Swedish warships en route from Italy to Sweden in June 1940 and resumed her role of convoy escort after their release in July. She accidentally collided with one of her sister ships
in early 1941 and spent several months under repair.
Mashona was escorting the
search for the German battleship Bismarck. The destroyer was forced to abandon the search for a lack of fuel shortly before the German ship was sunk on 27 May 1941. As Mashona was headed home, she was attacked and sunk by Luftwaffebombers
the following day, although nearby ships were able to rescue 184 of her crew.
Description
The Tribal-class destroyers were intended to counter the large destroyers being built abroad and to improve the firepower of the existing destroyer
kW) and gave a maximum speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph).[4] During her sea trialsMashona made 35.3 knots (65.4 km/h; 40.6 mph) from 45,437 shp (33,882 kW) at a displacement of 1,990 long tons (2,020 t).[6] The ships carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of 5,700 nautical miles (10,600 km; 6,600 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).[5] The ships' complement consisted of 190 officers and ratings, although the flotilla leaders carried an extra 20 officers and men consisting of the Captain (D) and his staff.[7]
The primary armament of the Tribal-class was eight
Admiralty Fire Control Clock. Anti-aircraft fire for the main guns was controlled by the Rangefinder/Director which sent data to the mechanical Fuze Keeping Clock.[9]
The ships were fitted with a single above-water quadruple mount for
ASDIC, one depth charge rack and two throwers for self-defence, although the throwers were not mounted in all ships;[10] Twenty depth charges was the peacetime allotment, but this increased to 30 during wartime.[11]
Wartime modifications
Heavy losses to German air attack during the
mainmast was reduced to a short pole mast.[13] The number of depth charges was increased to 46 early in the war.[14]
Construction and career
Authorized as one of nine Tribal-class destroyers under the 1936 Naval Estimates,
When Great Britain declared war on Nazi Germany on 3 September 1939, Mashona and the bulk of the Home Fleet were unsuccessfully patrolling the waters between
Wing 26 (I/Kampfgeschwader 26). Mashona was present in Scapa Flow when the German submarine U-47 sank the battleshipRoyal Oak on the night of 13/14 October. By the time the British realised that the battleship had been torpedoed and Mashona became the first ship to search for the submarine, some two hours had passed and U-47 had reached the open sea.[18]
The destroyer was refitted from 25 October to 10 November 1939 in
Maps covering the operations in central and southern Norway, April–May 1940
Receiving word that the Royal Air Force had attacked north-bound German warships in the North Sea on 7 April 1940, the Home Fleet put to sea that evening. The 2nd Cruiser Squadron departed Rosyth, Scotland, with its two light cruisers with orders to sweep through the North Sea before rendezvousing with the main body of the Home Fleet. The 6th DF with Mashona, her sisters Somali, Matabele, and Tartar, rendezvoused with the squadron the following morning. On the morning of 9 April the 4th Destroyer Flotilla, now including Mashona, was tasked on attacking Bergen, Norway, covered by the 18th Cruiser Squadron, but the Admiralty cancelled the attack that afternoon when it received reports that two German light cruisers were in port. As the British ships were withdrawing, they were attacked by 88 bombers of Bomber Wing 26 and Bomber Wing 30 (Kampfgeschwader 30), sinking Mashona's sister Gurkha and lightly damaged the battleship Rodney.[20]
After refuelling at Scapa Flow the following day, Mashona, five of her sisters and two light cruisers departed on the evening of 11 April, arriving off
Stadlandet the following morning. The destroyers were split up to search the area for German ships before rendezvousing with the cruisers at dusk, but an inaccurate spot report of a German battlecruiser and cruiser that afternoon, forestalled the searches as the destroyers were recalled. On the morning of 13 April the destroyers were sent to search the Romsdalsfjord and only found four merchant ships. As they were leaving Ålesund they were unsuccessfully attacked by a dozen bombers from III Group, Demonstration Wing 1 (Lehrgeschwader 1). The following morning they were ordered north to the Namsos area to examine its suitability for an Allied landing and to coordinate with local Norwegian forces. Harbour facilities were assessed as inadequate and that troops should be landed elsewhere and transferred to destroyers for off-loading at Namsos. The Admiralty ordered that the 148th Infantry Brigade, already at sea, to be diverted to the anchorage at Lillesjona; its troopships arrived there at dawn on 16 April and began transferring their troops to the destroyers after they had completed refuelling. Half-a-dozen Luftwaffe bombers disrupted the transfer that afternoon with little effect. The destroyers unloaded their troops that night and the rest of the troops arrived the following evening. The destroyers and their covering cruisers were ordered home on 19 April, Mashona and Sikh escorting the troopship MS Chrobry.[21]
The Allied defeat during the Namsos Campaign forced them to evacuate the survivors. Mashona picked up the troops at Veblungsnes on the evening of 30 April and then helped to ferry troops from the small wharf at Åndalsnes out to the cruisers anchored in the harbour the following night. On 6 May, the destroyer was one of the escorts for the aircraft carrierArk Royal in the Narvik area. The following month Mashona helped to escort the battleship Valiant as she covered the evacuation from Narvik on in early June. The destroyer searched without success for any survivors from the aircraft carrier Glorious after she had been sunk by Gneisenau and Scharnhorst on 8 June.[22]
Subsequent operations
Mashona, Tartar and their sister
Faeroe Islands the following morning, despite their earlier guarantee of freedom of passage. The Swedish crews were transferred under protest to their accompanying ocean liner, SS Patricia, and oil tanker, SS Castor, and the British ships put crews aboard two of the destroyers, Puke and Remus. The two Swedish destroyers sailed for Scapa Flow, escorted by Tartar, on 21 June, while the two Swedish civilian ships headed for Sweden. The commander of the Swedish force informed his government about the seizure and was ordered to return his two ships to Tórshavn and wait there until the ships were returned; Mashona also sailed to Tórshavn to prevent the Swedes from retaking possession of their ships. During the voyage to Scapa, Puke broke down on 22 June and had to be towed; she did not reach her destination for another week. In the meantime, Mashona escorted the other two other destroyers to Scapa where they arrived on the 26th. The ocean liner arrived on 30 June and the British returned the ships to the Swedes on 2 July in response to the strong Swedish protests.[23]
While escorting the Home Fleet on 27 June in the North Sea, Mashona was damaged by a
freak wave that dropped her into a deep trough; the impact damaged her bottom plating and sprung 240 rivets. The ship had to return to Rosyth for repairs that included strengthening the bottom of her hull and resumed her escort duties afterwards. She began a refit at Liverpool in August and was inspected by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth there before work began. Upon its completion on 5 October, Mashona was assigned escort duties in the Western Approaches and rescued survivors from the torpedoed cargo linerSS Rotorua on 11 December. While departing Scapa at night on 6 January 1941, Mashona accidentally rammed Sikh and was under repair in West Hartlepool from 16 January to 3 March. Mashona spent the next several months escorting units of the Home Fleet.[24]
On 22 May 1941 the ship formed part of the escort for Rodney and the ocean liner
Battle of Denmark Strait two days later, Rodney was ordered by the Admiralty to join in the pursuit of the German ship, taking Mashona, Tartar and Somali with her in the search. By 26 May, the Bismarck had been located by a maritime patrol aircraft and Mashona was sent to find Admiral Sir John Tovey in his flagship, the battleship King George V. The destroyer was tasked to relay Rodney's location, using a signal lamp to avoid alerting the Germans of the presence of any nearby British ships via wireless intercepts. The battleships rendezvoused later that afternoon and Tovey was informed of Rodney's fuel shortage as well as that of her escorts. That evening Mashona, Tartar and Somali were forced to turn back for lack of fuel.[25]
On the morning of 28 May 1941, Mashona and Tartar were attacked by numerous Luftwaffe bombers while returning to port at a speed of 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). A
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