HMS Aphis was a Royal Navy . She was built by Ailsa Shipbuilding Company, launched on 15 September 1915 and completed in November 1915. She was based in Port Said at the beginning of World War I, served in Romania and then the China Station until 1940. All of her fighting service was in the Mediterranean, taking part in the invasion of Pantelleria and landings in the south of France, returning briefly to the Pacific in 1945. She was scrapped at Singapore in 1947. Her class was intended for shallow, fast flowing rivers and they also proved suitable for inshore operations when her relatively heavy weaponry could be used to support Army operations. In February 1942 after a successful Warship Week National Savings campaign, Aphis was adopted by the civil communities of Warminster and Westbury in Wiltshire. Service During 1917 Aphis was operated on the Danube, in support of military operations, based at Bucharest. She remained there until 1919. In 1927 she transferred to the China Squadron for service in the Yangtze Flotilla to support British shipping and nationals in China. The situation in China remained volatile and Aphis remained with the Yangtze Flotilla until June 1940 when she was redeployed to the Mediterranean Fleet at Alexandria. For the next three years, Aphis provided artillery support for the Army. For example, in early December 1940, she bombarded Italian positions at Tobruk in company with her sister ships and and the monitor , and later that month, she bombarded harbour installations at Tobruk (three merchant ships were sunk). This continued into February 1941, when she was joined by three Australian destroyers (, and ). Army support operations continued into April when Aphis bombarded enemy positions at Bomba and Gazala during the 8th Army's withdrawal. Aphis remained based at Alexandria until Malta became available for use as a naval base in March 1943. Based at Malta, nearer to the landings on the Italian islands and mainland Europe, she provided artillery support for the attack on Pantelleria in June (deployed with headquarters ship and destroyers and . Her planned deployment in support of the Sicily landings was cancelled in view of the class' vulnerability to air attack. Instead, after a period at Malta, Aphis supported British landings in Calabria in early September. She was deployed with her sister and monitors , and , to bombard enemy positions on the coast between Reggio Calabria