Object in Focus - HMS Berkeley Plaque

This plaque commemorates the adoption of HMS Berkeley in 1942. The ship’s badge was presented to the mayor and members of Hemel Hempstead Borough Council in recognition of their fund-raising efforts during Warship Week in spring 1942.

During the Second World War, the National War Savings Committee asked the councils of towns and cities throughout the UK to help buy warships, aircraft, and other weaponry. Hemel Hempstead Borough Council agreed to sponsor a Hunt Class destroyer which the Admiralty named HMS Berkeley in memory of the Old Berkeley Hunt, which had been based at Shendish House in Kings Langley.