| HMS BOADICEA (June 13, 1944)
British destroyer, 1,360 tons, commissioned in 1931 and sunk off Portland Bill, Dorset, by two torpedoes launched from a German Junker 88 aircraft. The Boadicea was operating ahead of Convoy EBC-8 on its way to Normandy. One torpedo struck near the forward magazine causing it to explode. The other exploded in its wake. Nine officers, including the captain Lt. Cdr. F.W. Hawkins, and 166 ratings died. There were only 12 survivors.
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On weald of Kent I watched once more
Again I heard that grumbling roar
Of fighter planes; yet none were near
And all around the sky was clear
Borne on the wind a whisper came
'Though men grow old, they stay the same'
And then I knew, unseen to eye
The ageless Few were sweeping by
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