HMS Hunter (H35)

Coordinates: 68°24′53″N 17°10′22″E / 68.41472°N 17.17278°E / 68.41472; 17.17278
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Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other ships with the same name, see HMS Hunter.
Not to be confused with
HMS H35
.

History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Hunter
Ordered13 December 1934
BuilderSwan Hunter, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom
Cost£253,167
Laid down25 March 1935
Launched25 February 1936
Completed30 September 1936
IdentificationPennant number: H35
FateSunk in the
First Battle of Narvik
, 10 April 1940
General characteristics
Class and typeH-class destroyer
Displacement
  • 1,350 long tons (1,370 t) (
    standard
    )
  • 1,883 long tons (1,913 t) (
    deep load
    )
Length323 ft (98.5 m)
Beam33 ft (10.1 m)
Draught12 ft 5 in (3.8 m)
Installed power
  • 3
    Admiralty 3-drum boilers
  • 34,000 shp (25,000 kW)
Propulsion2 shafts, geared steam turbines
Speed36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph)
Range5,530 nmi (10,240 km; 6,360 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement137 (peacetime), 146 (wartime)
Sensors and
processing systems
ASDIC
Armament
  • 4 × single
    4.7 in (120 mm) guns
  • 2 × quadruple
    AA MGs
  • 2 × quadruple
    torpedo tubes
  • 20 × depth charges, 1 rail and 2 throwers

HMS Hunter was a

First Battle of Narvik
in April 1940.

Description

Hunter displaced 1,350 long tons (1,370 t) at

deep load. The ship had an overall length of 323 feet (98.5 m), a beam of 33 feet (10.1 m) and a draught of 12 feet 5 inches (3.8 m). She was powered by Parsons geared steam turbines, driving two shafts, which developed a total of 34,000 shaft horsepower (25,000 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. Hunter 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 137 officers and men in peacetime,[1] but this was increased to 146 in wartime.[2]

The ship mounted four 45-

21-inch (533 mm) torpedoes.[1] One depth charge rail and two throwers were fitted; 20 depth charges were originally carried, but this increased to 35 shortly after the war began.[3]

Career

Ordered on 13 December 1934, Hunter was laid down by

Wallsend-on-Tyne, England, on 27 March 1935. She was launched on 25 February 1936 and completed on 30 September. Excluding government-furnished equipment such as armament, the ship cost £253,167.[4][Note 1] Hunter was assigned to the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla of the Mediterranean Fleet upon commissioning.[5]

Spanish Nationalist E-boat Requeté

The destroyer patrolled Spanish waters during the Spanish Civil War, enforcing the edicts of the

Spanish Nationalist E-boats, the Requeté and the Falange on the night of 6 April.[7] Hunter was towed to Almeria by Hyperion, where she arrived in the early hours of 14 May. The light cruiser Arethusa towed her to Gibraltar,[6] where she was temporarily repaired from 15 May to 18 August. Hunter was towed to Malta for permanent repairs in August 1937, but they were not completed until 10 November 1938. The ship was assigned to the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla once her repairs were finished and she was given a brief overhaul in Malta between 24 June and 4 July 1939. Hunter was sent to Plymouth for a more thorough refit in mid-August 1939 that lasted through 27 August.[5]

Second World War

German tanker Jan Wellem with a sunk merchant vessel to the right, after the foray of the British destroyers into the fjord of Narvik

When the Second World War began on 3 September, Hunter was en route to

Vestfjord to prevent the transport 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 joined the battlecruiser Renown and her escorts.[9]

Colour photo of two rows of dark grey gravestones
Two of the casualties of the sinking of HMS Hunter, both identified, are interred at the Commonwealth War Graves section of Håkvik cemetery in Narvik, alongside 32 unidentified casualties from HMS Hardy[10]

During the First Battle of Narvik on 10 April 1940, Hunter and four other H-class ships of the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla attacked the

capsized.[11] 107 men of the crew were killed and another five died of their wounds. The German destroyers rescued 46 men, who were released into Sweden on 13 April.[12]

Rediscovery

Reuters photo handout of HMS Hunter wreck, London, 8 March 2008

The wreck was discovered on 5 March 2008 by the Royal Norwegian Navy mine control vessel HNoMS Tyr, after being unknown for nearly 70 years, and will be marked as a war grave to commemorate the lost members of her crew.[13] A series of coordinated memorial ceremonies were held on board British and Norwegian warships on Saturday 8 March 2008, honouring all those who died during the battles of Narvik. Over a thousand NATO personnel took part, including British and Norwegian sailors, Royal Marines and soldiers. Led by HMS Albion, the UK's Fleet Amphibious Flagship, five warships steamed in line past the spot where the ship lies, marked for the occasion by Tyr. Hunter's final resting place was marked with wreaths cast into the sea.[14]

Notes

  1. ^ Adjusted for inflation to 2024 pounds, £22,702,323.

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b Whitley, p. 109
  2. ^ English, pp. 89, 102
  3. ^ English, p. 141
  4. ^ English, pp. 102–03
  5. ^ a b c d English, p. 112
  6. ^
    ISBN 84-7140-224-6
    . (in Spanish)
  7. ISBN 84-923691-3-2
    (in Spanish)
  8. ^ English, pp. 112–13
  9. ^ Haarr, pp. 65, 87, 308, 337
  10. ^ "Hakvik Cemetery". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  11. ^ Haarr, pp. 339–47
  12. ^ English, p. 113
  13. ^ "World War Two ship found in Norwegian fjord". Reuters. 10 March 2008. Retrieved 15 March 2008. We searched the area where HMS Hunter most likely was located and spent around 14 hours before we found the vessel.
  14. ^ "Sunken WW2 warship found in fjord". BBC News. 5 March 2008. Retrieved 15 March 2011.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to HMS Hunter (H35).

68°24′53″N 17°10′22″E / 68.41472°N 17.17278°E / 68.41472; 17.17278

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