts during Warship Week For example, the staff of the L.N.E.R.
District Goods and Dock manager’s office set themselves the task of
investing this week. They have actually subscribed more than six times
that amount, their total to date being £465 10s. An example of
thrift among schoolchildren is at St. Joseph’s School, where the
children have far exceeded their target figure of £45, and an equally
fine effort has been made by the senior girls of Class 2A at Jesmond
Rd. School, who made a gift of £3 5s. to buy a boats anchor, a
signal flag, a hammock and a chart for West Hartlepool’s destroyer HMS Wivern.
Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail Monday 9 March 1942
The Original Target Figure
Trebled - The final result of West Hartlepool Warship Week, announced
by the Mayor at mid-day, is £656,012, which is more than treble the
original target figure and is regarded as very satisfactory.
Saturday’s Investments amounted to £98,411 and Included an additional
investment of £50,000 by Sir Robt. Ropner and Co. The final total
comprises: 2 1/2 per cent War Bonds. £441,660; 3 per cent Savings
Bonds, £115,250; National Savings Certificates, £55,045; 3 per cent
Defence Bonds, £36,032; Post Office Savings Bank deposits, £5,705;
Savings stamps, £2,220, and loan free of interest, £l00. The
investment by Mr. Harry Clark Robson, announced on Saturday, was 1.000
guineas. More details are now coming in of the many special
efforts made during the week by the small savers. The children set a
good example through their school groups, and the Yorkshire Penny Bank,
which handles the schools’ savings, reports that the total subscribed
was £690. In addition to the £500 invested in 3 per cent Defence Bonds
by the Boilermakers' Institute, the savings groups connected with the
Institute, which consists of about 40 members and is organized me
secretary Mr. J. P. Williamson), subscribed during the week savings
£378 in Savings Certificates. The value of certificates purchased by
the group since its formation in June, 1940, is £2,508 15s. A
variety of competitions and sales were held to help the campaign funds,
and a substantial sum was raised in this way. Misses S. and A.
Prestedge J. Cameron and J. Smith raised £1 by selling books and
toffee; West Hartlepool Loco, Shed staff subscribed £1 1s.; Miss J.
Waudby of Ryehill Homes, made a cake which realized £1 5s.; Miss Leng,
the matron at Howbeck, handed over £8 10s. as a result of a savings
competition; Mrs. Hogg, of Avenue Road, made kettleholders which were
sold by Mary and Margaret Culley and Vera Layton for £1 5s.; the
Central Marine women workers sent £3 7s.; Mrs. N. Lithgow raised £2 6s.
as a result of a whist drive at Seaton Carew; Miss K. Longstaff sold
posies for 17s.. and the residents of Colwyn Road and district (per
Mrs. Garbutt and Mrs. Green) raised £6 Is. 3d. by selling "odds and
ends.” Graythorp people were very enthusiastic. The inhabitants number
only 224, of whom 146 are over the age of 16, and they raised the sum
of £225 during the week
Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail Tuesday 5 May 1942 The former American destroyer, HMS Wivern,
is to be presented with a suitable plaque commemorate, the fact that
the ship has been adopted by West Hartlepool as a result of the recent
Warship Week campaign. The campaign had as its minimum object the
raising of £210,000, and the total actually raised was £656,012 In a
letter to the Mayor, the Secretary of the Admiralty writes:
“I
am commanded by My Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to express
their pleasure on learning that, as a result of the successful Warship
Week campaign, West Hartlepool reached its financial objective, thus
enabling it to adopt H.M.S. Wivern. My Lords are causing the Commanding
Officer and the ship’s company to be informed in the hope that a
lasting association may established "between the ship and the
inhabitants of West Hartlepool. Instructions have been given to prepare
a replica of the ship’s badge for presentation to the district. If your
Council has in mind to present in return a commemorative plaque to the
ship, my Lords request that they may be informed in order that an
occasion for the exchange may be arranged.”
The order for suitable plaque for presentation by the town to the ship was already been placed by the Savings Committee.
Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail Tuesday 14, September 1943
On behalf of the Admiralty Rear-Admiral Sir Wellwood Maxwell presented to the Mayor a replica of the badge of HMS Wivern
and in return the Mayor handed Sir Wellwood a plaque suitably inscribed
and bearing the town’s crest. The Mayor said he was certain the
replica of the ship’s badge would be looked upon with great regard by
the future citizens of West Hartlepool. The inhabitants are proud
to exchange the town’s crest of a replica of this badge. We fully
realize what the country owes to the RN and should they ever pay us the
honour of a visit the officers and crew of HMS Wivern will receive a real welcome.
Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail
Tuesday 28, September 1943
A sequel to the recent exchange plaques between West Hartlepool and HMS Wivern,
which was in commemoration of Warship Week, is a letter from the
commanding officer to the Mayor acknowledging the town's gift to the
ship. The commanding officer says that the crew will see to it that the
plaque has place of honour in the ship, and will know' that the
goodwill and wishes of the citizens of West Hartlepool go with them in
any encounters with the enemy.
Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail Monday 24 July 1944
The Town Clerk of West Hartlepool (Mr. E. J Waggott) has received this letter from the commanding officer HMS Wivern, the former American destroyer which the town adopted following warship savings week:
“After the long interval since you last heard from us, I know you will be glad to hear that HMS Wivern
is once more the job. I am, therefore, writing to express the hope that
the happy connection between your town and this ship, well evidenced by
your presentation plaque and previous correspondence, may continue in
the future as it obviously has in the past. Most of our ship’s company
are new since those days, but some the old hands ' remain and we shall
take the story from where the others left off. They are a grand bunch
of boys and full of fighting spirit, and are all looking forward to the
coming bang that drives the final nail into Hitler's coffin! Then,
perhaps, we may have the pleasure of paying you visit to help our
mutual victory celebrations! Till then we send you all our very best
wishes."
Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail Wednesday, 27 December 1944.
The Commanding Officer of HMS Wivern, the ship adopted by West Hartlepool, in Warship Week, has sent the following message to the Mayor:
"Our greetings to you and citizens for Christmas and a victorious New Year, We hope to see you soon."
Hartlepool is the location of the northern branch of the National Museum of the Royal Navy where the U.K’s oldest historic fighting ship still afloat, the 200 year old HMS Trincomalee, built at Bombay, India, has been restored and s a major attraction
If
you want to find out more about the wartime service of a member of your
family who served on HMS Wivern
you should first obtain a copy of their service record To
find out how follow this link:
http://www.holywellhousepublishing.co.uk/servicerecords.html
If
you have stories or photographs of HMS Wivern you would like to
contribute to the web site please contact Bill Forster
Return
to the Home Page for HMS Wivern Return to the Home Page of the V & W Destroyer Association Return to the Index Page for the 69
V & W Class Destroyers
Return to the Home Page for Warship Weeks
West
Hartlepool owes its existence to the oppening of the Stockton to
Hartlepool Railway in 1839 and the building of the West Hartlepool
Harbour and Dock in 1847. It became a major centre for shipbuilding as
well as a large port. In 1891 having made a large fortune in
speculative shipbuilding,
Christopher Furness amalgamated his fleet of 18 wholly-owned steamers
and investments in 21 other ships with the West Hartlepool shipbuilding
firm of E. Withy and Co, shipbuilders of Middleton Ship Yard,
Hartlepool. 
Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail