HMS Grenville (H03)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
HMS Grenville
The Grenville
The Grenville
Ship data
flag United KingdomUnited Kingdom (Naval War Flag) United Kingdom
Ship type destroyer
class G-Class (Leader)
Shipyard Yarrow's , Scotstoun
Build number 1651
Order March 15, 1934
Keel laying September 29, 1934
Launch August 15, 1935
Commissioning July 1, 1936
Whereabouts Sank on January 19, 1940 after being hit by a mine
Ship dimensions and crew
length
100.6 m ( Lüa )
97.2 m ( Lpp )
width 10.5 m
Draft Max. 3.89 m
displacement 1,465 ts standard
2,033 ts maximum
 
crew 178
Machine system
machine 3 Yarrow boilers
2 Parsons - geared turbines
Machine
performance 		38,000
Top
speed 		36.5 kn (68 km / h)
propeller 2
Armament
Sensors

Type 121 sonar

HMS Grenville (H03) was the flotilla commander for the G-class destroyers of the British Royal Navy . In the Second World War , the ship was awarded the Battle Honor "Atlantic 1939".

The Grenville was already lost on January 19, 1940, when she ran into a mine brought out by German destroyers off Harwich .

history

On March 15, 1934, the eight G-class destroyers and a flotilla leader were ordered from five British shipyards. The order for the flotilla leader went to Yarrow in the Glasgow district of Scotstoun, who had previously received the construction contract for the preceding flotilla leader Faulknor . The keel of the new building was laid on September 29, 1934, the launch took place on August 15, 1935 and the ship was put into service on July 1, 1936. She was the third ship in the Royal Navy to bear the name of British Admiral Sir Richard Grenville (1541–1591) since 1763 . Previously, from 1916 to 1931, a Parker-class flotilla leader built by Cammel Laird had his name. This Grenville had been in service with the Home Fleet and Atlantic Fleet until 1919, when it was in the reserve.

The new flotilla leader was a slightly smaller development of the previous identical flotilla leader Exmouth and Faulknor . The shorter hull was achieved by eliminating the marching turbines and smaller boiler rooms. The Grenville received new Yarrow boilers with a changed arrangement of the firing, which had been installed for the first time on the flotilla leader Dubrovnik built for Yugoslavia .

Mission history

From March / April 1936, the destroyer leader replaced the flotilla leader Montrose and destroyers of the V and W classes in the 20th destroyer flotilla in the Mediterranean Fleet with the associated G-class destroyers . This flotilla was formed from reserve ships in September 1935 because of the Abyssinia crisis . At the end of 1936, the flotilla was renamed the “1st Destroyer Flotilla” when it replaced this flotilla, which had previously been formed by the Keppel and destroyers of the V and W class and which served as the “8th Destroyer Flotilla” until the end of 1934 at the China Station and then exchanged with the D-class destroyers used in the Mediterranean Fleet.

The Grenville was with the "1st Destroyer Flotilla" until 1939 primarily in the western Mediterranean to observe the Spanish Civil War and was only for two overhauls from May 24th to June 9th 1937 and from June 7th to July 25th 1938 in Portsmouth . Even when the war began in 1939, she was part of the British Mediterranean fleet with the G-Class destroyers.

War missions

The flotilla leader served at the beginning of the Second World War to protect British trade and to monitor German ship movements in the Mediterranean. After Gallant , Glowworm , Grafton and Greyhound had started the march home a few days earlier, from October 22, 1939 the Grenville with Griffin , Grenade and Gipsy also moved to the Western Approaches Command and reached Plymouth on November 2. Only the Garland had to stay in the Mediterranean, as she suffered serious rear damage due to an explosion of her own depth charge, which was repaired in Malta by May 1940.

On the night of November 8, collided Grenville and Grenade when used. As a result of the collision, the Grenville's third boiler room ran full of water and it was out of order by the end of the month due to the necessary repairs in Devonport. During the repair period, the "1st Destroyer Flotilla" moved to Harwich to monitor the Thames estuary and to conduct escort duties in the southern North Sea. The Grenville was operational again from December 3rd and took part in various advances against German shipping off the Dutch and German North Sea coast. In addition to the destroyers of the G-Class, of whom Gipsy was now fallen for a mine hit, the Polish destroyer took Blyskawica and Grom part in these operations.

The end of Grenville

From such a mission she returned with six other units on January 19, when she set off a mine 23 nautical miles east of the lightship "Kentish Knock". 77 crew members lost their lives in the immediate decline of the Grenville 51 ° 39 '  N , 2 ° 17'  O coordinates: 51 ° 39 '0 "  N , 2 ° 17' 0 '  O . Despite the initially unclear threat, Grenade and Griffin launched boats and were able to rescue 117 castaways.

The mine barrier on which the Grenville ran was laid on the night of January 7th by the German destroyers Friedrich Eckoldt , Erich Steinbrinck and Friedrich Ihn .

Renewed use of the name

The command destroyer of the U-class of the War Emergency program came into the service of the Royal Navy as Grenville in May 1943 , since the names of well-known sea heroes were to be used again for the command ships of the flotillas. This destroyer, built by Swan Hunter , was then used in the English Channel during the Second World War, during the landing in Normandy, in the Mediterranean and finally with the British Pacific Fleet.
In 1953/54 the destroyer was converted into a Type 15 ASW frigate and remained in service until 1974. In 1983 the ship was scrapped.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Service History HMS Grenville
  2. ↑ 8. DISTRIBUTION OF DESTROYER 1919 to 1939
  3. ↑ German : Amazon to Ivanhoe , p. 90
  4. ^ Deutsch: Amazon to Ivanhoe , p. 91
  5. ↑ HMS Grenade
  6. ^ Rohwer: Sea War , 6.– 7.1.1940 North Sea

literature

  • John English: Amazon to Ivanhoe: British Standard Destroyers of the 1930s , World Ship Society, Kendal 1993, ISBN 0-905617-64-9 .
  • MJ Whitley: Destroyers of World War Two. Arms and Armor Press, London 1988, ISBN 0-85368-910-5 .

Web links