HMS Amazon (D39)
|
|
|---|---|
 The HMS Amazon |
|
| Overview | |
| Type | destroyer |
| units | prototype |
| Shipyard |
Thornycroft , Woolston / Southampton ; |
| Keel laying | January 1925 |
| Launch | January 27, 1926 |
| Commissioning | May 5, 1927 |
| Whereabouts | Sold for demolition in 1948 |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
1352 ts standard |
| length |
98.45 m above sea level |
| width |
9.6 m |
| Draft |
2.59 m (11 ft 4 in) |
| crew |
138 men |
| drive |
3 Yarrow boiler |
| speed |
37 kn |
| Range |
3400 nm at 15 kn with 433 t of oil |
| Armament |
4 - 120-mm-Mk.IX-SK |
HMS Amazon (D39) was a destroyer of the British Royal Navy , which was created in 1927 as a prototype of the British fleet destroyers of the "A" to "I" -class built until 1937 . The ship was also used in World War II and was awarded the Battle Honors "Atlantic 1939-43", "Norway 1940", "Arctic 1942", " Malta Convoys 1942 " and "North Africa 1942-43".
History of the ship
The keel-laying of the destroyer took place in January 1925 and on January 27, 1926 the Amazon was launched as the second destroyer after a long break in the construction of such ships at Thornycroft in Woolston , Southampton . It was put into service on May 5, 1927. After the last previous draft of ships of this class came from 1917, advances in construction technology and machinery made a completely new design necessary. The destroyer and its half-sister Ambuscade , which was built in Yarrows direct competition, were built as prototypes based on the designs submitted by the shipyards . The Amazon was slightly larger than the Ambuscade .
After initial tests and modifications, the two boats carried out a test trip “Around South America” from April 10 to August 15, 1928 to test the conditions on the boats in different climatic conditions and the range. The journey led from Pernambuco via several ports along the South American east coast to Port Stanley and then after the passage through the Strait of Magellan along the west coast north again via several ports to the Panama Canal and through the Caribbean via Bermuda and Faial back home. The Thornycroft prototype was adopted in many parts for the A-Class, the first series type of the Royal Navy. The shipyard received its first orders for serial destroyers with the Acheron , which, however, received a special boiler system and the two destroyers Saguenay and Skeena, which were somewhat modified for the Royal Canadian Navy . The six Serrano- class destroyers previously built for Chile from 1927 to 1929 were a scaled-down version of the Amazon .
Use until 1939
After reviewing and overhauling the destroyer, he was assigned to the "4th Destroyer Flotilla" in October 1930 with the Atlantic Fleet , which was equipped with V and W class destroyers . When the flotilla was converted to the new "B" class in 1931 , the Amazon remained with the flotilla until 1932. The ship was briefly in the reserve in Devonport , and then from April 1933 to February 1939 as a training ship at the torpedo school "HMS Vernon" in Portsmouth (including next to the Ambuscade ).
War missions
At the beginning of the war, the Amazon was assigned to the 18th Destroyer Flotilla in Plymouth to secure the south-western access routes to the British Isles. In April 1940 the destroyer was assigned to the Home Fleet during operations in Norway against the German occupation ( company Weserübungen ) and was supposed to secure supply convoys in particular. Together with other units, he also secured the return of the severely damaged destroyer Eskimo from Harstad to its home country. In August the Amazon was assigned to the 12th Destroyer Flotilla in Belfast , which secured the north-western access routes. With the creation of special task forces, Amazon then joined the “3rd Escort Group”, in which the Bulldog and the destroyers Belmont , Richmond and Georgetown , two corvettes and four anti-submarine trawlers, were also on duty.
With increased anti -submarine and anti-aircraft armament, the destroyer was used from the beginning of 1941 to secure convoy trains in the North Atlantic . From the beginning of 1942, however , the Amazon also served as an escort for northern sea convoys that supplied the Soviet Union with war material. It was damaged on April 30, 1942 in a battle with the German destroyers Z 7 Hermann Schoemann , Z 24 and Z 25 on the return route QP 11 . After the repair, the ship was used to cover convoys in the Mediterranean Sea and during the Allied landings in North Africa ( Operation Torch ).
From December 1942, the destroyer was converted into a specialized anti-submarine defense ship with only two 120 mm guns and without torpedo tubes. As of 1942, there were four Oerlikon automatic cannons for air defense. After the conversion, a 24-way Hedgehog launcher and up to 95 depth charges with two launchers and a drop rail were available to defend against submarines .
Further escorts on the North Atlantic route followed in 1943. In view of the age of the destroyer, the condition of its machinery and the large number of escort vehicles put into service, the decision was made in 1944 to use the ship as a target ship for naval aviators who were with the Ship type recognition and attack flights practiced. At the beginning of 1945 it was then assigned to the reserve fleet, sold for demolition in 1948 and scrapped in 1949.
literature
- Michael J. Whitley: Destroyers of World War Two. An international encyclopedia. Arms and Armor Press, London et al. 1988, ISBN 0-85368-910-5 .
Web links
- HMS AMAZON (H 39) Prototype Destroyer
- AMAZON destroyer (1926)
- South American Cruise
- Chronicle of naval warfare 1939–1945