HMS Derwent (L83)
HMS Derwent (L83)
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History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Name | Derwent |
Ordered | 4 July 1940 |
Builder | Vickers-Armstrongs, Barrow-in-Furness |
Laid down | 29 December 1940 |
Launched | 22 August 1941 |
Commissioned | 24 April 1942 |
Identification | Pennant number: L83 |
Honours and awards |
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Fate | Scrapped in 1947 |
Badge | On a Field Blue, a stirrup Gold, over a rose White and two wings also White |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Hunt-class destroyer |
Displacement | |
Length | 280 ft (85 m) |
Beam | 33 ft 4 in (10.16 m) |
Draught | 8 ft 3 in (2.51 m) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed | 27 kn (50 km/h; 31 mph) |
Range | 2,350 nmi (4,350 km) at 20 kn (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
Complement | 168 |
Armament |
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HMS Derwent was a Hunt-class Type III escort destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was built by Vickers-Armstrongs, in Barrow-in-Furness, and served during the Second World War. In March 1943, she was badly damaged while anchored in Tripoli harbour by aircraft and beached to prevent her from sinking. Temporarily repaired and towed to England, further repair work was halted in January 1945, and she was broken up for scrap in 1947.
The "Hunt" class were named after British fox and stag hunts, in this case, the Derwent hunt Ryedale, North Yorkshire.[1][failed verification] In February 1942, she was adopted by the civil community of Easthampstead, Berkshire, after a National Savings campaign.[2]
Construction and design
Derwent was one of seven Type III Hunt-class destroyers ordered for the Royal Navy on 4 July 1940, as part of the 1940 War Emergency Programme.[3] The Hunt class was meant to fill the Royal Navy's need for a large number of small destroyer-type vessels capable of both convoy escort and operations with the fleet. The Type III Hunts differed from the previous Type II ships in replacing a twin 4-inch (102 mm) gun mount by two torpedo tubes to improve their ability to operate as destroyers.[4][5]
The Type III Hunts were 264 ft 3 in (80.54 m) long
Main gun armament was four 4-in QF Mk XVI dual purpose guns in two twin mounts, with a quadruple 2-pounder "pom-pom" and three 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon cannons providing close-in anti-aircraft fire.[8][6] Two 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes were fitted in a single twin mount, while two depth charge chutes, four depth charge throwers and 70 depth charges comprised the ship's anti-submarine armament. Type 291 and Type 285 radars was fitted, as was Type 128 sonar.[8][9]
Derwent was
Service history
Derwent completed acceptance trials, calibrations and worked-up with her crew during May 1942, before joining convoy WS19P in Clyde for Atlantic passage.
In August 1942, Derwent was part of the escort for the Malta relief convoy WS21S during
On 4 February 1943, Derwent formed part of the escort for the Operation Pamphlet convoy, comprising the liners Aquitania, Île de France, Nieuw Amsterdam, and Queen Mary, which was to carry the 9th Australian Division from Suez to Australia, providing anti-submarine escort through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.[16][17]
Loss
On 19 March 1943, while anchored in
She was beached to stop her from sinking, temporarily repaired and towed to England. More repairs were carried out in HM Dockyard Devonport but the decision was taken to suspend work in January 1945, and she was reduced to the reserve and scrapped in 1947.
Notes
Citations
- ^ The 'Hunt' class destroyer at WW2Today.com
- ^ HMS Derwent at naval-history.net
- ^ a b English 1987, p. 17
- ^ English 1987, pp. 7, 12
- ^ Lenton 1970, pp. 83, 85
- ^ a b Lenton 1970, p. 97
- ^ Whitley 2000, p. 147
- ^ a b Gardiner & Chesneau 1980, p. 46
- ^ English 1987, pp. 12–13
- ^ Friedman 2008, p. 331
- ^ a b Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, p. 155
- ^ Barnett 2000, p. 522
- ^ Vego 2010, pp. 122, 124
- ^ Vego 2010, p. 124
- ^ English 1987, p. 55
- ^ Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, pp. 191–192
- ^ a b English 1987, p. 56
- ^ Ciampaglia, Giuseppe (July 1999). "La sorprendente storia della motobomba FFF". Rivista Italiana Difesa (in Italian).
- ^ Shores et al. 2016, p. 392
Publications
- Barnett, Corelli (2000). Engage The Enemy More Closely. London: Penguin. ISBN 0-141-39008-5.
- ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
- English, John (1987). The Hunts: A history of the design, development and careers of the 86 destroyers of this class built for the Royal and Allied Navies during World War II. World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-44-4.
- ISBN 978-1-84832-015-4.
- Gardiner, Robert; Chesneau, Roger, eds. (1980). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
- ISBN 0-356-03122-5.
- Rohwer, Jürgen; Hümmelchen, Gerhard (1992). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945. London: Greenhill Books. ISBN 1-85367-117-7.
- Shores, Christopher; Massimello, Giovanni; Guest, Russell; Olynyk, Frank; Bock, Winfried (2016). A History of the Mediterranean Air War 1940–1945: Volume Three: Tunisia and the End in Africa: November 1942 – May 1943. London: Grub Street. ISBN 978-1-910690-00-0.
- Vego, M. (Winter 2010). "Major Convoy Operation To Malta, 10–15 August 1942 (Operation Pedestal)" (PDF). Naval War College Review. 63 (1). (PDF) from the original on 21 September 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
- Whitley, M. J. (2000). Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. London: Cassell & Co. ISBN 1-85409-521-8.