HMS Nubian (F36)
 Nubian, late in World War II
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Nubian |
| Namesake | Nubians |
| Ordered | 10 March 1936 |
| Builder | Thornycroft, Woolston, Southampton |
| Cost | £339,265 |
| Laid down | 10 August 1936 |
| Launched | 21 December 1937 |
| Completed | 7 December 1937 |
| Commissioned | 1 December 1938 |
| Identification | Pennant numbers: L36, later F36 |
| Fate | Scrapped, 1949 |
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Class and type | Tribal-class destroyer |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 377 ft (114.9 m) (o/a) |
| Beam | 36 ft 6 in (11.13 m) |
| Draught | 11 ft 3 in (3.43 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 2 × shafts; 2 × geared steam turbines |
| Speed | 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph) |
| Range | 5,700 nmi (10,600 km; 6,600 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement | 190 |
| Sensors and processing systems | ASDIC |
| Armament |
|
HMS Nubian was a Tribal-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that saw much distinguished service in World War II. She won 13 battle honours, a record only exceeded by one other ship, and matched by two others.
Description
The Tribals were intended to counter the large destroyers being built abroad and to improve the firepower of the existing destroyer
The primary armament of the Tribal-class destroyers was eight
The ships were fitted with a single above-water quadruple mount for
Wartime modifications
Heavy losses to German air attack during the
Construction and career
Authorized as one of seven Tribal-class destroyers under the 1935 Naval Estimates,
Nubian was in home waters for the early part of the Second World War, and saw action with the Home Fleet during the
Following this, Nubian joined
Nubian saw much action, being involved in the actions at
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During the battle of Crete, on 26 May, Nubian was bombed and had her stern blown off, with the loss of 7 of her crew killed, and another 12 wounded. Despite further attacks, she was able to return to Alexandria under escort, but departed there on 12 June under tow for extensive repairs in Bombay, which were not completed for another 18 months.
Nubian returned to the Mediterranean and the 14th Destroyer Flotilla in November 1942, seeing action with them against the Italian torpedo boat Lupo convoy on 2 December and off Tripoli in company with Jervis on 20–21 December.
From January to May 1943 she participate in the Tunisian campaign, where Nubian along with other British destroyers sank the merchants D'Annunzio, Stromboli, Fauna and Campobasso.[16] On 9 February, Nubian and Kelvin engaged three Italian schooners near the island of Kuriat, off Monastir,[16] but the small vessels managed to sail away unscathed by throwing blazing drums of fuel to the sea which then became the target of the British guns.[17] The warship was also involved with supporting the landings in Sicily, and at Salerno, before returning to Britain for reassignment to the Arctic. While in the Arctic she conducted convoy escort duty, during which she was involved in at least one direct attack on a U-boat, a cat and mouse hunt which lasted some days. She also tracked at least 11 other U-boats that twice attacked the convoy she was shadowing. During operations conducted in the Arctic, she dispatched back to Norway on two vital operations. These were a strike on the German submarine base at Trondheim Fjord, and a strike on the German battleship Tirpitz at Alton Fjord.
At the end of 1944, Nubian was refitted, ready to be dispatched to the Far East in March 1945 as part of the escort force of the 21st Aircraft Carrier Squadron, seeing action in support of the closing operations in Burma.
Battle honours
- Norway 1940
- Calabria 1940
- Mediterranean 1940-43
- Libya 1940
- Matapan 1941
- Sfax 1941
- Greece 1941
- Crete 1941
- Malta Convoys 1941
- Sicily 1943
- Salerno 1943
- Arctic 1944
- Norway 1944
- Burma 1944-45[18]
Two other ships, Orion and Jervis, also serving in the Mediterranean with Nubian, matched this record; it was exceeded only by the Queen Elizabeth-class battleship Warspite, a Jutland veteran and the Mediterranean Fleet flagship through much of the Second World War.
Notes
- ^ Lenton, p. 164
- ^ English, p. 14
- ^ a b Lenton, p. 165
- ^ a b English, p. 12
- ^ March, p. 322
- ^ a b Whitley, p. 99
- ^ Hodges, pp. 13–25
- ^ Friedman, p. 32
- ^ Hodges, pp. 30–31, 40
- ^ English, p. 15
- ^ Friedman, p. 34; Hodges, pp. 41–42
- ^ Whitley, p. 116
- ^ Brice, p. 11
- ^ Colledge & Warlow, p. 247
- ^ Brice, p. 201; English, pp. 13, 16
- ^ a b "HMS Nubian, destroyer". www.naval-history.net. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
- ^ Cernuschi, Enrico (1 November 2022). A colpi di cannone - Tomo II: Il Mediterraneo centro del mondo, Luglio 1941 - Maggio 1945 (PDF) (in Italian). Rivista Marittima. p. 72.
- ^ Warlow. Battle Honours of the Royal Navy. p. 155.
References
- G.G.Connell : Mediterranean Maelstrom: HMS Jervis and the 14th Flotilla (1987) ISBN 0-7183-0643-0
- Brice, Martin H. (1971). The Tribals. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0245-2.
- English, John (2001). Afridi to Nizam: British Fleet Destroyers 1937–43. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-64-9.
- ISBN 1-86176-137-6.
- Haarr, Geirr H. (2010). The Battle for Norway: April–June 1940. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-051-1.
- Haarr, Geirr H. (2009). The German Invasion of Norway, April 1940. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-310-9.
- Hodges, Peter (1971). Tribal Class Destroyers. London: Almark. ISBN 0-85524-047-4.
- ISBN 1-55750-048-7.
- ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
- ISBN 0-87021-326-1.
- Warlow, Ben (2004). Battle Honours of the Royal Navy: Being the officially authorised and complete listing of Battle Honours awarded to Her/His Majesty's Ships and Squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm including Honours awarded to Royal Fleet Auxiliary Ships and merchant vessels. Cornwall: Maritime Books. ISBN 1-904459-05-6.
- A.E. Weightman : Crests and Badges of H.M. Ships (1957) ISBN (none)
