HMS Grenade (H86)

HMS *Grenade*
	The grenade in 1936
Ship data
flag	United Kingdom
Ship type	destroyer
class	G class
Shipyard	Alexander Stephen & Sons , Linthouse
Build number	545
Order	March 5, 1934
Keel laying	October 3, 1934
Launch	November 12, 1935
Commissioning	March 28, 1936
Whereabouts	Sunk May 29, 1940 after being hit by bombs
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 Grenade (H86) was one of the eight destroyers of the G-Class of the British Royal Navy . During the Second World War , the destroyer was awarded the Battle Honors "Atlantic 1939", "Norway 1940" and "Dunkirk 1940".

The grenade was lost on May 29, 1940 during Operation Dynamo after several bomb hits off Dunkirk .

History of the ship

HMS Grenade was the second G-class destroyer commissioned by Alexander Stephen and Sons . The keel laying of the ship under construction number 545 took place on October 3, 1934 and on November 12, 1935 it was launched at the shipyard in Linthouse (Scotland). It entered service on March 28, 1936.

The name Grenade had previously only been used in the Navy from 1916 to 1919 by a retracted paddle steamer that was used as a mine sweeper in the North Sea. This ship was used as an excursion steamer and mail ship Grenadier from 1885 to 1927 before and after the time in the Navy from Oban and Greenock .

Mission history

The destroyer was initially used together with its sister ships in the 1st destroyer flotilla in the Mediterranean Fleet . One of the tasks of the flotilla was to take part in the so-called neutrality patrols off the Spanish coasts during the Spanish Civil War . In May 1938, the grenade went to Chatham while the shipyard was berthed , where the commander and parts of the crew were also replaced. In August 1938 the destroyer relocated back to the Mediterranean and then during the Sudeten crisis with a division of the flotilla and the light cruiser Arethusa in the Red Sea and to Aden .

War missions

When the war began, the destroyer was ready for action in Alexandria . From October 22 to November 2, he moved with the flotilla leader Grenville and the destroyers Gipsy and Griffin in the second group of control to Plymouth to the Western Approaches Command and was used in the waters around the British Isles. The tasks particularly included securing convoy trains and warships in the waters around the British Isles .

When the British recognized the attack by the Germans on Norway ( Operation Weser Exercise ), the Grenade secured convoy ON 25 with the cruisers Manchester and Southampton and the destroyers Janus , Javelin and Eclipse , which was recalled and whose security units were supposed to clear up the activities of the Germans. In mid-April, the destroyer belonged to an anti-submarine group south of Lofoten with the destroyers Faulknor , Fortune , Escapade and Jupiter . In early May 1940, the grenade with Griffin and Imperial secured the heavy cruiser Devonshire and the French Montcalm , which formed the cover group for the evacuation of Namsos .

The end of the grenade

From May 28, 1940, the grenade was used with about 40 British destroyers, including the sister ships Gallant , Grafton and Greyhound , as well as many other ships in the evacuation of the allied troops encircled around Dunkirk ( Operation Dynamo ). On 29 May 1940, the ship was in Dunkirk, to take troops on board when it by German Ju-87 - dive bombers was attacked and taken. After several bomb hits , one of which went through one of the two chimneys, the destroyer was towed out into the harbor so that the evacuations would not be further impeded. There Grenade sank after several internal explosions. On the same day, the Grafton was also lost and the Gallant and Greyhound were seriously damaged.

Individual evidence

literature

MJ Whitley: Destroyers of World War Two. Arms and Armor Press, London 1988, ISBN 0-85368-910-5 .

Web links

[1] Paddle Steamer GRENADIER built bye James & George Thomson in Clydebank

[2] Rohwer: naval warfare , 7./8.4.1940 Norway

[3] Rohwer: Sea War , April 19-21, 1940 Norway

[4] Rohwer: Sea War , 1 - 3 May 1940 Norway

[5] Rohwer: naval warfare , 28/05/1940 channel

[6] Rohwer: naval warfare , 29/05/1940 channel