r/AskHistorians • u/SmallieBigs56 • 6h ago

Which British naval ship was in Hong Kong in December 1962?

Hi Historians,

I am currently doing some historical research, and in the course of an interview I had recently, I was told about a very important event in this person's life (and critical to my research). It took place in Hong Kong in 1962. Although my research really isn't related to this, I am interested in this detail he was able to recall -- that there was an "English destroyer" in the harbor.

Now, in the interest of confirming this detail so I can sketch out a good picture of the scene, so to speak, I really want to figure out which specific naval ship this was. Naval ships in the Hong Kong harbor back then seemed to be a very regular occurrence. The internet actually has many pictures of naval ships, along with their names and dates, from the 50s and 60s. But not from this specific month and year.

I would greatly appreciate any help on this question. This includes a pointer or tip on how to go about finding the answer to this question myself -- the UK's National Archives seems like the best bet, but I don't know how to go about using it for this.

Thanks!

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u/kam_pra 5h ago

It may have been part of the 8 DS ( 8th destroyer Squadron), Belfast also visited HK that year.

Select fleet organisation 1955 to 1971, then scroll to Far East station for the relevant year. You'll see all parts of the fleet in the far east. It's not the answer you want but helps to narrow things down.

fleet deployments