HMS Echo (H23)
 The echo
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HMS Echo (H23) was an E-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy . In the Second World War , the ship was awarded the Battle Honors "Atlantic 1939"; "Norway 1940"; "Bismarck action 1941", "Arctic 1941–43"; " Malta convoys 1942 "; “ Sicily 1943 ”, “ Salerno 1943 ” and “Aegean 1943” were awarded.
On April 5, 1944, the destroyer was made available to the Greek Navy, which renamed it Navarinon and used it until 1956. Returned to the Royal Navy, the destroyer was sold for demolition and scrapped at the Tyne in 1956/1957 .
history
On December 1, 1932, the Admiralty ordered two E-class destroyers from Denny in Dumbarton on the Clyde . The keel of the new building with hull number 1263 was laid on March 20, 1932 and on February 16, 1934, the Echo was launched as the third ship of the class of eight destroyers. On October 25, 1934, the ship came into service with the Royal Navy. Together with her sister ships, Echo formed the “5. Destroyer Flotilla ”at the Home Fleet . Because of the Abyssinia crisis , the flotilla was seconded to the Mediterranean Fleet until January 1937 . In 1938, after a fire on board, the destroyer had to return to the shipyard for a few months. Shortly before the start of the Second World War, the ships were replaced by the newly arriving K-class destroyers .
War missions
After a boiler repair was completed, the reactivated Echo was used on the "12th Destroyer Flotilla" for submarine hunting and convoy security in the English Channel and in the south-western access routes. On September 17, 1939, she was involved in the search for survivors of the carrier Courageous , which was sunk by U 29 .
In January 1940 the destroyer moved with the flotilla to Scapa Flow and secured the laying of minefields. At the beginning of the Home Fleet's operations against the German attack on Norway ( Weserübungen company ), the Echo was in an overhaul and was only used from the end of April 1940. During the overhaul, the rear torpedo tube set was replaced with a 76 mm L / 45 gun to improve defense against air attacks.
On May 18, she was involved in the rescue of the crew and soldiers of the run-up Effingham . On May 29, the Echo supported the evacuation of Bodø with the destroyers Arrow , Firedrake , Havelock and Vanoc . Then the destroyer came to the "3rd Destroyer Flotilla" and secured units of the Home Fleet on advances. The destroyer was also used several times to support torpedoed British merchant ships in the northwest access routes to the British Isles. In September 1940 the destroyer was involved in the failed attempt to occupy Dakar ( Operation Menace ).
In May 1941, the ship was involved in the search for the German battleship Bismarck ( Operation Rhine Exercise ). The Echo formed with the sister ship Electra as well as Anthony , Icarus , Achates and Antelope the destroyer escort of the battle cruiser Hood and the new battleship Prince of Wales , which were supposed to prevent the German ships from breaking out into the Atlantic. When the Hood exploded during the battle in Denmark Street on May 24, 1941 , only the Electra was able to save three survivors. The destroyers escorted the also damaged Prince of Wales back to Iceland.
At the end of July 1941, the Echo was one of the destroyers who secured the aircraft carriers Furious and Victorious in their attacks on Petsamo , Kirkenes and Tromsø. From the end of August to November 1941, the destroyer underwent a major overhaul in North Woolwich . The ineffective heavy Vickers machine-gun quadruples were removed and the destroyer received four individual 20 mm Oerlikon automatic cannons .
In December 1941, the Echo was used for the first time on a northern sea convoy when she accompanied the convoy PQ 6 to Murmansk with the light cruiser Edinburgh and the sister ship Escapade . During the attack by German Ju-88 bombers , two crewmen went overboard and died during evasive maneuvers. Further assignments on QP 4 , PQ 12 , QP 8 , PQ 13 and QP 9 followed until March 1942 .
From April 1942, two missions in the Mediterranean followed as a security destroyer for the US carrier Wasp in order to transfer Spitfire fighters to Malta with a carrier launch south of the Balearic Islands . The British Eagle was also involved in the second mission . After these missions, the destroyer was overhauled again from June to August so that it could be used again in the North Sea.
Used the destroyer arrived in the convoy PQ 18 and QP 14 and ran on September 8 with the cruisers Cumberland and Sheffield and the destroyers Amazon , Eclipse , Bulldog and Venomous of Spitsbergen in order there to create a fuel base and the Norwegian weather station in Barentsberg with To supply supplies. Then the association joined the QP15 on the 20th . Further assignments followed in 1943 on JW 51A , RA 51 and JW 52 .
From June 1943, however, the destroyer was mainly used in the Mediterranean. As part of Operation Husky , the Allied landing on Sicily , he sank the Italian submarine Nereide off Augusta together with the destroyer HMS Ilex . During the landing near Salerno ( Operation Avalanche ), the Echo was used to secure the heavy units of the cover group. With the battleships King George V and Howe , the Echo escorted the Italian battleships Vittorio Veneto and Italia and four cruisers from Malta to Alexandria from September 14 to 16 after the surrender .
In the following period, the main focus of Echo was in the Aegean Sea , where they sank the German submarine fighter UJ 2104 on September 17th together with HMS Intrepid . She was involved in the ultimately unsuccessful attempts by the British to occupy the Italian Dodecanese before the Germans. The destroyer was attacked from the air in front of Kastelorizo and Leros . Already loaded with forces that could echo before Kos 109 shipwrecked of the sinking by bomb hits Hunt destroyer Dulverton record. Used again in the central Mediterranean, the destroyer was overhauled in Malta from December. The raised Oerlikons on the side of the chimneys were replaced by twin guns.
In Greek service
After the completion of this overhaul, the destroyer was taken over by the Greek Navy and put into service as Navarinon (Greek: Ναυαρίνον) in early April 1944 . In addition to the Echo , the allied navy also received the destroyer Boreas , which they used as a salamis .
During Operation Dragoon , the Allied landing in southern France , the Navarinon protected, in addition to two British anti-aircraft cruisers and six fleet destroyers, Kampfgruppe TG.88.1, which was supposed to ensure air security for the landing forces with five escort carriers. This was followed by missions in the Aegean until the end of the war. Initially, it was used in the “British Aegean Force” in the “24th Destroyer Flotilla” alongside six British fleet destroyers and the Polish Garland . The association of the Aegean Force, which was supposed to reoccupy the Greek islands that had been vacated by the Germans, also included five Hunt destroyers flying the Greek flag. From December 5 to 9, 1944, Navarinon and British units fired at positions of the Communist Resistance Movement of Greece ( ELAS ) near Piraeus and Salamis in order to enable the occupation of Athens by Greek units loyal to the king. Further missions followed in the beginning of the Greek civil war .
In the Greek Navy the ship was in service until April 1956, most recently as a training ship. It was then returned to the UK, sold that same month, and immediately canceled.
Individual evidence
- ↑ HMS ECHO (H 23), later Greek HHelMS NAVARINON - E-class Destroyer
- ↑ Rohwer: Sea War, Mediterranean 15/08/1944
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. 24.9. – 13.10.1944 Mediterranean / Aegean
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. October 5-30, 1944 Mediterranean / Aegean
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. December 4-21, 1944 Mediterranean / Aegean
literature
- MJ Whitley: Destroyers of World War Two. Arms and Armor Press, London 1988, ISBN 0-85368-910-5 .
Web links
- Service history HMS ECHO (H 23), later Greek HHelMS NAVARINON - E-class Destroyer
- Chronicle of naval warfare 1939–1945
- HMS Echo (H 23)
- Crew member's report
HMS Exmouth (Flotilla Leader ) †
Echo / Navarion 
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Eclipse † |
Electra † |
Encounter † |
Escapade |
Escort † |
Esk |
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HMS Faulknor (Flotilla Leader)
Fame / Generalissimo 
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Fearless † |
Firedrake † |
Foresight † |
Forester |
Fortune / Saskatchewan |
Foxhound / Qu'Appelle |
Fury †