HMS Firedrake (H79)
.jpg) Firedrake at anchor before 1942
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Firedrake |
| Namesake | firedrake |
| Ordered | 17 March 1933 |
| Builder | Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company, Wallsend |
| Cost | £243,966 |
| Laid down | 5 July 1933 |
| Launched | 28 June 1934 |
| Commissioned | 30 May 1935 |
| Motto |
|
| Fate | Sunk by U-211, 16/17 December 1942 |
| Badge |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | F-class destroyer |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 329 ft (100.3 m) o/a |
| Beam | 33 ft 3 in (10.13 m) |
| Draught | 12 ft 6 in (3.81 m) (deep) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 2 × shafts; 2 × Parsons geared steam turbines |
| Speed | 35.5 knots (65.7 km/h; 40.9 mph) |
| Range | 6,350 nmi (11,760 km; 7,310 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement | 145 |
| Sensors and processing systems | ASDIC |
| Armament |
|
HMS Firedrake was an
Abyssinia Crisis. During the Spanish Civil War
of 1936–39, she spent much time in Spanish waters, enforcing the arms blockade imposed by Britain and France on both sides of the conflict.
Several weeks after the start of the
Mediterranean and helped to sink an Italian submarine. Firedrake participated in the Battle of Cape Spartivento and screened the capital ships of Force H as they bombarded Genoa before she was damaged by an Italian bomb in mid-1941. After her repairs were completed the ship became a convoy escort in the Atlantic at the beginning of 1942. Firedrake was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat
in December 1942 with the loss of most of her crew.
Description
The F-class ships were repeats of the preceding
Admiralty three-drum boilers. The turbines developed a total of 36,000 shaft horsepower (27,000 kW) and gave a maximum speed of 35.5 knots (65.7 km/h; 40.9 mph). Firedrake barely exceeded her designed speed during her sea trials.[3] She carried a maximum of 470 long tons (480 t) of fuel oil that gave her a range of 6,350 nautical miles (11,760 km; 7,310 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). The ships' complement was 145 officers and ratings.[2]
The ships mounted four
21-inch (533 mm) torpedoes.[4] One depth charge rack and two throwers were fitted; 20 depth charges were originally carried, but this increased to 35 shortly after the war began.[5]
Wartime modifications
By October 1940, Firedrake had her rear torpedo tube mount replaced by a
Construction and career
Firedrake, the sixth ship of her name in the Royal Navy,launched on 28 June 1934, the same day as her sister ship, Fame, and completed on 30 April 1935. The ship cost 243,966 pounds, excluding government-furnished equipment like the armament. Firedrake was initially assigned to the 6th Destroyer Flotilla (DF) of the Home Fleet, but was sent to reinforce the Mediterranean Fleet, together with most of her sisters, during the Abyssinian crisis, in September and remained there until December. Firedrake was refitted at Gibraltar from 14 December 1935 to 11 February 1936. She briefly returned home to give leave to the crew later that month, but she returned to the Mediterranean in March and remained there until July when she began a refit at Sheerness Dockyard.[8]
Upon its completion on 30 September, the ship returned to the Mediterranean and began to enforce the arms embargo imposed on both sides in the Spanish Civil War by the
Nationalist cruiser Almirante Cervera that attempted to blockade the port. Firedrake returned to Gibraltar in September and resumed patrols in Spanish waters until November when she began another refit at Sheerness that lasted until 30 December. The ship spent another two months at Gibraltar between January and March 1938 and then patrolled the Spanish coastline in the Bay of Biscay a year later. The 6th DF was renumbered the 8th Destroyer Flotilla in April 1939, five months before the start of World War II. Firedrake remained assigned to it until June 1940, escorting the larger ships of the fleet.[9]
World War II
In September 1939 Firedrake was assigned to the
freighter SS Glen Farg. In February 1940, she was one of the escorts for Convoy TC 3 carrying troops from Canada to the UK.[10] Firedrake was slightly damaged going alongside the destroyer Icarus at Invergordon on 28 March and was repaired between 2 and 26 April at Cardiff, Wales.[9]
In the Norwegian Campaign, she supported the
troop ships evacuating the troops from the Narvik area on 7 and 8 June.[11] She was slightly damaged by splinters during an aerial attack on 23 May and again on 12 June when her port steering motor and 'A' gun were knocked out of action; her repairs were completed eight days later.[9]
Firedrake was briefly assigned to the
Operations Coat and White in November as they flew off aircraft for Malta. The ship escorted Force F to Malta during Operation Collar later in the month and participated in the inconclusive Battle of Cape Spartivento on 27 November, where she was part of the screen for the battlecruiser Renown and the battleship Ramillies.[14]
On 1 January 1941, Firedrake was one of the ships that intercepted a
Chatham Royal Dockyard on 19 June and she rejoined the 8th DF back at Gibraltar shortly afterwards.[16]
During
boiler room and disabled her so that she had to be towed back to Gibraltar by the destroyer Eridge. Temporary repairs were made in Gibraltar and she was transferred to the Boston Navy Yard for repair on 23 September. Firedrake exchanged one 4.7-inch gun for additional depth charges while under repair to better suit her new role as a convoy escort.[17]
After escorting Convoy NA 2 to the UK in January 1942, the ship was assigned to
Convoy ON(S) 94 in May, the escorts drove off U-406. Firedrake received repairs in April on the Clyde and August in Belfast. She rescued survivors from the torpedoed merchantman MV Olaf Fostenes on 26 September. Two months later, the ship was detached to reinforce the escort for Convoy ON 144 on 18 November and helped to prevent any further losses to the convoy. On 16 December, while escorting Convoy ON 153, Firedrake was torpedoed by U-211 at 19:11. She broke in two; the bow section sinking immediately at coordinates 50°50′N 25°15′W / 50.833°N 25.250°W, but the stern stayed afloat until 00:45. The corvette Sunflower picked up 26 survivors, but the rest of her crew of 140 men were lost.[18][19]
In media
Stock footage of HMS Firedrake (H79) was featured in the movie The Spy in Black (1939)
References
- ^ "HMS Firedrake Association website". Retrieved 10 January 2016.
- ^ a b c Lenton, p. 156
- ^ March, p. 296
- ^ Whitley, p. 103
- ^ English, p. 141
- ^ Friedman, pp. 241, 243
- ^ Colledge, p. 126
- ^ English, pp. 75–76, 79–80
- ^ a b c d English, p. 80
- ^ Smith, pp. 30, 35
- ^ Haarr, pp. 266, 269, 300, 312
- ^ Rohwer, p. 37–38
- ^ Admiralty Historical Section 2002, Vol. I, p. 70; Rohwer, p. 45
- ^ Rohwer, pp. 47, 49–50; Smith, pp. 70–75
- ^ Osborne, p. 26
- ^ Admiralty Historical Section 2002, Vol. II, pp. 48–53; English, p. 80
- ^ English, p. 80; Smith, p. 108
- ^ English, p. 80; Rohwer, pp. 140, 165, 212, 219
- ^ The rescue of the survivors is described on pages 76/77 in the autobiography of John Treasure Jones, who was the Captain of HMS Sunflower
Bibliography
- Divine, A. D. (1942). Destroyer's War: A Million Miles by the Eighth Flotilla. John Murray. OCLC 875295237.
- Admiralty Historical Section (2002). The Royal Navy and the Mediterranean: September 1939–October 1940. Whitehall histories, Naval Staff histories. Vol. I. London: Whitehall History in association with Frank Cass. ISBN 0-7146-5179-6.
- Admiralty Historical Section (2002). The Royal Navy and the Mediterranean: November 1940–December 1941. Whitehall histories, Naval Staff histories. Vol. II. London: Whitehall History in association with Frank Cass. ISBN 0-7146-5205-9.
- 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. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-057-4.
- Lenton, H. T. (1998). British & Empire Warships of the Second World War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-048-7.
- 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.
- Osborne, Richard, Dr. (February 2011). "Ration: Royal Navy Operations Against the Vichy French Merchant Fleet 1940–1942". Warships (165). Part One. London: World Ship Society: 21–34. ISSN 0966-6958.)
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
- Smith, Peter C. (2004). Destroyer Leader: The Story of HMS Faulknor 1935–46 (3rd revised and expanded ed.). Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Pen & Sword Maritime. ISBN 1-84415-121-2.
- Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-326-1.
- Treasure Jones, John (2008). Tramp to Queen. The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7524-4625-7.
External links
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Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in December 1942 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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