HMS Electra (H27)
 The Electra before the war
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HMS Electra (H27) was an E-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy . During the Second World War , the ship was awarded the Battle Honors "Atlantic 1939-40", "Norway 1940", "Bismarck Action 1941" and "Arctic 1941".
In the Battle of the Java Sea , the destroyer was sunk on February 27, 1942 by the Japanese light cruiser Jintsū and the destroyer Asagumo .
History of the ship
On November 1, 1932, the eight destroyers and the E-class flotilla leader were ordered from five British shipyards. Although the dimensions of the ships largely corresponded to their predecessors, they had improved and enlarged superstructures and an improved hull shape compared to the ships of the four previous classes. The order for the Electra and Encounter went to the Hawthorn Leslie & Co. shipyard in Hebburn near Newcastle upon Tyne , which had already completed Active and Antelope of the A class and Blanche and Boadicea of the B class .
The keel laying of the two newbuildings with hull numbers 587/588 took place on March 15, 1933. The Electra was launched on February 15, 1934, 17 days after the Escapade , which was launched as the first ship of the class at Scotts . She was the fifth ship in the Royal Navy since 1806, named after the Elektra , daughter of Agamemnon . Before her, from 1896 to 1920, a "30-knotter-destroyer" had carried this name, which had been listed as a three-chimney since 1913 in the C-class . The new Electra was put into service on September 15, 1934; all nine units in the class entered service between August 30 and November 29, 1934.
Mission history
Together with her sister ships, the Electra formed the 5th Destroyer Flotilla assigned to the Home Fleet . In this flotilla, previously run by the Wallace , the new class replaced destroyers of the V and W classes from autumn 1934 . In September 1935 the “5th Destroyer Flotilla” moved to the eastern Mediterranean due to the Abyssinia crisis and returned home in April 1936. The Spanish Civil War required the use of British destroyers in Spanish waters from 1936 and Electra was involved in the so-called neutrality patrols.
In 1938 the destroyer was overhauled in Sheerness . In January 1939, the Electra was the first E-class destroyer to enter the reserve. On August 2, 1939, the ship was reactivated with a reservist crew and on August 26, 1939, the king took part in the inspection of the reserve fleet . Because of the political tensions, the ship was not taken out of service again 'and the new' 12. Destroyer Flotilla ”in Portland , which was set up until December 1939 with ships of the E-class.
First war missions
In the Athenia incident on September 3, 1939, Electra and other ships rescued the survivors of the passenger steamer torpedoed by the German submarine U 30 . As the longest-serving commander of the ships of the Navy rushed to help, the commander of the Electra led the rescue operation, in which the sister ship Escort , the Swedish yacht Southern Cross , the Norwegian freighter Knut Nelson and the American tanker City of Flint were involved and the approximately 980 shipwrecked people could save. The destroyer Fame , who also arrived at the sinking site , was assigned to secure the action against further attacks.
In 1940 the Electra was then used several times by the Norwegian company ( company Weserübungen ) to cover ships in the Home Fleet. During the second attack on Narvik , the destroyer was supposed to secure the battleship Warspite as a mine sweeper. The commanding admiral renounced this protection and left the destroyer at the entrance of the Ofotfjord to warn the attackers of possible reinforcements of the Germans. In June, the destroyer was damaged in a collision with Antelope , when both were assigned to secure the aircraft carrier Ark Royal and the Antelope overheard a turn command from the carrier.
Further assignments with the Home Fleet
In May 1941 the Electra was involved in the search for the German battleship Bismarck ( Operation Rhine Exercise ). Together with Anthony , Echo , Icarus , Achates and Antelope, she formed the destroyer security of the British battlecruiser squadron with Hood and Prince of Wales . The destroyers found it difficult to follow the battleships on the march to the Denmark Strait and some of them fell back. Before the battle of the heavy units on May 24th, they were spread out like a fan to spread the search area. Only after the sinking of the Hood did they catch up with the damaged Prince of Wales , who then accompanied them to Iceland . They also searched the hood's sinking site . The Electra took the only three survivors of the sunk battle cruiser on board. During the subsequent overhaul, the destroyer was equipped with radar.
From September 28, 1941, the Electra secured the British convoy QP 1 with the destroyers Active and Anthony , three trawlers and the cruisers London and Shropshire , which ran from Arkhangelsk to Scapa Flow with fourteen merchant ships until October 9 .
Laying and deployment in the Far East
In view of the imminent threat of war in the Far East , Electra was moved from October 25, 1941 together with the battleship Prince of Wales and the destroyer Express around Africa to Singapore , where the ships arrived on December 2. In Colombo, the battle cruiser Repulse from the Atlantic and the destroyers Encounter and Jupiter from the Mediterranean strengthened the unit.
In the sinking of the Prince of Wales and the battle cruiser Repulse by Japanese aircraft on 10 December 1941. Malaya the destroyer belonged to the Association, but was not damaged. He was able to save over 500 men from the Repulse crew. In the following years he was first used in convoy escort service in the Indian Ocean , but then assigned to ABDACOM .
In the battle of the Java Sea on 27./28. February 1942, the ship was part of the allied formation of five cruisers and nine destroyers, which should prevent a landing on Java . When Electra, along with other destroyers, including the British Encounter and Jupiter, covered the retreat of the damaged heavy cruiser Exeter with a torpedo attack during the battle , she was hit so badly by the Japanese light cruiser Jintsū and the destroyer Asagumo , which she had previously damaged herself that the burning ship sank quickly.
The next morning, 54 survivors were rescued from the American submarine S-38 .
wreck
The wreck of the Electra has now disappeared. It was most likely illegally recovered by wreck looters and sold as scrap.
Individual evidence
- ↑ 5th Destroyer Flotilla
- ^ Modern Destroyers in reserve
- ↑ Rohwer: naval warfare , 18.- 27.05.1941 North Atlantic
- ↑ Rohwer: naval warfare , 28.9.-10.11.41 Arctic Ocean
- ↑ Rohwer: naval warfare , 25.10.- 12.02.1941 Atlantic / Indian Ozeanr
- ↑ https://www.stern.de/digital/technik/40-verschwundene-schiffswracks---so-funktioniert-der-groesste-grabraub-der-geschichte-7692734.html
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
- Chronicle of naval warfare 1939–1945
- Service history HMS ELECTRA (H 27) - E-class Destroyer
- HMS Electra (H 27)
- HMS Electra (H 27)
- Electra 1934
HMS Exmouth (Flotilla Leader ) †
Echo / Navarion 
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Eclipse † |
Electra † |
Encounter † |
Escapade |
Escort † |
Esk |
Express / Gatineau .svg){kind=small}
HMS Faulknor (Flotilla Leader)
Fame / Generalissimo 
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Fearless † |
Firedrake † |
Foresight † |
Forester |
Fortune / Saskatchewan |
Foxhound / Qu'Appelle |
Fury †