HMS Ardent (H41)
.jpg) HMS Ardent in 1930
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Ardent |
| Ordered | 6 March 1928 |
| Builder | Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Greenock, Scotland |
| Laid down | 30 July 1928 |
| Launched | 26 June 1929 |
| Commissioned | 14 April 1930 |
| Identification | Pennant number: H41 |
| Fate | Sunk, 8 June 1940 |
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Class and type | A-class destroyer |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 323 ft (98.5 m) (o/a) |
| Beam | 32 ft 3 in (9.83 m) |
| Draught | 12 ft 3 in (3.73 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 2 × shafts; 2 × geared steam turbines |
| Speed | 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph) |
| Range | 4,800 nmi (8,900 km; 5,500 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement | 134; 143 (1940) |
| Armament |
|
HMS Ardent was one of eight
A-class destroyers built for the Royal Navy (RN) in the 1920s. The ship spent most of the 1930s assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet. During the early months of the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939, Ardent spent considerable time in Spanish waters enforcing the arms blockade imposed by Britain and France
on both sides of the conflict.
At the beginning of the
Second World War in September 1939, the ship escorted aircraft carriers before she was transferred to the Western Approaches for convoy escort duties that last until April 1940 when the Germans invaded Norway. That month Ardent was transferred to the Home Fleet and supported Allied operations in Norway. Whilst escorting the carrier Glorious, she was sunk by the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau
on 8 June 1940.
Description
In the mid-1920s, the RN ordered two destroyers from two different builders,
deep load. The ships had an overall length of 323 feet (98.5 m), a beam of 32 feet 3 inches (9.83 m) and a draught of 12 feet 3 inches (3.73 m).[2] Ardent was powered by a pair of Parsons geared steam turbines,[3] each driving one shaft, using steam provided by three Yarrow boilers. The turbines developed a total of 34,000 shaft horsepower (25,000 kW) and gave a speed of 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph). During her sea trials, she reached a maximum speed of 35.9 knots (66.5 km/h; 41.3 mph) from 34,376 shp (25,634 kW). The ships carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of 4,800 nautical miles (8,900 km; 5,500 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). The complement of the A-class ships was 134 officers and ratings and increased to 143 by 1940.[4]
Their main armament consisted of four
ASDIC system, but it was not initially fitted.[5]
Construction and career
Ardent was ordered on 6 March 1928 from
working up, departing on 19 May.[8]
The ship was deployed throughout June to October, but had more than a few maintenance problems during that time. She was ordered to the Royal Dockyard at
paid off and reduced to the reserve. She recommissioned on 4 November and rejoined the flotilla. On 8 September 1936, during the Spanish Civil War, Ardent was deployed on non-intervention patrols off the Spanish coast, returning to Malta on 17 October. The ship resumed her Spanish patrols on 29 November and served as the Senior Naval Officer's ship at Barcelona. She then returned to the UK in April 1937 and began a long refit at HM Dockyard, Sheerness on 14 April.[9]
The refit lasted until 20 April 1938 and included the installation of ASDIC. Ardent was then assigned as the Devonport emergency destroyer; on 24 September her crew was brought up to strength during the Munich crisis. On 11 October her complement was reduced to its normal strength and the ship began a brief refit at HM Dockyard, Devonport on 17 October. The ship was back in service on 15 November and Ardent served as a boys' training ship at Devonport for a short time before beginning another refit that was not completed until 23 August 1939. The ship was then assigned to the 18th Destroyer Flotilla at Portland as part of the Channel Force.[10]
Wartime service
When Britain declared war on Germany on 3 September, Ardent was one of the escorts for the aircraft carrier
Western Approaches Command and escorted 17 convoys through April 1940.[12] On 31 January 1940, Ardent joined the destroyer Whitshed in escorting the light cruiser Ajax into Plymouth on her return from her battle with the heavy cruiser Admiral Graf Spee.[10]
After the
Operation Valentine and arrived back in Greenock on the 29th. On 31 May, the ship and the destroyers Acasta, Acheron, Highlander and Diana escorted the aircraft carriers Ark Royal and Glorious from the Clyde to the Norwegian coast to carry out air operations in support of the evacuation of Allied forces from Norway in Operation Alphabet. Ardent remained with the carriers' escort throughout early June.[10][13]
Ardent and Acasta escorted Glorious back to
capsized shortly after 17:25. Only two of Ardent's survivors remained to be picked up by a German seaplane five days after the sinking. One of the two later died from exposure, the other was eventually repatriated to Britain in 1943 on account of ill health.[14] Ten officers and 142 ratings were killed or died of their wounds.[10]
Citations
- ^ English, p. 14
- ^ Whitley, p. 97
- ^ a b c March, p. 247
- ^ March, p. 258
- ^ Friedman, p. 197
- ^ a b English, pp. 29–30
- ^ Colledge, p. 19
- ^ English, p. 23
- ^ English, pp. 23–24
- ^ a b c d English, p. 24
- ^ Haarr 2013, p. 134
- ^ "Arnold Hague Convoy Database". www.convoyweb.org.uk. Convoy Web. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
- ^ Haarr 2010, pp. 198, 203, 208, 278, 308
- ^ Haarr 2010, pp. 329, 334–335, 337, 339–341, 349, 443, fn. 93
References
- ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
- English, John (1993). Amazon to Ivanhoe: British Standard Destroyers of the 1930s. Kendal, England: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-64-9.
- Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-081-8.
- 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. (2013). The Gathering Storm: The Naval War in Northern Europe September 1939 – April 1940. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-331-4.
- March, Edgar J. (1966). British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892–1953; Drawn by Admiralty Permission From Official Records & Returns, Ships' Covers & Building Plans. London: Seeley Service. OCLC 164893555.
- Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-326-1.
External links
- HMS Ardent at U-boat.net.
- HMS Ardent at the Scharnhorst web site.
- HMS Ardent's prewar and wartime career
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Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in June 1940 | |
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