HMS Hostile (H55)

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Hostile
HMS Hostile (H55) IWM FL 013957.jpg
Ship data
flag United KingdomUnited Kingdom (Naval War Flag) United Kingdom
Ship type destroyer
class H class
Shipyard Scotts , Greenock
Build number 562
Order December 13, 1934
Keel laying February 27, 1935
Launch January 24, 1936
Commissioning September 10, 1936
Whereabouts Sunk on August 23, 1940 after being hit by a mine
Ship dimensions and crew
length
98.45 m ( Lüa )
95.1 m ( Lpp )
width 10.05 m
Draft Max. 3.78 m
displacement Standard : 1,340 ts
Maximum: 1,859 ts
 
crew 145 men
Machine system
machine 3 Yarrow boilers (Admiralty three-drum boilers)
2 Parsons turbines with single gear
Machine
performance 		34,000 PS (25,007 kW)
Top
speed 		36 kn (67 km / h)
propeller 2
Armament
Sensors

Type 124 sonar

HMS Hostile (H55) was a destroyer of the H-Class of the British Royal Navy in World War II . The destroyer took part in the First Sea Battle at Narvik on April 10, 1940 , in which it remained largely undamaged. So she was able to tow the heavily damaged sister ship Hotspur to the Lofoten Islands. The destroyer, which has been in service with the " Mediterranean Fleet " since the end of May 1940, ran on August 23, 1940 during a transfer march from Alexandria to Gibraltar at 36 ° 53 '  N , 11 ° 19'  E. Coordinates: 36 ° 53 '0 "  N , 11 ° 19 ′ 0 ″  E 18 nautical miles southeast of Cape Bon to a mine that broke its keel. After the crew had been rescued, the Hero sank the drifting wreck.

History of the ship

The ship was launched on January 24, 1936 as part of a class of eight destroyers at Scotts in Greenock . It entered service on September 10, 1936.

The destroyer was initially used together with the majority of its sister ships in the 2nd destroyer flotilla in the Mediterranean . After the outbreak of war, it was relocated to the Central and later to the South Atlantic as part of the hunt for German armored ships . In early 1940 the flotilla was ordered back to the waters around the British Isles .

After German troops had been landed by German destroyers in Narvik as part of the Weser Exercise company , HMS Hostile ran out with her sister ships to block the Ofotfjord . On April 10, 1940, the destroyer took part in the First Naval Battle near Narvik . Further missions off the Norwegian coast followed.

In May 1940, all operational ships of the flotilla were moved to the Mediterranean, where they were stationed in Alexandria . HMS Hostile was used to escort convoys and took part in the naval battle at Punta Stilo in July as escort for the battleships .

On August 23, 1940, HMS Hostile was on the march from Malta to Gibraltar when the ship ran off Cap Bon on a mine that had been laid a few days earlier by Italian destroyers. The destroyer was torpedoed by its sister ship HMS Hero .

literature

  • 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