HMS Hardy (H87)

Coordinates: 68°24′N 17°12′E / 68.400°N 17.200°E / 68.400; 17.200
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For other ships with the same name, see HMS Hardy.

History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Hardy
Ordered12 December 1934
BuilderCammell Laird and Company at Birkenhead
Cost£278,482
Laid down30 May 1935
Launched7 April 1936
Commissioned11 December 1936
Fate
capsized
and became a total loss.
General characteristics
Displacement
  • 1,455 long tons (1,478 t) (
    standard
    )
  • 2,053 long tons (2,086 t) (
    deep load
    )
Length337 ft (102.7 m)
Beam34 ft (10.4 m)
Draught12 ft 9 in (3.9 m)
Installed power38,000 shp (28,000 kW)
Propulsion
Speed36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph)
Range5,530 nmi (10,240 km; 6,360 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement175
Sensors and
processing systems
ASDIC
Armament

HMS Hardy was the

capsized
.

Description

Hardy displaced 1,455 long tons (1,478 t) at

deep load. The ship had an overall length of 337 feet (102.7 m), a beam of 34 feet (10.4 m) and a draught of 12 feet 9 inches (3.9 m). She was powered by Parsons geared steam turbines, driving two shafts, which developed a total of 38,000 shaft horsepower (28,000 kW) and gave a maximum speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph). Steam for the turbines was provided by three Admiralty 3-drum water-tube boilers. Hardy carried a maximum of 470 long tons (480 t) of fuel oil that gave her a range of 5,530 nautical miles (10,240 km; 6,360 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). The ship's complement was 175 officers and men.[1]

The ship mounted five 45-

4.7-inch (120 mm) Mark IX guns in single mounts. For anti-aircraft (AA) defence, Hardy had two quadruple Mark I mounts for the 0.5 inch Vickers Mark III machine gun. She was fitted with two above-water quadruple torpedo tube mounts for 21-inch (533 mm) torpedoes.[1] One depth charge rail and two throwers were fitted; 20 depth charges were carried originally, but this was increased to 35 shortly after the war began.[2]

Service

Hardy was laid down by

Palma, Majorca, on 23 May 1937 when that port was bombed by the Spanish Republican Air Force, but was not damaged. After the end of the Spanish Civil War in 1939, she began a refit in Devonport Dockyard between 2 June and 29 July. The ship was in Malta when World War II began in September.[4]

Captain Warburton-Lee

In October Hardy (pennant no. H87) was transferred to

pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee attempted to escape from Montevideo, Uruguay, where she had taken refuge after losing the Battle of the River Plate.[5] She was given a brief overhaul at Devonport between 25 January and 12 February 1940 and was then transferred to Greenock, Scotland for convoy escort duties. The ship rejoined the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla of the Home Fleet in Scapa Flow on 9 March and became its flagship.[4]

On 6 April Hardy and the rest of the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla escorted the four destroyer

Vestfjord to prevent the shipment of Swedish iron ore from Narvik to Germany. The mines were laid on the early morning of 8 April, before the Germans began their invasion, and the destroyers then joined the battlecruiser HMS Renown and her escorts.[6]

The wreckage of Hardy photographed in July 1962

The

Warburton-Lee to attack German shipping in Narvik, Norway, on 9 April. The following morning Hardy led four of her half-sisters down Ofotfjord in a surprise dawn attack on Narvik harbour during a blinding snowstorm. A torpedo from Hardy blew off the stern of the German flagship, Z21 Wilhelm Heidkamp, and killed the German flotilla commander, Commodore Friedrich Bonte. Heidkamp sank the next day. Another torpedo hit a merchant ship in the stern. A second salvo of four torpedoes was fired at two other German destroyers, but missed and badly damaged the ore docks. After regrouping, Captain Warburton-Lee led another attack on the harbour later that morning, but inflicted little additional damage due to poor visibility.[7]

As the British destroyers completed their second attack, they were engaged by three more German destroyers. The British destroyers attempted to withdraw to the west, but were pursued by the German ships. Two additional German destroyers

Paymaster Lieutenant G.H. Stanning, the Captain's Secretary. Although badly wounded, he took command and after several more hits disabled her boilers ordered her run aground at Vidrek. The First Lieutenant, who had not been present on the bridge, assumed command and ordered the ship abandoned. Some of the crew delayed doing so until the last torpedo was fruitlessly fired at a German ship and No. 4 gun fired until it was out of ammunition.[8]

Colour photo of two rows of dark grey gravestones, with trees in the background
Thirty-two of the casualties of the sinking of HMS Hardy, all unidentified, are interred at the Commonwealth War Graves section of Håkvik cemetery in Narvik, alongside two identified casualties from HMS Hunter[9]

Captain Warburton-Lee was brought ashore but died after an hour from his head wounds. 139 other men managed to get ashore, although 26 were seriously wounded.[8] Captain Warburton-Lee was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.[10] Hardy was lifted off the beach at high tide and drifted to the head of Skjomen fjord where she capsized in shallow waters.[11] The wreck was still visible as late as 1963.[12]

Notes

  1. ^ a b Whitley, p. 107
  2. ^ English, p. 141
  3. ^ English, pp. 102–03
  4. ^ a b c English, p. 103
  5. ^ Rohwer, p. 11
  6. ^ Haarr, p. 65, 87, 308, 337
  7. ^ Haarr, pp. 336–43
  8. ^ a b Haarr, p. 345
  9. ^ "Hakvik Cemetery". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  10. ^ "Victoria Cross Register". WO 98/8 Image 722 / 425: The National Archives. Retrieved 1 March 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  11. ^ Haarr, p. 346
  12. ^ English, p. 104

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to HMS Hardy (H87).

68°24′N 17°12′E / 68.400°N 17.200°E / 68.400; 17.200

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