HMS Esk (H15)
 The Esk
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HMS Esk (H15) was an E-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy . During the Second World War , the destroyer was awarded the Battle Honors "Atlantic 1939", "Norway 1940" and "Dunkirk 1940".
HMS Esk with the 20th (minelayer) destroyer flotilla got into an unrecognized German minefield and sank after a mine hit on September 1, 1940 northwest of Texel to 53 ° 23 ' N , 3 ° 48' E as she ran to the aid of her mine-struck sister ship Express . Ivanhoe , who was also rushing to the rescue , was badly damaged by a mine hit and finally sunk by the destroyer Kelvin so as not to fall into the hands of the Germans, while the badly damaged Express was brought in.
History of Esk
HMS Esk was ordered on November 1, 1932 with the other eight E-Class units. The keel was laid on March 24, 1934 as BauNr. 1479 at Swan Hunter in Wallsend , Tyne and Wear .
The shipyard had built a destroyer for the Royal Navy for the first time in 1911 with the Hope of the Acorn class , which was followed by a further 36 destroyers by the First World War and with the construction of the war programs. Her first post-war destroyers new building was completed in 1930 flotilla for the A-Class , HMS Codrington (D65) , the 1931 two destroyers of the B-Class with Brilliant and Bulldog followed.
Esk and the Express , which was ordered from Swan Hunter at the same time, were the first newbuildings to be equipped as mine layers. The ship was launched on March 19, 1934 as the fourth of the class and was put into service on September 26, 1934. However , as mine layers, you and the Express had to release two guns to counterbalance the load of the mine. The new destroyer was the Royal Navy's fourth newbuilding to be named Esk .
Mission history
Together with the other E-Class ships, Esk formed the 5th Destroyer Flotilla, which was 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, so that several ships were used there in 1939. In 1939, new K-class destroyers were to replace the E-class ships in the 5th DF and then be used by the Mediterranean Fleet . In January 1939, with the Electra , an E-class destroyer came to reserve for the first time, which was followed by other ships of the class by July 1939. Esk came to the reserve in Portsmouth with her sister ship Express, which can also be used as a miner . Even before the outbreak of war, the conversion of the two destroyers into mine layers began in August.
War missions
The Esk was at the outbreak of World War II in the equipment for mine laying and then the 20th (minelayer) -Zerstörerflottille assigned. At the beginning of the Second World War, this flotilla stationed in Immingham laid defensive minefields off the British coast and offensive minefields in the German Bight . On the night of September 10, 1939, Esk and Express laid their first offensive mine block on the suspected German discharge routes in the German mine warning area. On the night of December 18, 1939, the two destroyers, Ivanhoe and Intrepid, laid a barrier of 240 mines in front of the Ems estuary. The mine-laying destroyers were secured by the destroyers Grenville , Greyhound , Griffin and the Polish Blyskawica .
In April 1940, the ship was supposed to lay mines in the coastal waters of Norway , which was still neutral at the time, together with other destroyers as part of Operation Wilfred . During the defense operations against the German occupation of Norway, the Esk was used as an escort for the battle cruiser Renown , when on April 9, 1940 the latter engaged in a brief, undecided battle with the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau , which were used as remote security for the Weser Exercise company, in front of the Ofotfjord . The destroyer itself was not used because of the bad weather.
The mine-layer destroyers were in regular use until mid-May 1940 and were the last to lay barriers off the Dutch coast to disrupt the German advance .;
From late May to early June 1940, the destroyer evacuated the Allied troops encircled around Dunkirk ( Operation Dynamo ) along with many other ships, including the Express , Intrepid and Ivanhoe .
The Texel disaster
On August 31, 1940, the flotilla ran out with Esk , Intrepid , Icarus , Ivanhoe and Express for an offensive mining operation near Texel. This action was supposed to be secured by the destroyers Jupiter , Kelvin and Vortigern, which were parked by the 5th Flotilla . While the ships of the 20th Flotilla were casting their mines, there was a message from the British air reconnaissance that a German unit was running from Terschelling to the west on the British coast. In fear of a German invasion attempt, the flotilla should attack this unit.
First, the Express ran into a previously unknown German mine barrier north-west of Texel and lost its bow . The destroyers Esk and Ivanhoe wanted to come to the aid of the damaged sister ship. Both also ran into mines. The Esk , which probably detonated a second mine, broke and then sank within a short time. A few castaways could be taken in by the Ivanhoe . 127 Esk men died in its sinking. The 600 mines strong German barrier was on 7./8. August was relocated by the German mine ships Roland , Cobra and Brummer ex Olav Tryggvason .
Since there was no way of towing the badly damaged Ivanhoe , she was sunk by the Kelvin . The Express , which had lost the entire forecastle as a result of the mine hit, was towed first by the Kelvin , then by the Jupiter , until tugs reached the retreating formation and brought the wrecked destroyer to Hull .
The so-called “Texel Disaster” was initially kept secret. Since around 300 men lost their lives in the action and a further 100 were taken prisoner as castaways or were seriously wounded, speculation arose after the events about what actually happened.
Individual evidence
- ↑ 5th Destroyer Flotilla
- ^ Modern Destroyers in reserve
- ↑ ROYAL NAVY SHIPS, August 1939
- ↑ ROYAL NAVY SHIPS, September 1939
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. 9-16 September 1939 North Sea
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. 17/18 December 1939 North Sea
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. 5-8 April 1940 Norway, Operation Wilfred
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War , May 6–23, 1940 North Sea
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. May 28, 1940 Canal
- ^ A b Rohwer: Sea War. 31.8./1.9.1940 North Sea
literature
- James Hayward: The bodies on the beach: Sealion, Shingle Street and the burning sea myth of 1940. CD41 Dereham , Norfolk (2001), ISBN 0-9540549-0-3 .
- Peter Haining: Where the eagle landed: The mystery of the German invasion of Britain, 1940. Robson 2004, ISBN 1-86105-750-4
- Michael J. Whitley: Destroyers of World War Two. An international encyclopedia. Arms and Armor Press, London 1988, ISBN 0-85368-910-5 .
Web links
- Esk 1934
- Chronicle of naval warfare 1939–1945
- Service history HMS Esk (H15)
- HMS Esk (H15)
- HMS Esk (H15)
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