HMS Afridi (F07)

Coordinates: 66°14′N 05°45′E / 66.233°N 5.750°E / 66.233; 5.750
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For other ships with the same name, see HMS Afridi.

Afridi as completed, 1938
History
United Kingdom
NameAfridi
NamesakeAfridi
Ordered10 March 1936
Builder
Newcastle-on-Tyne
Cost£341,462
Laid down9 June 1936
Launched8 June 1937
Completed29 April 1938
Commissioned3 May 1938
IdentificationPennant number: L07, later F07[1]
FateSunk by aircraft, 3 May 1940
General characteristics (as built)
Class and typeTribal-class destroyer
Displacement
  • 1,891
    standard
    )
  • 2,519 long tons (2,559 t) (
    deep load
    )
Length377 ft (114.9 m) (o/a)
Beam36 ft 6 in (11.13 m)
Draught11 ft 3 in (3.43 m)
Installed power
  • 3 ×
    Admiralty 3-drum boilers
  • 44,000 
    kW
    )
Propulsion2 × shafts; 2 × geared steam turbines
Speed36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph)
Range5,700 nmi (10,600 km; 6,600 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement190
Sensors and
processing systems
ASDIC
Armament
  • 4 × twin
    4.7 in (120 mm) guns
  • 1 × quadruple
    AA guns
  • 2 × quadruple
    anti-aircraft machineguns
  • 1 × quadruple
    torpedo tubes
  • 20 × depth charges, 1 × rack, 2 × throwers

HMS Afridi was one of 16

Namsos Campaign
.

Description

The Tribals were intended to counter the large destroyers being built abroad and to improve the firepower of the existing destroyer

kW) and gave a maximum speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph).[4] During her sea trials Afridi made 34.9 knots (64.6 km/h; 40.2 mph) from 44,720 shp (33,350 kW) at a displacement of 2,244 long tons (2,280 t).[6] The ships carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of 5,700 nautical miles (10,600 km; 6,600 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).[5] The ships' complement consisted of 190 officers and ratings, although the flotilla leaders carried an extra 20 officers and men consisting of the Captain (D) and his staff.[7]

The primary armament of the Tribal-class destroyers was eight

Admiralty Fire Control Clock. Anti-aircraft fire for the main guns was controlled by the Rangefinder/Director which sent data to the mechanical Fuze Keeping Clock.[9]

The ships were fitted with a single above-water quadruple mount for

ASDIC, one depth charge rack and two throwers for self-defence, although the throwers were not mounted in all ships;[10] Twenty depth charges was the peacetime allotment, but this increased to 30 during wartime.[11]

Construction and career

Authorized as one of seven Tribal-class destroyers under the 1935 Naval Estimates,

British Egypt, where the destroyer was briefly refitted from 9 November to 17 December. Afridi then joined the rest of the first batch of Tribals in Malta which had also been assigned to the flotilla and Captain G. H. Creswell could assume his role as Captain (D).[17]

On 23 February 1939, the ship led her flotilla to Gibraltar where the Mediterranean and Home Fleets were gathering for combined exercises. These ran from 28 February to 18 March and involved dozens of ships from both commands. The ships of the Mediterranean Fleet then split up for visits to various nearby ports; Afridi was lightly damaged when she collided with the light cruiser Penelope off Palma de Mallorca in the Balearic Islands, during the transfer of mail on the night of 21/22 March and had to return to Malta for repairs. When Italy invaded Albania on 7 April, the Mediterranean Fleet was mobilised and remained on a war footing for most of May. During this time the 1st Tribal Destroyer Flotilla was redesignated as the 4th Destroyer Flotilla (DF). By July 7 tensions had decreased such that Afridi and her sisters Gurkha, Mohawk, and Sikh were able to escort the aircraft carrier Glorious on a visit to Athens, Greece. The following month, the fleet spent a week exercising in the area between the Greek island of Crete and British Cyprus. As tensions rose in Europe later in August, the fleet was mobilised and continued to train in preparation for war with Italy. As part of its preparations, the Admiralty had closed the Mediterranean to British shipping and Afridi and seven other destroyers escorted one group of ships that had collected at Suez, Egypt, through the Red Sea to reduce the congestion.[18]

Second World War

When Britain declared war on Germany on 3 September, Afridi was still in the Red Sea. As Italy took steps to prove her neutrality, the destroyers were released from their mission and returned to Alexandria where they began escorting convoys and conducting

Humber and mostly escorted convoys up and down the eastern coast of Britain. The flotilla was transferred to Rosyth, Scotland, to carry out convoy escort duties between the UK and Norway in December. Cresswell was relieved by Captain Philip Vian on 31 December.[20]

By January 1940, a number of defects had become noticeable, including leaks and problems with turbine blades that caused Afridi to begin a refit at a commercial shipyard in West Hartlepool on 17 January. Vian decided that Captain Robert Sherbrooke of Cossack needed some leave and so exchanged ships with him for the duration of the refit which lasted until 19 March. The 4th DF was then allocated to Plan R 4, a preemptive occupation of cities in western Norway after a German invasion had begun, and was tasked to escort the troop-laden ships of the 1st Cruiser Squadron to Bergen and Stavanger. The Germans decided to move first and occupied most Norwegian ports in a sea- and airborne assault (Operation Weserübung) on 9 April that took both the Norwegians and the Allies by surprise.[21]

Maps covering the operations in central and southern Norway, April–May 1940

Receiving word that the

Wing 26 (Kampfgeschwader 26) and Bomber Wing 30 (Kampfgeschwader 30), sinking Gurkha and lightly damaging the battleship Rodney.[22]

After refuelling at

anti-aircraft cruiser Cairo before departing.[23]

Afridi and four other destroyers escorted a small supply convoy to Åndalsnes and Molde that was so heavily attacked by the Luftwaffe on 27 April that they had to abort their mission before two of the ships could complete their unloading. The former town was set on fire, but the ships only suffered splinter damage. They were attacked again the following day as they withdrew.[24]

The Allied defeat during the Namsos Campaign forced them to evacuate the survivors. Afridi was one of the escorts for the troopships that arrived at the entrance to the

trawlers. All the ships except Afridi departed at 02:30, but she waited until 03:15 for the rearguard to reach the port before leaving herself.[25]

The Germans spotted the evacuation convoy early that morning and Luftwaffe attacks began around 08:45. At 10:00 a Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka" dive bomber of I Group, Dive-bomber Wing 1 (

mess decks. Imperial came alongside to port and Griffin to starboard to take aboard survivors. At 14:45 hours, Afridi capsized and sank bow-first with the loss of 52 crewmen at 66°14′N 05°45′E / 66.233°N 5.750°E / 66.233; 5.750. Thirteen soldiers were also lost—the only casualties among the whole force evacuated from Åndalsnes and Namsos–and 30 of the 69 Frenchmen she had picked up from Bison.[26]

See also

  • Afridi, the ethnic group, in present-day Pakistan, erstwhile British India, after which the ship was named

Notes

  1. ^ Brice, p. 28
  2. ^ Lenton, p. 164
  3. ^ English, p. 14
  4. ^ a b Lenton, p. 165
  5. ^ a b English, p. 12
  6. ^ March, p. 322
  7. ^ a b Whitley, p. 99
  8. ^ Hodges, pp. 13–25
  9. ^ Friedman, p. 32
  10. ^ Hodges, pp. 30–31, 40
  11. ^ English, p. 15
  12. ^ Brice, p. 11
  13. ^ Colledge & Warlow, p. 6
  14. ^ English, p. 16
  15. ^ The Times (London), Wednesday, 9 June 1937, p. 13
  16. ^ English, pp. 13, 16
  17. ^ Brice, pp. 20–21
  18. ^ Brice, pp. 22–23
  19. ^ Brice, p. 23
  20. ^ Brice, p. 28; English, p. 22
  21. ^ Brice, pp. 24–25, 28; Haarr 2013, p. 362
  22. ^ Brice, p. 25; Haarr 2009, pp. 86, 284–288
  23. ^ Haarr 2010, pp. 61, 106–113
  24. ^ Admiralty Historical Section, p. 86; Brice, p. 27; Haarr 2010, p. 97
  25. ^ Brice, p. 27; Haar 2010, pp. 169–171
  26. ^ Brice, p. 27; English, p. 22; Haarr 2010, pp. 172–175, 178

References

External links
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