HMS Hereward (H93)
 The Hereward with the twin gun tested in 1937
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
HMS Hereward (H93) was a destroyer of the H-Class of the British Royal Navy in World War II . The destroyer was named after the Anglo-Saxon resistance fighter Hereward . The Hereward initially carried a 120 mm twin gun at the front for test purposes. The destroyer, which was stationed in the Mediterranean at the beginning of the war, was used in the Atlantic Ocean like its sister ships in autumn 1939. In May 1940 he brought the Dutch Queen Wilhelmina into exile in Great Britain.
The destroyer then used again in the Mediterranean was honored with nine battle honors . On May 29, 1941, the Hereward was lost off Crete . When sinking by German dive bombers , 76 crew members died, 89 survivors were rescued by Italian speedboats and were taken prisoner of war.
History of the ship
The ship was launched on High Walker yard in Newcastle-on-Tyne on March 10, 1936 together with her sister ship Hero as part of a class of eight destroyers. The Vickers-Armstrong Group's high walker yard established itself as the Group's second warship building yard . The propulsion system was installed by the neighboring Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Co. in Wallsend . Hereward was put into service on December 9, 1936. Unlike the other ships of the class, Hereward and Hero had a new shape of the bridge with a protruding protected command post with sloping sides. This type of bridge construction was given to all subsequent destroyers up to the last new builds of classic destroyers after the Second World War. For testing purposes , the Hereward received the prototype of a 120 mm twin gun as front armament on the raised B position on the forecastle.
Otherwise, the Hereward largely corresponded to a standard destroyer of the class. She displaced 1350 tl (max. 1883 tl), was 98.5 m long, 10.1 m wide and had a draft of 3.8 m. Three Admiralty boilers produced the steam for the Parsons geared turbines with an output of 34,000 hp, which enabled a speed of up to 36 knots . The fuel supply of 470 tl of fuel gave the Hereward a range of up to 5530 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 15 knots. The destroyer's crew comprised 137 men in peacetime and increased to 146 men in the event of war.
The ship was armed with four 4.7-inch (120-mm) L / 45-Mk.IX cannons. Two quadruple 0.5-inch Vickers Mk.III machine guns were available on the Hereward to ward off air attacks . Like all standard-type destroyers, it had two quadruple 21-inch torpedo tube sets . To repel submarines, the destroyer had a drop rail and two depth charges and had 20 depth charges on board, which were increased to 35 shortly after the start of the war.
The destroyer's air defense was also reinforced during the war. As with almost all standard destroyers, the rear torpedo tube set on the Hereward was replaced in 1940 by a 12 pounder (76 mm) anti-aircraft gun . In 1941 she also received two 20 mm Oerlikon cannons .
Mission history
With its sister ships and the Flotilla Commander Hardy, who belonged to the class, the destroyer gradually replaced the C-class destroyers in the British "2nd Destroyer Flotilla", which had been relocated to the Red Sea and then to the Mediterranean during the Abyssinian crisis . Since December 1936 the flotilla of the " Mediterranean Fleet " was finally assigned. Since the outbreak of the Spanish civil war, she has participated in the so-called neutrality patrols off the Spanish coast in the western Mediterranean. During the joint spring maneuvers of “Home -” and “Mediterranean Fleet”, the newly commissioned Hereward tested the twin gun installed on the foredeck from Gibraltar , which was later improved and used on the Tribal destroyers . At the end of the first quarter of 1937, the twin gun was removed and replaced by two single guns in positions A and B.
War missions
After the start of the war in 1939, the destroyer Hereward was relocated to the mid-Atlantic during the hunt for German armored ships in October , where it succeeded, in cooperation with aircraft from the carrier Ark Royal , in preventing the German heavy lift carrier Uhenfels from sinking itself and the ship to Freetown bring in. The destroyer secured the Ark Royal during its search voyages. In November the destroyer remained in Trinidad to secure convoy trains. Back at Ark Royal in December , she went to Argentina with them. The destroyer was then released back to the Caribbean, where, in addition to protecting its own ships, it was also responsible for monitoring German ships in neutral ports. The destroyer chased the German combi ship Arauca , which had broken out of Veracruz, and blocked the escaped ship in Port Everglades , Florida.
In early 1940 the flotilla was ordered back to the waters around the British Isles . At the end of January, Hereward and Hunter were supposed to secure the battleship Valiant on the march from Bermuda to Halifax . The destroyer suffered considerable damage at sea during this task and had to go to the shipyard for repairs on its arrival in Canada. Then she accompanied the light cruiser Orion to Great Britain. Because of necessary repairs, the destroyer was not available at the beginning of the British operations against the German occupation of Norway ( company Weserübungen ) and did not take part in the battles of Narvik , which were costly for the flotilla , in which Hardy and Hunter were lost. Ready for action in mid-April, the Hereward secured the heavy cruiser Suffolk in a bombardment of the Stavanger Sola airfield and later on British aircraft carriers on their missions off Norway.
After the start of the German western offensive, HMS Hereward evacuated the Dutch Queen Wilhelmina to Great Britain in May 1940 .
Relocation to the Mediterranean
In the same month, all operational ships of the flotilla were moved to the Mediterranean, where they were stationed in Alexandria . Hereward was used to escort convoys and took part in the naval battle at Punta Stilo in July . Together with the Decoy , the destroyer accompanied the battleship Warspite in battle and suffered splinter damage from a close hit by the Giulio Cesare . On September 25, 1940, the Hereward fired at military targets at Sidi Barrani with the destroyers Hyperion , Janus and Mohawk .
In November the British attempted to confuse the Italian side by a number of simultaneous actions and to develop an attack on the Italian battle fleet from these actions. They assumed that the Italians would not leave because they would not consider the massive use of the British with four battleships and two carriers of the Mediterranean fleet from the east and the Force H with a battleship and one carrier from the west to be a favorable combat situation. With their actions, the British wanted to bring reinforcements and supplies to Malta and secure the transfer of the battleship Barham and the cruisers Berwick and Glasgow to the eastern Mediterranean and, while the Italian battle fleet remained in the southern Italian naval base of Tarento, attack them there with the torpedo bombers of the aircraft carrier Illustrious ( Operation Judgment ). The Hereward belonged to the security group of the Mediterranean Fleet of thirteen destroyers, but probably not to the security group of the Illustrious when it ran with the cruisers Berwick , Glasgow , Glouchester and York as well as four destroyers to the suitable starting position for the air strike. The air strike was successful and put three Italian battleships out of action for at least a few months. At the end of the month, the Hereward was passive as part of securing the battleship Ramillies and the Berwick in the sea battle at Cape Teulada when the two named units were transferred to the western Mediterranean. Together with its sister ship Hyperion , the destroyer succeeded on December 14, 1940 in sinking the Italian submarine Naiade off Bardia . At the end of the year the destroyers Hereward , Hero and Hasty then escorted the battleship Malaya from the eastern Mediterranean to Gibraltar.
In January 1941, Hereward formed the anti-aircraft cruiser Bonaventure and the destroyers Jaguar , Hero and Hasty to secure the convoy "MC.4" with four large transporters, three of which were to go to Piraeus. Essex destined for Malta had, among other things, 3,000 tons of seed potatoes, 4,000 tons of ammunition and twelve packaged Hurricane fighter planes on board. 400 soldiers of the Army and Air Force were transported from Gibraltar to Malta on the escort ships . The convoy, which set out on January 6, 1941, was discovered by the Italian Air Force on the 9th and attacked in vain with ten SM.79s from Sardinia and then fifteen Fiat CR.42s (with 100 kg bombs) when it was still under the protection of the accompanying Force H stood. Fulmar fighters of the Ark Royal succeeded in shooting down two torpedo bombers . On the 10th, an Italian submarine and two torpedo boats shot torpedoes at the convoy in vain. Bonaventure and Hereward were able to sink the attacking Italian torpedo boat Vega six miles south of Pantelleria in the morning , while the second torpedo boat Circe escaped undamaged. The cruiser had damaged the torpedo boat with its artillery, which was sunk by the Hereward with a torpedo. Bonaventure was also slightly damaged and had two dead on board. In the meantime it had used up 75% of its muition stocks by the Italian attacks. The convoy marched further south than planned by the defense and the destroyer Gallant , which had been left with the convoy by the "Force H" , suffered a severe mine hit that destroyed the bow and caused 65 deaths on board. The Mohawk dragged the badly damaged Gallant on to Malta. Defense against air attacks was taken over by the light cruisers Glouchester and Southampton , which had already transported troops to Malta from the Aegean Sea . The convoy continued to be attacked from the air after Malta and the Southampton was lost on the 11th.
On February 22, 1941, the Hereward took part in the Aegean Sea with the Decoy in the Commando Raid against Kastelorizo (Operation Abstention), which, however, failed two days later due to Italian countermeasures. On 20./21. April 1941, the Hereward took part with three battleships, a cruiser and eight other destroyers in bombardments of Axis facilities in the Tripoli area. The destroyer was then in continuous use to evacuate Allied troops from mainland Greece ( Operation Demon ). The destroyer was also used again from 6 to 12 May to secure a convoy to Malta.
The end of the Hereward
On May 20, German troops landed on the Greek island of Crete ( Operation Merkur ). The destroyer Hereward was assigned to the "Force D", which was one of the units that were supposed to prevent support for German troops who had landed from the air at sea. On the night of May 22nd, the first German convoy to leave Piraeus in the direction of Crete, consisting of small steamers and motor sailers with over 2,300 mountain fighters on board, was carried by the association with three cruisers Ajax , Dido , Orion and the destroyers Hasty , Janus and Kimberley placed next to the Hereward . The determined intervention of the Italian torpedo boat Lupo saved the convoy from total destruction. However, only two of the more than 20 vehicles made it to Crete. Around 300 German soldiers died, and many of the castaways were rescued through the use of Italian units. On the 22nd, the Hereward , like other units, had to run back to Alexandria due to a lack of ammunition, and then immediately return to Crete to support the army and naval units. On the 28th, the Hereward evacuated with Decoy , Jackal , Hotspur , Imperial and Kimberley troops from Heraklion, which were handed over to the cruisers Ajax , Dido and Orion off the coast . The expiring British cruisers and destroyers were continuously attacked by the German Air Force.
Some of the three cruisers were hit very badly and Dido and Orion were out for a long time after the mission. The Imperial was badly hit by the destroyers and was unable to maneuver. The Hotspur ran back, took over the crew and soldiers, and then sank the badly damaged destroyer.
The Hereward was badly hit very early off the north coast of Crete and was unable to follow the other British ships. The only current destroyers but was found by the German attackers and Ju-87 - dive bombers hit again and fell to 35 ° 20 ' N , 26 ° 20' O . 76 men of the crew died in the sinking, 89 men were rescued from Italian boats and became prisoners of war.
literature
- MJ Whitley: Destroyers of World War Two. Arms and Armor Press, London 1988, ISBN 0-85368-910-5 .
Web links
- Chronicle of Seekrieg 1939–1945 In: wlb-stuttgart.de, accessed on April 7, 2016.
- HMS HEREWARD (H 93) - H-class Destroyer In: naval-history.net, accessed on April 7, 2016 (English).
- 8.2 DESTROYER FLOTILLAS 1921-1939 In: naval-history.net, accessed on April 7, 2016 (English).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Service history HMS Hereward
- ↑ DESTROYER FLOTILLAS 1921–1939
- ↑ Naval War. 28.10. – 6. November 1939, Central Atlantic, November 5. Kaperung Uhenfels ( 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.
- ↑ according to Rohwer and other sources it was Hasty , Havock , Hyperion and Ilex ; there are also other compositions in naval-history.net for different participants (?); The sister ships Hero and Hereward are often named as participants, the Battle Honor "Taranto 1940" only received the Illustrious
Hardy † (Flotilla Leader)
Hasty † |
Havock † |
Hereward † |
Hero / Chaudiere .svg){kind=small}
|
Hostile † |
Hotspur / Trujillo, Duarte 
|
Hunter † |
Hyperion †
formerly Brazilian H-Class (1939–1940)
Harvester † |
Havant † |
Havelock |
Hesperus |
Highlander |
Hurricane †
Similar to Greece, 1939
Vasilefs Georgios / ZG 3 Hermes .svg){kind=small}
† |
Vasilissa Olga †