As HMS St Albans
Simultaneously renamed HMS St Albans (I15) and commissioned the same day for service in the Royal Navy, the destroyer sailed for the British Isles on 29 September. After calling at St. John's, Newfoundland, en route, she arrived at Belfast, Northern Ireland, on 9 October.
St Albans and three sister ships — HMS St Mary's (I12) (ex-USS Bagley (DD-185), HMS Bath (I17) (ex-USS Hopewell (DD-181), and HMS Charlestown (I21) (ex-USS Abbot DD-184 — were attached to the 1st Minelaying Squadron as permanent escort force. Operating off the west coast of Scotland, the destroyers participated in some of the earliest minelaying operations in the Denmark Strait which separates Iceland from Greenland.
Between minecraft escort missions, St Albans escorted convoys. On 17 and 18 January 1941, the destroyer searched for survivors from SS Almeda Star, torpedoed by U-96 on the 17th. St Albans underwent repairs at Chatham in February to prepare for her transfer to the Royal Norwegian Navy-in-exile on 14 April.
Read more about this topic: USS Thomas (DD-182)