The fourth HMS Volunteer (D71), later I71, was a Modified W-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in World War II.

On 5 September, she joined the destroyers Vimy, Witherington, and Wolverine as the escort for Convoy GC 1 from Milford Haven, Wales.

On 5 March 1940, Volunteer, the destroyer Whirlwind, and the sloops Enchantress and Sandwich joined Convoy OG 21F as it formed for its voyage to Gibraltar; Volunteer stayed with the convoy until 8 March, then during her return voyage to Plymouth joined Venetia, Whirlwind, the destroyers Veteran and Wild Swan, and the sloop Leith in an unsuccessful search in the Southwestern Approaches for a German submarine reported by an Allied aircraft.

From 27 to 30 March, Volunteer and the sloops Scarborough and Wellington escorted Convoy HG 23 during the final portion of its voyage from Gibraltar to Liverpool.

[1] The same day, Volunteer rescued the master of the British merchant ship SS Frances Massey, who was the sole survivor after the ship sank in only 30 seconds with the loss of 34 lives following a torpedo hit by the German submarine U-48 14 nautical miles (22.5 km) northwest of Tory Island, Ireland, at 55°33′00″N 008°26′00″W / 55.55000°N 8.43333°W / 55.55000; -8.43333 ("SS Frances Massey sunk").

After the German submarine U-32 torpedoed the light cruiser Fiji on 1 September while underway to join the Dakar occupation force, Volunteer was among the destroyers that escorted her to the River Clyde in Scotland for repairs.

She participated in night sweeps along the French coast, and in October 1940 took part in Operation Medium as one of two destroyers covering a naval force which bombarded Cherbourg, France.

[1] In January 1941, Volunteer was reassigned to the 5th Escort Group, based at Londonderry (also called Derry), Northern Ireland, in which she joined Vanoc, Walker, the destroyer Caldwell, and nine Flower-class corvettes.

In March 1941, Volunteer, Vanoc, Walker (serving as Macintyre's flagship), the destroyers Sardonyx and Scimitar, and the corvettes Bluebell and Hydrangea were escorting Convoy HX 112 when the German submarine U-110 sighted it.

On 10[1] or 17-18[5] April (sources differ) she was taking part in a local exercise when the destroyer Newark accidentally rammed her off the coast of Ireland.

Volunteer shared credit with Leamington and the escort destroyers Aldenham and Grove for sinking U-587 in the North Atlantic west of Ushant at 47°21′00″N 021°39′00″W / 47.35000°N 21.65000°W / 47.35000; -21.65000 ("U-587 sunk") with the loss of her entire crew of 42.

Accordingly, she and the destroyers Achates, Ashanti, and Martin, the antiaircraft ship Alynbank, the corvettes Honeysuckle, Hyderabad, and Starwort, the Polish Navy destroyer ORP Garland, and the Free French Naval Forces corvette Roselys joined the escort of Convoy PQ 16 on 23 March for its voyage to the Soviet Union.

After an uneventful passage, Volunteer detached from the convoy at sea near Bear Island on 5[1] or 6[5] July 1942 (sources differ) to proceed to the United Kingdom.

[1][5] With her conversion complete, Volunteer underwent post-conversion acceptance trials in January 1943 and proceeded to Tobermory on the Isle of Mull for workups.

After she completed these in February 1943, she was assigned to the 4th Escort Group – in which she joined Beverley, Highlander, the destroyer Winchelsea, and six Flower-class corvettes – based at Greenock, Scotland.

[1][5] In November she returned to the antisubmarine offensive in the Bay of Biscay, and she resumed convoy defence operations in the North Atlantic in December 1943.

[1] In early June 1944, Volunteer joined the trawlers Ellesmere, Kingston Andalusite, and Ruby and the Royal Canadian Navy corvette HMCS Summerside at Milford Haven to form Escort Group 144 of Force B for the Normandy landings.

[1][5] Withdrawn from operational service at the end of May 1945,[1][5] Volunteer was decommissioned and placed in reserve in June 1945,[5] and by July 1945, she no longer appeared on the Royal Navy's active list.