HMS Ithuriel (H05)

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Ithuriel
HMS Ithuriel 1942 IWM FL 22375.jpg
Ship data
flag United KingdomUnited Kingdom (Naval War Flag) United Kingdom
other ship names

Gayret

Ship type destroyer
class I / Demirhisar class
Shipyard Vickers , Barrow
Build number 748
Order 1938 for Turkey
Keel laying May 24, 1939
Launch December 15, 1940
Commissioning March 3, 1942
Whereabouts Badly damaged November 28, 1942, sold for demolition in August 1944
Ship dimensions and crew
length
98.4 m ( Lüa )
95.1 m ( Lpp )
width 10.2 m
Draft Max. 3.78 m
displacement 1370 ts standard
1890 ts maximum
 
crew 145-196 men
Machine system
machine 3 Admiralty three drum boilers
2 Parsons - geared turbines
Machine
performance 		34,000 PS (25,007 kW)
Top
speed 		35.5 kn (66 km / h)
propeller 2
Armament

Removed in 1942 :
1 × 4f. Torpedo tubes (533 mm-ø)
2 × 4f. Vickers 0.5 FlaMGs, therefor:

The HMS Ithuriel (H05) was one of four destroyers ordered by Turkey in Great Britain at the end of 1938, construction of which began in May 1939. They were an export version of the British I-Class . In September 1939 the British government bought two of these destroyers, while the other two were contractually completed for political reasons and delivered to Turkey in 1942.

On November 28, 1942, the destroyer Ithuriel was so badly damaged in a German air raid on Bône (today Annaba) that it was a total constructive loss.

History of the ship

The Ithuriel was started on May 24, 1939 as Gayret for the Turkish Navy at Vickers-Armstrong at the shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness . It was one of four planned new buildings, two of which were manufactured by Denny . When the Second World War broke out, the Royal Navy confiscated the destroyers that had been started on the I-Class model. The export versions differed from the British ships in that they had four torpedo tube sets and a simpler fire control system. In order to keep Turkey from an alliance with the German Empire, an early agreement was reached to deliver two ships to the Turkish Navy and only take over the two newbuildings from Vickers-Armstrong. The British also promised to deliver these ships after the war.

The first Ithuriel, completed in 1916

The ship planned as Gayret was named Ithuriel when it was launched , after one of the angels of God from Paradise Lost by John Milton . The destroyer was the second ship of the Navy with this name, which had previously led the Flotilla commander Ithuriel of the Marksman class , built at Cammel Laird in 1915/16 . This ship was used as a mine-layer for a time during the First World War and was then scrapped in 1921.

The new Ithuriel was removed from the Navy on March 3, 1942, a good five weeks after the sister ship Inconstant . The originally planned use of the destroyer with the Eastern Fleet was abandoned and a transfer to Force H in Gibraltar was ordered.

Mission history

After a very short entry time, the Ithuriel moved to Gibraltar for the 13th destroyer flotilla in March 1942. On April 19, 1942, the destroyer took part in Operation Calendar together with the battle cruiser Renown , the anti-aircraft cruisers Cairo and Charybdis , the destroyers Inglefield , Echo , Partridge and the destroyers Lang and Madison of the US Navy , in which on April 20 the US - Carrier Wasp 47 British Spitfire fighters launched in the western Mediterranean south of the Balearic Islands to reinforce Malta's air defense , of which 46 reached the target. A similar mission followed from May 8 to 10, Operation Bowery , in which the British carrier Eagle and other destroyers also took part. Of the 54 Spitfires launched , 51 reached Malta. During this mission, the fast mine- layer Welshman ran with important supplies from Gibraltar to Malta and back. These reinforcements and those of the previous month led to a turning point in the battle for Malta, as the attacking German-Italian bomber units suffered heavy losses in the future. The Ithuriel was involved in three other such companies on May 16 to 20 with Eagle and Argus , on June 2 to 4 and June 8 to 10 ( Eagle only ), in which 76 more Spitfire s to Malta could be transferred.

After this strengthening of Malta's air defense capability, the difficult supply situation of the British island base was to be improved with a double convoy operation from both sides of the Mediterranean. The eastern convoy Vigorous failed due to the use of the Italian battle fleet.

The Cairo

The western convoy Harpoon lost one of the six transporters used in the first Italian air raid. The remaining tried to leave the Strait of Sicily alone with the security group around the old anti-aircraft cruiser Cairo with the destroyers Bedouin , Marne , Matchless , Partridge next to the Ithuriel , the Hunt destroyers Blankney , Badsworth , Middleton and the Polish Kujawiak as well as four minesweepers and six MGBs to reach Malta. On the 15th the convoy near intervened Pantelleria then the light cruiser Raimondo Montecuccoli and Eugenio di Savoia with five destroyers and almost simultaneously the Sturzkampfgeschwader 3 at. The Italian cruisers and destroyers were pushed aside by the five fleet destroyers of the convoy security led by the Cairo , who set fire to the Italian destroyer Ugolino Vivaldi . The Italians for their part shot the destroyers Bedouin and Partridge immobilized. The latter was able to repair his machine and tried to escape towards Gibraltar with the Bedouin in tow. The Stukas, which attacked the evasive convoy with the Hunt destroyers, severely damaged two transporters and the tanker, which later had to be finally abandoned after additional artillery hits by the attacking Italian cruisers. The rest of the unit, supported by the Welshman , finally reached Malta with two transporters, but got into a minefield shortly before the port entrance, in which the Kujawiak was lost and a transporter, the Matchless and the Badsworth , were damaged. On June 16, 1942, only the Cairo , Welshman , Marne , Ithuriel , Blankney and Middleton marched back to Gibraltar from Malta . The goods brought through ensured the defensive capability of the British island base again for a few weeks.

In July 1942, the Ithuriel was together with the cruisers Charybdis and Cairo and the destroyers Antelope , Westcott , Wrestler and Vansittart in the operations "Pinpoint" and "Insect" involved in which on July 15 and 20, Spitfires from the Eagle after Were flown into Malta.

On August 10, 1942, the destroyer left Gibraltar as part of Operation Pedestal again with a supply convoy for Malta. This time, two battleships, four aircraft carriers, seven cruisers and 19 destroyers (including the Ithuriel, her sister ships Intrepid and Icarus ) and six destroyer escorts were used to secure the convoy with thirteen transporters and one tanker .

The Ithuriel , which was assigned to protect the porters, rammed and sank the Italian submarine Cobalto on August 12, 1942, the first day of attack by German and Italian submarines and aircraft, and then fell badly damaged.

The destroyer arrived back in Gibraltar on August 14th, where repairs for a trip to Great Britain began immediately. On the 24th the destroyer left Gibraltar and on the 30th the actual repairs began in Liverpool , where the bow section was replaced. Further repairs will then be carried out from the end of August to mid-October 1942 at the Portsmouth naval yard .
The repaired destroyer accompanied an Allied troop convoy for the imminent landing in North Africa to Gibraltar, where it was subordinated to Force H for Operation Torch . The Ithuriel was one of the 38 destroyers used in the Allied landing in French North Africa.

The end of the Ithuriel

On November 28, 1942, the destroyer Ithuriel was so badly damaged in a German air raid on Bône that it was a total structural loss. The Ithuriel was towed out of the harbor basin by the destroyer Quentin and set on the beach. Repair work began, which, in the absence of suitable material, made slow progress, although only the ability to tow was to be achieved. After removing the two large stern guns, it was found that the keel of the destroyer had broken. It was not until February 27, 1943, that the destroyer could be towed to Algiers for a thorough examination, but repairs were not possible there either. In Algiers, the destroyer was prepared from August for the transfer to Gibraltar, which took place on August 18, 1943. There the destroyer was used as a residential ship and for training. In July 1944 he was then prepared for the transfer to Great Britain, which took place from August 1st to August 8th by the tug Prosperous . In Plymouth the ship was finally decommissioned and offered for demolition. From August 11 to 13, 1944, the separated Ithuriel was towed to Bo'ness near Edinburgh , where it was scrapped.

Replacement delivery to Turkey

The two destroyers built at Denny Demirhisar and Sultanhisar of Demirhisar class laid under the British flag with the identifiers H80 or H87 by the Atlantic Ocean, around the Cape of Good Hope, across the Indian Ocean and through the Suez Canal into Turkey and arrived in 1942 in the service of the Turkish Navy.
The sister ship Inconstant was delivered to Turkey as a Muavanet after serving in the Royal Navy and a major overhaul in March 1946 . In addition, the Turkish Navy received the somewhat larger destroyer Oribi from the Royal Navy's war building program, which was largely equally armed. The Oribi received the fourth originally planned name at the handover in June 1946 Gayret .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Rohwer: Sea War , April 14-26, 1942 Mediterranean
  2. ^ Rohwer: Sea War , May 8-15, 1942 Mediterranean
  3. ^ Rohwer: Sea War , June 12-16, 1942 Mediterranean
  4. ^ Rohwer: Sea War , August 10-15, 1942 Mediterranean
  5. ^ Rohwer: Sea War , November 28, 1942 Mediterranean
  6. ↑ Picture of the Prosperous

Remarks

  1. ↑ The Vivaldi was towed away by other destroyers. The Italian unit returned with the cruisers and two destroyers and sank the transport ships, which had been badly damaged by the air raids.
  2. ↑ Another attack by Italian torpedo bombers later led to the sinking of the Bedouin .
  3. ↑ The inserted as Schnelltransporter minelayer Welshman the convoy was ahead run at top speed and had his load already deleted in Malta. He then returned to the convoy to reinforce air defense capabilities.
  4. ↑ At the same time an empty convoy came from Malta with the transporters Troilus and Orari of Operation "Harpoon", secured by the destroyers Matchless and Badsworth , which were damaged at "Harpoon" and who fought briefly with the Italian destroyer Malocello at Cape Bon .

literature

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