'HW' was a British naval undertaking to lay a minefield in the Strait of Dover as part of the creation of the Dover Barrage between the south-east of the UK and northern France (2 November 1939).

The destroyers Basilisk, Beagle, Blanche, Boadicea, Brazen and Vansittart departed Harwich for Dover to cover 'HW', which was effected by the auxiliary minelayers Hampton, Plover and Shepparton, which laid 502 mines between Tail of the Falls and the Sandettie Bank. The 5^th Minesweeping Squadron swept ahead of the minelayers, screened by the destroyers.