HMS Jersey (F72)
Jersey after pennant change
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History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Name | Jersey |
Namesake | Jersey |
Builder | J. Samuel White and Company |
Laid down | 20 September 1937 |
Launched | 26 September 1938 |
Commissioned | 28 April 1939 |
Identification | Pennant number: F72 |
Fate | Sunk, 2 May 1941 |
General characteristics (as built) | |
Class and type | J-class destroyer |
Displacement |
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Length | 356 ft 6 in (108.66 m) o/a |
Beam | 35 ft 9 in (10.90 m) |
Draught | 12 ft 6 in (3.81 m) (deep) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion | 2 × shafts; 2 × geared steam turbines |
Speed | 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph) |
Range | 5,500 nmi (10,200 km; 6,300 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
Complement | 183 (218 for flotilla leaders) |
Sensors and processing systems | ASDIC |
Armament |
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HMS Jersey was a
Construction and career
On 25 March 1937, the
Following commissioning, Jersey worked up at Portland through to July 1939. On 12 August 1939, Jersey joined the
7 December 1939
Jersey was torpedoed off Haisborough Sands by the German destroyer Z12 Erich Giese, which was returning unseen from laying a minefield.[4] Ten of the ship's company were killed and extensive damage caused. Jersey was towed to the Humber for repairs and did not return to her flotilla until 28 October 1940.
2 May 1941
Jersey struck an Italian aircraft-dropped mine off Malta's Grand Harbour and sank next to the Grand Harbour breakwater.[5] Thirty-five crew members were killed.[6] Her captain, Lieutenant-Commander Anthony F. Burnell-Nugent, survived.[7]
When Jersey sank it blocked the entrance to Malta's Grand Harbour, meaning movements into and out of the harbour were impossible for several days. The destroyers Kelly, Kelvin and Jackal were left marooned in the harbour until the wreck was cleared. Some of the ships that rescued the surviving crew had to take passage to Gibraltar. On 5 May the wreck broke into two sections. It was only after 1946 that the after section was cleared from the entrance, in a series of controlled demolitions carried out between 1946 and 1949.[6] Further salvage and clearance work was done in 1968 to make the harbour safe for large vessels.[8]
About the wreck
- Ship sunk at: Valletta, Malta
- Position: 35° 54'N, 14° 30'E
- Depth (m.): 19 max. / 15.8 min.
- Orientation: 175°[9]
Notes
- ^ English 2001, p. 71.
- ^ "List of Ships of the Royal Navy with the Officers and Present Stations: Jersey (Po.) Destroyer". The Naval List: 300. June 1939. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
- ^ English 2001, p. 78.
- ^ "1939 Dezember" (in German). Württembergische Landesbibliothek. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
- ISBN 0-646-07198-X.
- ^ https://uboat.net/allies/commanders/403.html
- ^ "Navy Makes Clean Sweep of Malta's Wartime Wrecks". The Glasgow Herald. 3 January 1969. p. 15. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
- ^ "HMS Jersey (F72) [+1941]". wrecksite.eu. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
References
- ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
- English, John (2001). Afridi to Nizam: British Fleet Destroyers 1937–43. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-64-9.
- ISBN 1-86176-137-6.
- Hodges, Peter; Friedman, Norman (1979). Destroyer Weapons of World War 2. Greenwich: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-137-3.
- Langtree, Charles (2002). The Kelly's: British J, K, and N Class Destroyers of World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-422-9.
- 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.
- ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
- ISBN 0-87021-326-1.
- Winser, John de D (1999). B.E.F. Ships Before, At and After Dunkirk. Gravesend: ISBN 0-905617-91-6.