HMS Hursley (L84)
History | |
---|---|
United Kingdom | |
Name | HMS Hursley |
Ordered | 20 December 1939 |
Builder | Swan Hunter, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom |
Laid down | 21 December 1940 |
Launched | 25 July 1941 |
Commissioned | 2 April 1942 |
Identification | Pennant number: L84 |
Honours and awards |
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Fate | Transferred to Greece, 2 November 1943 |
Badge | On a Field Red in front of a hunting horn erect the sails of a windmill White. |
Greece | |
Name | Kriti |
Acquired | 2 November 1943 |
Fate |
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General characteristics | |
Class and type | Hunt-class destroyer |
Displacement |
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Length | 85.3 m (279 ft 10 in) o/a |
Beam | 9.6 m (31 ft 6 in) |
Draught | 2.51 m (8 ft 3 in) |
Propulsion |
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Speed |
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Range | 3,600 nmi (6,700 km) at 14 kn (26 km/h) |
Complement | 164 |
Armament |
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HMS Hursley was a
Design and construction
Hursley was ordered with 15 others of the same type on 20 December 1939 as part of the War Emergency Programme.[2] The Hunts were 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 II Hunts differed from the earlier ships in having increased beam in order to improve stability[a] and carry the ships' originally intended armament.[4]
Hursley was 264 feet 3 inches (80.54 m) long
The ship's main gun armament was six
Hursley was laid down by Swan Hunter at Wallsend on 21 December 1940 as Admiralty Job No. J4139, launched on 25 July 1941, and completed on 2 April 1942.[2][1] She was the first ship named Hursley to serve with the Royal Navy.[12]
Service history
HMS Hursley
After
On 29 August, Hursley, along with
In October Hursley carried out two diversionary operations in support of the
On 14 January 1943, while part of the escort for convoy ME 15, Hursley and the destroyer Pakenham sank the Narvalo, which was returning to Italy from delivering ammunition and fuel to Tripoli.[25] The submarine was carrying 11 British prisoners of war. 28 Italians and 8 of the prisoners died in the sinking.[26] On 19 February, Hursley was part of the escort for the Alexandria–Tripoli Convoy XT 3, when a Vickers Wellington bomber of 38 Squadron Royal Air Force spotted the German submarine U-562 at periscope depth north-east of Benghazi. The destroyer Isis was summoned from the convoy, but failed to get a sonar contact, as did Derwent, the senior ship of the convoy's escort. Hursley was then ordered to join Isis to carry out a prolonged hunt for the submarine while Derwent returned to the convoy. After about an hour, Hursley detected the submarine with her sonar, and the two destroyers carried out a series of depth charge attacks, during which U-562 briefly surfaced and was seen to have a "badly buckled" conning tower. In all, the two destroyers dropped 59 depth-charges in nine separate attacks before sonar contact was lost, and the two destroyers and the Wellington bomber were later credited with U-562's destruction. There were no survivors from the submarine.[27][28][27][26]
Later that month, Hursley transferred to the
After usual escort and support duties, in July she joined Support Force East as an escort for assault convoys and in support of landings during the Allied invasion of Sicily ("Operation Husky").[1] Hursley was attached to Escort Group R, and on 6 July sailed from Alexandria as part of the escort for the fast Convoy MWF 36, arriving at the "Acid" invasion beaches south of Syracuse on 7 July, before returning to Alexandria the next day to escort the follow-up Convoy MWS 36, which left Alexandria on 9 July and arrived at Syracuse on 13 July.[30]
In September Hursley was attached to the Levant Flotilla to support military operations in the
Kriti
On 2 November 1943, Hursley was transferred to the
From March to July she returned to normal flotilla duties while based at Algiers, then in August took part in "Operation Dragoon", the invasion of Southern France. She sailed from Naples on 12 August as part of the escort of Convoy SF2, which comprised 38 LCIs, arriving at "Delta Beach" (Saint-Tropez) two days later.[1]
Kriti resumed her usual duties in September, but was transferred to the British Aegean Force to support military operations to re-occupy the Aegean islands and Greek mainland. She was engaged in supporting military operations in the Aegean until the end of the war in Europe in May 1945.[1]
After V-E Day she was transferred on loan to the Royal Hellenic Navy and remained there until 12 December 1959 when she reverted to Royal Navy control and was placed on the Disposal List.[38]
Notes
- ^ A design error caused the first Hunt, Atherstone to be dangerously unstable when built. The first 23 Hunts had a twin 4-inch mount removed, the ships' superstructure cut down and ballast fitted in order to restore adequate stability.[3]
- ^ While Lenton and Friedman both state a capacity of 110 depth charges,[10][11] Gardiner and Chesneau give a capacity of 30 or 60 charges.[7]
- ^ UJ-2109 was formerly the British Hunt-class minesweeper Widnes, which had been captured by Germany after being grounded during the German invasion of Greece, had had been subsequently salvaged and repaired by the Germans and put into service as a submarine chaser.[31]
References
- ^ a b English 1987, p. 17.
- ^ English 1987, pp. 10–11.
- ^ English 1987, pp. 11–12.
- ^ a b Lenton 1970, p. 89.
- ^ English 1987, p. 12.
- ^ a b c Gardiner & Chesneau 1980, p. 47.
- ^ Lenton 1970, pp. 85, 89.
- ^ Whitley 2000, p. 145.
- ^ a b Lenton 1970, p. 87.
- ^ a b Friedman 2008, p. 319.
- ^ Colledge & Warlow 2006, p. 168.
- ^ Ruegg & Hague 1993, pp. 33–36.
- ^ Kemp 1999, p. 192.
- ^ a b c d English 1987, p. 70.
- ^ H.M. Ships Damaged or Sunk by Enemy Action 1952, p. 210.
- ^ a b Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, p. 164.
- ^ Roskill 1956, pp. 309–310.
- ^ a b Roskill 1956, p. 310.
- ^ Smith 2008, pp. 133–140.
- ^ Smith 2008, pp. 166–167, 169–170, 179.
- ^ Smith 2008, p. 183.
- ^ Smith 2008, p. 184.
- ^ Smith 2008, pp. 184, 189–190.
- ^ Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, p. 187.
- ^ a b "HMS Hursley (L 84)". uboat.net. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
- ^ a b Blair 2000, pp. 212–213.
- ^ Kemp 1997, pp. 103–104.
- ^ Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, p. 209.
- ^ Winser 2002, pp. 25–26, 30, 92.
- ^ Gröner, Jung & Maass 1993, p. 397.
- ^ Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, p. 240.
- ^ a b O'Hara 2009, Chapter 13: Germany's War 1943–45: Improvise and Dare: The Aegean 1943.
- ^ H.M. Ships Damaged or Sunk by Enemy Action 1952, p. 243.
- ^ Winser 2002, pp. 34, 109.
- ^ Roskill 1960, pp. 303, 304.
- ^ Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, pp. 301–302.
- ^ Raymond V B Blackman (ed.). Jane's Fighting Ships 1963-4. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd. p. 112.
Bibliography
- ISBN 0-679-64033-9.
- 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.
- Friedman, Norman (2008). British Destroyers and Frigates: The Second World War and After. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. 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.
- Gröner, Erich; Jung, Dieter; Maass, Martin (1993). Die deutschen Kriegsschiffe 1915–1945: Band 8/1: Flußfahrzeuge, Ujäger, Vorpostenboote, Hilfminensucher, Küstenschutzverbände (Teil 1) (in German). Bonn: Bernard & Graefe Verlag. ISBN 3-7637-4807-5.
- H.M. Ships Damaged or Sunk by Enemy Action: 3rd. SEPT. 1939 to 2nd. SEPT. 1945. Admiralty. 1952. Archived from the original on 2 November 2023. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
- Kemp, Paul (1999). The Admiralty regrets: British warship losses of the 20th century. Stroud, UK: Sutton Publishing Limited. ISBN 0-7509-1567-6.
- Kemp, Paul (1997). U-Boats Destroyed: German Submarine Losses in the World Wars. London: Arms & Armour Press. ISBN 1-85409-321-5.
- Lenton, H. T. (1970). Navies of the Second World War: British Fleet & Escort Destroyers Volume Two. London: Macdonald & Co. ISBN 0-356-03122-5.
- O'Hara, Vincent P. (2009). Struggle for the Middle Sea: The Great Navies at War in the Mediterranean Theater, 1910–1945. Annapolis, Maryland, US: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-61251-408-6.
- Rohwer, Jürgen; Hümmelchen, Gerhard (1992). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945. London: Greenhill Books. ISBN 1-85367-117-7.
- Roskill, S. W. (1956). The War at Sea 1939–1945: Volume II: The Period of Balance. History of the Second World War: United Kingdom Military Series. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.
- Roskill, S. W. (1960). The War at Sea 1939–1945: Volume III: The Offensive: Part I. History of the Second World War: United Kingdom Military Series. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.
- Ruegg, Bob; Hague, Arnold (1993). Convoys to Russia: 1941–1945. Kendal, UK: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-66-5.
- Smith, Peter C. (2008). Massacre at Tobruk: The British Assault on Rommel, 1942. Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, US: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-3474-5.
- Whitley, M. J. (2000). Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. London: Cassell & Co. ISBN 1-85409-521-8.
- Winser, John de S. (2002). British Invasion Fleets: The Mediterranean and Beyond 1942–1945. Gravesend, UK: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-9543310-0-1.