HMS Acheron (H45)
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The HMS Acheron (H45) was an A-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy . During the Second World War , the destroyer was awarded the Battle Honor "Norway 1940".
On December 17, 1940, the Acheron ran into a mine off the Isle of Wight and sank within a short time. 192 men died, only 19 survivors could be rescued.
History of the boat
The HMS Acheron was one of eight boats of the A-class, the first class of destroyer of the Royal Navy after the end of the First World War was built. The experience with two previously built prototypes ( Ambuscade and the Amazon, also built by Thornycroft ) flowed into the planning and construction. The somewhat larger flotilla leader Codrington also belonged to the class ; often two similar destroyers ( Saguenay and Skeena ) created by Thornycroft in 1931 for the Royal Canadian Navy are assigned to the class.
The HMS Acheron was launched on March 18, 1930 as the only boat of the class at Thornycroft in Woolston near Southampton . It entered service on October 13, 1931 as the last of the class, 18 months after the penultimate one. The reason for the late readiness for use were the boilers, with which the use of high pressure boilers was tested for the first time. The boilers were an experimental type of the shipyard. It was hoped that this would improve the range.
Mission history
HMS Acheron initially formed the 3rd destroyer flotilla together with its sister boats , which was assigned to the Mediterranean fleet. At the time of the outbreak of war, however, the boat was in Portsmouth under repair and could not be added to the 18th Flotilla there for tasks in the English Channel until October . The tasks included securing convoys in this area, in particular the troop transports to France . From mid-December to the end of March 1940, the boat was not ready for use due to an engine repair.
On March 23, the boat moved to Scapa Flow for service with the 16th Destroyer Flotilla of the Home Fleet . After the German occupation of Norway in April 1940 ( Operation Weser Exercise ), the destroyer was used to cover ships of the Home Fleet when countermeasures began. On April 17, the boat with the Arrow accompanied the cruisers Galathea , Arethusa , Carlisle and Curacao to Åndalsnes , where Allied troops were landed. The destroyers controlled the coastal waters to prevent further progress of the Germans and the contact between their landing points. It succeeded on April 26 together with the destroyers Arrow and Griffin , the German patrol boat "ship 26" (ex Julius Pickenpack , 393 BRT) to hijack that disguised sailed under the Dutch flag as "Polar". Extremely valuable secret code books and key slips were stolen. This allowed the British code breakers from Hut 8 (Barrack 8) in Bletchley Park, England, to break into the German naval radio key . Further missions followed to protect the British aircraft carriers deployed off Norway . On April 30, the boat with the Antelope and Beagle secured the exit from Namsos .
On May 31, the Acheron ran for the last time from Scapa Flow to Norway with the aircraft carriers Ark Royal and Glorious and the destroyers Highlander , Diana , Acasta and Ardent to support the final withdrawal of the Allies. On the march back, the Acheron was in the group of the Ark Royal , while the sister boats Acasta and Ardent were with the Glorious and were sunk by the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau .
The boat was then transferred to the 1st destroyer flotilla, which was entrusted with the escort service in the English Channel and the western Biscay . On June 21, the boat received an additional 76 mm anti-aircraft gun in Portsmouth with the delivery of the rear torpedo set. This change in armament was carried out on all remaining destroyers of the class around this time. The rear mast was removed to give the additional anti-aircraft gun a large fire area. On July 20, the boat south of St. Catherines Point on the Isle of Wight was attacked by German aircraft and damaged by many close hits. In early August repairs began at the Portsmouth naval yard . There the Acheron received a heavy bomb hit in the stern on August 24th. Two men were killed and three seriously injured. The machine suffered damage, as well as the rear deck structure and the raised rear gun. As a replacement, the corresponding gun of the even more heavily damaged destroyer Boadicea was installed. The repair and refitting was not completed until December 2, 1940. It was planned to use the destroyer as an artillery training ship in the future.
The loss of the Acheron
The HMS Acheron then began test drives. On December 17, 1940, she ran into a mine during a test drive after a short stay in the shipyard off the Isle of Wight and sank within four minutes. 167 crew members and 25 shipyard workers died, only 19 survivors could be rescued.
The wreck, which was broken in two parts, was discovered in 1984 by divers at a depth of 48 m at the position 50 ° 30 ′ 0 ″ N , 1 ° 32 ′ 0 ″ W discovered. HMS Acheron has been protected by the Protection of Military Remains Act of 1986 since 2006 . The wreck can be viewed from the outside by divers, but entering or collecting souvenirs is prohibited.
literature
- Michael J. Whitley: Destroyers of World War Two. An international encyclopedia. Arms and Armor Press, London a. a. 1988, ISBN 0-85368-910-5 .
Web links
- Mission history of the HMS Acheron
- "A" and "B" destroyers (1930–1931)
- Chronicle of naval warfare 1939–1945
- uboat.net: HMS Acheron
Individual evidence
annotation
- ↑ It could not be determined whether the hope of an increased range through the use of high pressure tanks was met. However, all sources mention an increased vulnerability of the destroyer's machinery.
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