Commemorative plaque issued to the Borough of Southgate on their adoption of H.M.S Farndale
In 1942, the people of Southgate raised enough money as part of the ‘Warship Week’ campaign that they adopted the newly launched Destroyer H.M.S. Farndale. ‘Warship Week” was one of several initiatives to both support the war effort and boost morale after the British losses of 1941. Communities that adopted a ship would continue to support it by sending care packages and writing letters to the crew.
H.M.S. Farndale protected convoys in the Baltic and Mediterranean before taking part in the successful Allied landings in Italy. In 1945, Farndale was due to be part of British forces that would attack Japanese forces in Malaysia and Singapore at the end of the year but Japan's surrender following the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki meant that the invasion was cancelled. The ship remained in Royal Navy service until 1962.
