HMS Diamond (H22)

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HMS Diamond
The Diamond in Hong Kong
The Diamond in Hong Kong
Ship data
flag United KingdomUnited Kingdom (Naval War Flag) United Kingdom
Ship type destroyer
class D class
Shipyard Vickers-Armstrong , Barrow ,
Build number 675
Order February 2, 1931
Keel laying September 29, 1931
Launch April 8, 1932
Commissioning November 3, 1932
Whereabouts Sunk by the Luftwaffe on April 27, 1941
Ship dimensions and crew
length
100.3 m ( Lüa )
96.9 m ( Lpp )
width 10.1 m
Draft Max. 3.78 m
displacement 1,375 ts standard
1,890 ts maximum
 
crew 145
Machine system
machine 3 Admiralty 3-drum boilers
2 Parsons - geared turbines
Machine
performance 		36,000 PS (26,478 kW)
Top
speed 		36 kn (67 km / h)
propeller 2
Armament
Sensors

Type 121 sonar

HMS Diamond (H22) was one of the eight destroyers of the D-class of the British Royal Navy . During the Second World War , the destroyer was awarded the Battle Honors "Spartivento 1940", "Mediterranean 1941", "Malta Convoys 1941" and "Greece 1941".
After the Diamond had rescued castaways from the troop carrier Slamat during the evacuation of Greece , she was sunk by the Air Force on April 27, 1941 on the march to Crete.

The story of the destroyer

When the D-Class was ordered in February 1931, an order for the construction of two destroyers went to the Vickers-Armstrong shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness , ( Cumbria ). The keel-laying of the second newbuilding of this contract with hull number 675 took place on September 29, 1931, over three months after the sister ship Defender . As the fourteenth ship of the Royal Navy to be named Diamond , the newbuilding was launched on April 8, 1932, one day after the sister ship. The Diamond came into service with the Navy on November 2, 1932 as the second D-class ship.
The name Diamond had previously been used by the third class cruiser Diamond of the Topaze class , built at Laird in Birkenhead , from 1904 to 1921 .

Mission history

The new Diamond and her sister ships in the 1st destroyer flotilla replaced the V and W class destroyers previously used in the Mediterranean fleet . In October and November 1933, the converted flotilla made a trip to the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea . In autumn 1934 the nine units of the flotilla were overhauled at naval yards in Great Britain for future use in the Far East. Diamond was in Devonport Dockyard from September 3 to October 27, 1934 . She reached Hong Kong with the first sister ships on January 3, 1935 , which again replaced V and W class destroyers in the “8th (1939 then 21st) Destroyer Flotilla” there. In August 1939 an overhaul of the Diamond began at the Singapore Navy Yard .

War missions

The overhaul of the Diamond in Singapore was not completed until November 1939. On December 4th, the destroyer began its march through the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Fleet, where the other units of the class had already moved. When he arrived in Suez on December 17th, the transfer of the 21st flotilla was complete. In the same month the further laying of this flotilla began. While some of the units were relocated to Great Britain, the Diamond ran from January 7, 1940 from Malta via Gibraltar in the South Atlantic to Freetown , the new base from January 15. The sister ships Dainty , Decoy and Defender were stationed there at times . The relocation of the destroyers also took place because the Germans were expected to operate with auxiliary cruisers , but their missions did not take place until later. In January, the Diamond temporarily secured Exeter , which had been badly damaged in the sea ​​battle off La Plata, on her march back home. There were also joint inspection trips with the carriers Ark Royal and Hermes . Because of Italy's expected entry into the war, the Diamond returned to the Mediterranean in April 1940.

Back in May, the ship was assigned to the newly formed "10th Destroyer Flotilla" of the Mediterranean Fleet, to which, in addition to a division of the D-class, the Australian destroyers of the so-called Scrap Iron Flotilla belonged. The units of the flotilla were used in the eastern Mediterranean and in particular in the Aegean Sea . The main tasks included escorting merchant ships to both Greek ports and Malta . Shortly after Italy entered the war on June 10, 1940, the Diamond was slightly damaged by Italian air raids near Malta on June 11 and 17. At the end of July, the Diamond secured convoy AN.2 from Egypt to various ports on the Aegean Sea with her sister ships Dainty , Defender and the Australian Stuart as well as the cruisers Capetown and Liverpool . On August 23, the Diamond, together with the destroyers Ilex , Juno and the Australian Stuart and Waterhen, shelled the Italian seaplane base in Bomba (Libya) between the Derna and Tobruk and at the end of the month secured four transporters to Malta with the destroyers Dainty , Jervis and Juno As part of "Operation Hats". In November the destroyer belonged to the security of convoy MB.8 as part of "Operation Collar" and then ran from Malta to meet Force H. When on the 27th the Italians discovered the British units and used it for the sea ​​battle at Cape Teulada or Cape Spartivento came, the Diamond was not involved in the direct battle. In January 1941 Diamond and Defender secured convoy MW.5 of only two fast transporters to Malta with the flak cruiser Calcutta as part of "Operation Excess". On the march back, the destroyer took over the crew of the cruiser Southampton , which was badly damaged by the Air Force and was abandoned. The destroyer then gave the castaways to the cruiser Gloucester . On April 18, Diamond secured a convoy of four freighters from Malta to Alexandria with the destroyer Nubian and the flak cruisers Calcutta and Phoebe , which the Mediterranean fleet is running towards with a supplier for Malta.

The end of the diamond

During the evacuation of the Allied troops from mainland Greece on April 25, 1941 ( Operation Demon ), the ship was in constant use.

The Slamat troop transport

On the night of April 26th to 27th, the transporters Slamat (11636 BRT, 1924), Khedive and the landing ship Glenearn with the cruiser Calcutta and three destroyers were supposed to evacuate 4,500 men from Nauplia . Already on the approach, the Glenearn fell out of an air raid and had to be towed to safety by the Griffin . As a replacement, the cruisers Orion and Perth with the flotilla leader Stuart were sent to the association for reinforcement in order to enable the planned evacuation numbers. On site, picking up the soldiers turned out to be difficult, as only the destroyers could actually use the existing ports. The larger units relied on the ferry operations of the destroyers, local smaller ships and their own boats. Since these processes first had to be organized on site, the takeover of the waiting troops was delayed considerably.

The Dutch Slamat , which was the last ship to leave late, was attacked by the Air Force on the morning of the 27th and hit by bombs while driving behind the formation. The Diamond , who was sent back for support, managed to save the majority of the soldiers from the burning troop transport despite further attacks from the air . She was supported by Wryneck , who was sent to provide further assistance . The Diamond countersunk with a torpedo finally to 37 ° 1 '  N , 23 ° 10'  O to the air force to take the burning vessel as approach aid.

However, the destroyers traveling to Crete with the shipwrecked were discovered and sunk by the air force during the day. Both destroyers sank with heavy losses both under the crew and the embarked troops due to attacks by German fighter and dive bombers north of Crete to 36 ° 30 ′  N , 23 ° 34 ′  E Coordinates: 36 ° 30 ′ 0 ″  N , 23 ° 34 '0'  O .

Of the approximately 1,000 men on the three ships, only a few survived. Of the more than 500 soldiers taken on board by the Slamat , there were only eight, and eleven of the 214-strong crew. Twenty-seven men of the 106 men of the Wryneck were rescued and 146 men died of the crew of the Diamond ; only 20 Diamond men survived their demise.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Service History HMS Diamond (H22), D-class Destroyer
  2. ↑ ROYAL, DOMINION and INDIAN NAVY SHIPS, JUNE 1940
  3. ↑ a b c English: Amazon to Ivanhoe , p. 59
  4. ^ Rohwer: Sea War , July 21-30, 1940 Mediterranean
  5. ↑ Rohwer: naval warfare , 22.- 08.24.1940 Mediterranean
  6. ↑ Rohwer: naval warfare , 29.8.- 9.6.1940 Mediterranean
  7. ^ Rohwer: Sea War , January 6-13, 1941 Mediterranean
  8. ↑ Rohwer: naval warfare , 18.- 04.23.1941 Mediterranean

Remarks

  1. ↑ Completely conclusive loss and survivor numbers could not be found, the numbers from Engl. Slamat disaster taken over; According to NavalHistory-net : 263 dead on both destroyers (all 149 men of the Diadem and 114 of the Wryneck ); Survivors: 42 of the Wryneck , eight soldiers, five crew members of the Slamat ; see NAVAL EVENTS, April 1941, Tuesday 15th - Wednesday 30th

literature

  • John English: Amazon to Ivanhoe: British Standard Destroyers of the 1930s. World Ship Society, Kendal 1993, ISBN 0-905617-64-9 .
  • Norman Friedman: British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 2009, ISBN 978-1-59114-081-8 .
  • MJ Whitley: Destroyers of World War Two. Arms and Armor Press, London 1988, ISBN 0-85368-910-5 .

Web links