H-class (Royal Navy)
H-Class from 1934 | |
---|---|
Technical specifications | |
Ship type : | destroyer |
Displacement : | 1,340 ts HMS Hardy : 1,465 ts |
Length: | 323 ft (98.5 m) HMS Hardy : 337 ft |
Width: | 33 ft (10.05 m) HMS Hardy : 34 ft |
Draft : | 12 ft 5 in (3.78 m) HMS Hardy : 12 ft 9 in |
Drive : | 2 steam turbines with a total of 34,000 PS HMS Hardy : 38,000 PS |
Speed: | 36 kn |
Range: | 5,530 nautical miles at 15 kn |
Crew: | 145 men HMS Hardy : 175 men |
Armament: (as a new building) |
4 × 4.7 in (120 mm) Mk IX guns HMS Hardy : 5 × 4.7 in Brazilian ships : 3 × 4.7 in 8 x 0.5 in (12.7 mm) Fla - MGs |
The H-Class was a class of eight destroyers built for the British Royal Navy as part of the 1934 naval program. A ninth ship, HMS Hardy , had a slightly different design to serve as a flotilla commander .
Six identical ships were under construction at British shipyards for the Brazilian Navy at the start of World War II . These destroyers that were nearing completion were by the British government on 4 September 1939 against payment of compensation confiscated . They are regularly assigned to the H class, but sometimes also mentioned as the Havant class .
The destroyers of the H-class came to various combat missions in World War II; ten of the 15 ships were lost during the war, one was given to the Royal Canadian Navy .
draft
The design for the H-Class was essentially based on the design for the previous G-Class . The changes concerned a. improved main guns and increased use of welding techniques. A modified structure of the bridge was tested on two ships .
HMS Hardy was slightly larger than the other ships to accommodate the flotilla commander , his staff and other crew members.
As long as they were not lost prematurely, the equipment and armament of the destroyers were modified considerably during the course of the Second World War. This includes, for example, the equipment with radar and the radio direction finding system Huff-Duff , with additional or modified guns, v. a. Flak and rapid fire weapons, as well as new depth charges.
War effort
During the Second World War, the H-class ships were mainly used as escorts for convoys and warships and for hunting submarines , but also in the fight against enemy surface warships . Almost all of the Brazilian ships served as the lead ship of one of the escort groups, which consisted of a few, mostly older destroyers and several corvettes , and later partly a frigate , and accompanied convoys across the North Atlantic and to Gibraltar.
Ten of the 15 ships were lost in these operations, all but one to combat operations or mines. In return, the H-class destroyers were involved in the sinking of ten German and four Italian submarines and an Italian light cruiser , they also sank two German and Italian destroyers and one Italian torpedo boat and damaged another German destroyer.
After the end of the war, the remaining ships were technically obsolete, worn out by years of military service and barely usable.
H-class ships
- HMS Hasty - Involved in all major battles in the Mediterranean in 1940/41 ( naval battle near Punta Stilo , battle near Cape Spada , battle near Cape Matapan ), in October 1940 in the sinking of the Berillo submarineand in December 1941 by U 79 . Also used in both naval battles in the Gulf of Syrte. Sunkon June 15, 1942 by a German speedboat southwest of Crete from a Malta convoy ( Operation Vigorous ).
- HMS Havock -Involved in the first sea battle at Narvik , the battle at Cape Spada , the battle at Cape Matapan and the evacuation of Greece, in October 1940 in the sinking of the Berillo submarine. In the second naval battle in the Gulf of Syrte damaged, the ship was on the march to Gibraltar on 6 April 1942, the Tunisian north coast due.
- HMS Hereward - Took part in the naval battle of Punta Stilo and the battle of Cape Matapan ; sank the Italian submarine Naiade in December 1940; Sunkduring the evacuation of Allied troops from the island of Crete by German bombers east of the island on May 29, 1941.
- HMS Hero -Involved in the Second Naval Battle at Narvik , the Battle of Punta Stilo , the Battle of Cape Spada and the Evacuation of Greece. Sank the German U-boats U 568 and U 559 with other ships in May and October 1942; Released to the Royal Canadian Navy in November 1943and renamed HMCS Chaudiere . Used in Operation Neptune in 1944and for submarines, involved in the sinking of the German submarines U 744 , U 621 and U 984 in March and August 1944. Was scrapped in March 1946.
- HMS Hostile - Took part in the First Naval Battle at Narvik and the Naval Battle at Punta Stilo . On August 23, 1940, raninto a mine off Cap Bon and sank.
- HMS Hotspur -Damaged by German destroyersin the First Sea Battle near Narvik on April 10, 1940, the ship was involved in the sinking of the Italian submarine Lafole in October . Usedin the Battle of Cape Matapan and the evacuation of Greece in1941; in December at the sinking of U 79 . Then used with the British Eastern Fleet and later in the Atlantic Ocean . Soldto the Dominican Republic in1948.
- HMS Hunter -Badly damaged by undeclared underwater explosionduring the Spanish Civil War off the coast of Spain. Damaged by German destroyersin the First Sea Battle near Narvik on April 10, 1940andsunkafter a collision with HMS Hotspur .
- HMS Hyperion - Took part in the naval battle at Punta Stilo and the battle at Cape Spada in 1940; sank the Italian submarine Naiade in December 1940. Sank on December 22nd, 1940 after being hit by a mine off Pantelleria .
Flotilla Leader:
- HMS Hardy -Sunkby German destroyer Z 2 Georg Thiele in the First Sea Battle near Narvik onApril 10, 1940.
Brazilian ships:
- HMS Highlander (ex: Jaguaribe ) - used in operations following the German landing in Norway and in Operation Dynamo , involved in the sinking of U 32 in October 1940. Then used in the North Atlantic as an escort ship for convoys. Sold for scrapping in May 1946.
- HMS Hurricane (ex: Japura ) - Used as an escort for convoys in the North Atlantic. Sunkon December 24th 1943 by U 415 from Gibraltar escort.
- HMS Havant (ex: Javary ) - During a mission as part of Operation Dynamo on June 1, 1940, the German air raid off Dunkirk damaged the ship so badly that the ship had to be scuttled.
- HMS Harvester (ex: Jurua ) - EvacuatedAllied troops from northern Franceduring Operation Dynamo in May / June 1940, sank U 32 in October 1940and U 208 in December 1941. Used as an escort for North Atlantic convoys. Sunk on March 11, 1943 U 444 by Rammstoss, but was seriously damaged and unable to maneuver,sunkon the same day by U 432 .
- HMS Hesperus (ex: Juruena ) -Damaged by bomb hits duringoperations following the German landing in Norway . Then deployed in the North Atlantic and involved in the sinking of the German submarines U 208 (December 1941), U 93 (January 1942), U 357 (December 1942), U 191 (April 1943) and U 186 (May 1943). Sold for scrapping in November 1946.
- HMS Havelock (ex: Jutahy ) - During the operations following the German landing in Norway and used in Operation Dynamo , the ship sank the Italian submarine Faá di Bruno in November 1940. This was followed by missions in the North Atlantic and the Bay of Biscay . The destroyer was involved in the sinking of the submarine U 767 (June 1944). In October 1946 the ship was scrapped.
literature
- Maurice Cocker, Ian Allan: Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893–1981. Ian Allan, London 1981, ISBN 0-7110-1075-7
- Leo Marriott, Ian Allan: Royal Navy Destroyers since 1945. Ian Allan, London 1989, ISBN 0-7110-1817-0
- HT Lenton: British and Empire Warships of the Second World War. Greenhill Books, London 1998, ISBN 1-85367-277-7
- Robert Gardiner (Ed.): Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1922-1946. Conway Maritime Press, London 1997, ISBN 0-85177-146-7
- Michael J. Whitley: Destroyers of World War II. An International Encyclopedia. Cassell Military, London 2002, ISBN 0-304-35675-1
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ David and Hugh Lyon; Siegfried Greiner: Warships from 1900 to today, technology and use . Buch und Zeit Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Cologne 1979, p. 59 .