HMS Gipsy (H63)

HMS *Gipsy*
	The Gipsy in June 1936
Ship data
flag	United Kingdom
Ship type	destroyer
class	G class
Shipyard	Fairfield Shipbuilding , Govan
Build number	652
Order	March 5, 1934
Keel laying	September 5, 1934
Launch	November 7, 1935
Commissioning	February 22, 1936
Whereabouts	Sunk on November 21, 1939 after being hit by a mine
Ship dimensions and crew
length	98.5 m ( Lüa ) 95.1 m ( Lpp )
width	10.1 m
Draft	Max. 3.78 m
displacement	1,350 ts standard ; 1,854 ts maximum
crew	145
Machine system
machine	3 Admiralty 3-drum boilers; 2 Parsons - geared turbines
Machine ; performance	34,000 PS (25,007 kW)
Top ; speed	36 kn (67 km / h)
propeller	2
Armament
	4 120 mm L / 45 Mk.IX guns ; 2 × 4 Vickers machine guns 0.5 in. (12.7 mm) ; 2 × 4 torpedo tubes 533 mm; 20–35 depth charges; 2 launchers, 1 drop rail; Mine detection equipment;
Sensors
	Type 121 sonar

HMS Gipsy (H63) was one of eight G-Class destroyers of the British Royal Navy . During the Second World War he was awarded the Battle Honor "Atlantic 1939".

On November 21, 1939, the destroyer ran into a mine while leaving Harwich and sank. The ship was so badly damaged that it was not recovered, although it was aground near the port. The ship was demolished on site during the war.

History of the ship

When the orders for the nine G-Class units were placed on March 5, 1934, two destroyers were also ordered from Fairfield , where two D-Class destroyers had already been built. The keel-laying of the second ship with hull number 652 took place at the shipyard in Govan ( Glasgow ) on September 5, 1934. The Gipsy was launched on November 7, 1935 and was then launched on February 22, 1936 as the third G-class ship Service provided. The destroyer was the fifth ship in the Royal Navy with this name, which has been used since 1799.
Most recently, a destroyer also built at Fairfield had carried the name, which was in service with the Navy from 1898 to 1918. This "30-knotter" Gipsy was assigned to the C-Class as a three-chimney in 1912 and was used by the Dover Patrol from 1914 to 1918 .

Mission history

The new destroyer was initially retracted briefly at the Home Fleet before, like its sister ships, it entered the “1. Destroyer Flotilla ”in the British Mediterranean Fleet . The G-Class ships replaced V- and W-Class destroyers in the Alexandria stationed flotilla in 1936 , which had previously been used at the China Station. The first overhaul of the ship took place in June and July 1938 at Devonport Dockyard .

The Gipsy returned to Alexandria from Aden on September 2, 1939 with the 2nd Division of the Flotilla . Her tasks after the start of the war included in particular the control of shipping traffic in the eastern Mediterranean and the search for German merchant ships or cargo for the German Empire. After the beginning of September 1939 been a division of the flotilla of four destroyers the Mediterranean Sea to the British Isles had left, followed on 22 September 1939 with the Leader Grenville and the destroyers Griffin , Grenade and Gipsy the rest of the deployable ships of the first flotilla to Plymouth . The ships were supposed to secure convoys and warships in the waters of the south-western approaches to the British Isles.
On November 11th, the Gipsy and the sister ship Greyhound became the “22nd. Destroyer Flotilla ”to Harwich. During the relocation march, the two destroyers collided in the fog on the 12th. Gipsy suffered only minor damage, while Greyhound to Sheerness Dockyard had to go, but after a few days back was ready.

The end of Gipsy

On November 21, 1939 Gipsy ran together with the Polish destroyers ORP Burza , ORP Błyskawica and ORP Grom as well as Griffin , Keith and Boadicea from Harwich on a patrol . While still in the approach to the harbor, the ship ran into a mine that had probably only recently been dropped by an old Heinkel He 59 . The Gipsy broke in two and sank after the 115 survivors were taken over by the other destroyers. However, 30 men lost their lives when the mine hit and the subsequent sinking of the Gipsy at 51 ° 56 ' N , 1 ° 18' E, coordinates: 51 ° 56 '12 " N , 1 ° 18' 30" E.51.936666666667 1.3083333333333

From June 1940 to February 1944 the wreck of the Gipsy was demolished on site.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Service History HMS Gipsy-G class destroyer

↑ BETWEEN THE WARS: ROYAL NAVY ORGANIZATION AND SHIP DEPLOYMENTS 1919–1939

↑ Rohwer: Seekrieg, November 20-23, 1939 Air mine deployment ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2

Remarks

↑ one leader, eight destroyers

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 .
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

[SHgips-2] Service History HMS Gipsy-G class destroyer

[3] BETWEEN THE WARS: ROYAL NAVY ORGANIZATION AND SHIP DEPLOYMENTS 1919–1939

[1] r, eight destroyers