Grenade was laid down by
Alexander Stephen and Sons in Glasgow, Scotland on 3 October 1934, launched on 12 November 1935 and completed on 28 March 1936. Excluding government-furnished equipment like the armament, the ship cost £252,560. She was assigned to the
1st Destroyer Flotilla of the Mediterranean Fleet upon commissioning.
Grenade was given a post-completion
overhaul in Malta between 20 March and 24 April 1937. After returning home to give her crew leave and be refitted in
Chatham Dockyard between 27 May and July 1938, the ship was then briefly transferred to the
Red Sea in October 1938. When
World War II began in September 1939,
Grenade was in
Alexandria, but she, and her entire flotilla, was transferred to the
Western Approaches Command at
Plymouth in October. On 7 November she collided with her
flotilla leader, and her repairs were not completed until 9 December. During the next several months she was assigned to
contraband control duties in
the Downs. She, and her
sister ship, , rescued 117 survivors from
Grenville after the latter ship struck a
mine on 19 January 1940. The ship was refitted in London between 27 January and 27 February, but was struck by the
ocean liner on 27 February and was only temporarily repaired there.
Grenade received permanent repairs in
Harwich from 2 March to 3 April and was assigned to Home Fleet at
Scapa Flow after their completion. When Britain received word that the Germans
were preparing to invade Norway on 7/8 April,
Grenade was part of the escort of Convoy ON25 and was recalled, along with the rest of the escort, to join the Home Fleet. The ship, and the destroyer , escorted the
oil tanker British Lady to
Flakstadøya in the
Lofoten Islands where a refuelling and repair base was being set up to support British naval operations in northern Norway. For the rest of the month
Grenade escorted the
battleship and the
aircraft carrier in Norwegian waters. The ship provided cover during the evacuation of British and French troops
from Namsos in early May and tied up to the to rescue survivors after the latter's forward
magazine had been hit by a bomb from a Junkers Ju 87
dive bomber and exploded on 3 May. before the ship reached Scapa Flow on 5 May.
Grenade was then transferred to the
English Channel and collided with the
anti-submarine trawler Clayton Wyke on 14 May in heavy fog. Her repairs were completed at
Sheerness Dockyard on 25 May. During the initial stages of the
evacuation from Dunkirk the ship provided cover in the northern part of the Channel to the evacuation forces and took part in the rescue of 33 survivors on 28 May from the
coaster , which had been torpedoed by an
E-boat. She made one trip to Dunkirk during the night of 28/29 May and was caught in Dunkirk harbour by German Stukas during the following day. ==Notes==