HMS Guardian (1932)

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For other ships of the same name, see HMS Guardian.

HMS Guardian was a World War II-era net laying and photographic ship built in 1932 and scrapped in 1962. Her sister ship, Protector, was built in 1936 and scrapped 1970.

Guardian served in the Indian Ocean between 1941 and 1942; she took part in the invasion of Madagascar and helped build a base in the Maldives at Addu Atoll in 1942 in case Ceylon fell into Japanese hands. She also built two more bases for protection of merchant ships assembling for convoy; one was near Mombasa and the other near Cape Town. Guardian then returned to Gibraltar took part in the invasion of Algeria at Oran (Mers-el-Kebir) in 1942. Afterwards, she returned to Belfast for refit and further anti-aircraft weaponry. Later, she took part in the invasion of Sicily and Italy.

In 1952, Guardian was taken out of the reserve fleet storage on the River Tamar between Devonport and Saltash and towed to Newport for a refit and modernsation which was completed in 1954 when she was mothballed and returned to rejoin the reserve fleet at Plymouth.