HMS Trafalgar (D77)

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Career

Ordered:
Laid down:	1943
Launched:	12 January 1944
Commissioned:	23 July 1945
Decommissioned:	1963
Fate:Laid up in reserve at Portsmouth. Scrapped at Dalmuir 1971	Sold as scrap
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HMS Trafalgar (D77) was a Battle-class destroyer of the Royal Navy (RN). She was named after the Battle of Trafalgar, a decisive British victory over a Franco-Spanish Fleet in 1805. Trafalgar was built by Swan Hunter on the Tyne. She was launched on 12 January 1944 and commissioned on 23 July 1945.

In 1946, Trafalgar deployed to the Far East as part of the 19th Destroyer Flotilla, which was filled with her sister-ships, and which performed a variety of duties in that region while based there. It was a brief stay however, for just the following year, Trafalgar, along with the rest of the 19th Flotilla, returned to the UK via the Mediterranean. Upon returning home to the UK, Trafalgar was placed in reserve, an occurrence quite familiar to her sister-ships during the 1950s.

In 1958, Trafalgar became the leader of the 7th Destroyer Squadron, having spells with the Home and Mediterranean Fleets. Just prior to her return to the UK in 1961 she was accidentally rammed by a sister-ship, HMS SOLEBAY (D70), Captain(D) 1st Destroyer Squadron thus delaying her return to the UK. In 1962, Trafalgar along with ships of the squadron, sailed for the sunny climes of the Mediterranean for the last time, performing a number of naval exercises, as well as fly-the-flag visits. She, with the rest of the 7th Destroyer Squadron, finally returned to the UK in 1963 where she was decommissioned, and subsequently placed in Reserve at Devonport Dockyard. She was eventually broken up for scrap at Dalmuir in 1970.