Following commissioning (where she received the
pennant number N68)
Sharpshooter joined the 1st Minesweeping Flotilla based at
Portland. Along with the rest of her Flotilla,
Sharpshooter moved to
Scapa Flow, the Flotilla's war station, from August to September 1938 during the
Munich crisis. The outbreak of war saw
Sharpshooter clearing channels through minefields around Scapa Flow and off
Loch Ewe and the
Clyde estuary. At the end of May 1940, the
British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was trapped by German forces at
Dunkirk, France and it was decided to launch
Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of the BEF from Dunkirk.
Sharpshooter was one of the ships assigned to the evacuation. She made her first evacuation run on the morning of 29 May, landing 69 troops picked up from the Dunkirk beaches at
Dover, with a second run made on the morning of the 30 May, picking up 273 troops.
Sharpshooter was outbound on another run when at 22:10 hr, she collided with the Dover-bound steamer .
Sharpshooters
bow was badly damaged, and she was towed back to Dover by the
tugboat Foremost 22, the journey taking 11 hours. She was under repair at
Sheerness dockyard and
Leith until September 1940, the opportunity being taken to fit
Sharpshooter with equipment for sweeping magnetic mines. From April,
Sharpshooter began to be used to escort convoys in the
Western Approaches.
Arctic convoys On 27 November 1941 she set out from
Hvalfjord in
Iceland as part of the escort of the
Arctic convoy PQ 5 to
Archangel in the Soviet Union.
Sharpshooter remained in Russia, minesweeping and providing local escort for Arctic convoys as they arrived and left Russian ports. On the night of 17/18 January 1942,
Sharpshooter had just joined the escort of PQ 8 when the German submarine torpedoed and sank the destroyer .
Sharpshooter helped to rescue survivors from
Matebele then launched a counterattack against the submarine. At about 8.25 pm on the evening of 24 March 1942 while escorting QP 9 the leading gunner on the forward four-inch gun of
Sharpshooter spotted
German submarine U-655 on the surface beam on, about two to three cables (370 to 556 meters) away and about 10 degrees off the minesweeper's starboard bow, with no crew apparently manning the conning tower or deck. Upon being called by the officer of the watch the captain Lieutenant-Commander David Lampen immediately called for emergency full ahead and called 'Stand by to ram'. ‘’Sharpsweeper’’ had just begun to gather speed when she struck the submarine just behind the conning tower. The submarine turned rolled over due to the impact and bumped along the minesweeper's port side sinking as it disappeared astern and sank stern first south-east of Bear Island, in approximate position 73.00N, 21.00E. In November 1942,
Sharpshooter escorted the return convoy
QP 15 to Iceland, but on 27 November, shortly after leaving the convoy, collided with the cargo ship
Empire Snow, badly damaging the minesweeper. After Husky,
Sharpshooter continued to carry out minesweeping and convoy escort operations in the Mediterranean until October 1944 when she returned to home waters.
Survey ship In May 1945,
Sharpshooter began conversion to a survey ship at
Chatham Dockyard. Her armament was removed during this conversion, which continued until March 1946. On 3 April 1946,
Sharpshooter was damaged in a collision with the merchant ship MV
Fealtie. After repair and working up, she was deployed to
Singapore, carrying out survey operations off
Malaya and
Borneo. During surveys of
Penang, she discovered five submerged wrecks. On 13 October 1947 she collided with the merchant ship MV
Celebes and after repair continued survey duties before returning to Britain at the start of 1948. After refit she recommissioned, receiving the new pennant number A310, and operating out of
Lowestoft.
Shackleton was diverted from her normal survey duties to take part in this search and salvage operation,
Disposal Sharpshooter was refitted at Devonport in 1961, but was then immediately paid off into reserve. She was placed on the disposal list in 1965 and was sold to the
British Iron & Steel Corporation (BISCO) for scrapping. The ship was allocated to the West of Scotland Shipbreaking Company, and arrived at their
Troon yard for breaking up on 3 November 1965. ==References==