HMS Juno (F46)
Juno 1939
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HMS Juno (F46) was a British J-class destroyer . He was awarded the Battle Honors Atlantic 1939 , Calabria 1940 , Libya 1940 , Mediterranean 1940–41 , Matapan 1941 , Malta Convoys 1941 and Crete 1941 in World War II .
On 21 May 1941, was Juno en route to Crete by Italian CANT Z.1007 - bombers attacked and sank after bomb hits with 116 crew members.
history
HMS Juno was laid down on October 5, 1937 at Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in Govan with hull number 667 and was to be named Jamaica , which was then given a Crown Colony class cruiser .
On 8 December 1938, the destroyer was launched and was the ninth ship of the Royal Navy the name of the highest Roman goddess, the last until 1920, a protected cruiser of the Eclipse-class was conducted. Shortly before the start of the war, the Juno was put into service on August 24, 1939 and, like the other J-Class units, was assigned to the "7th Destroyer Flotilla" of the Home Fleet .
Calls
The destroyer and its flotilla formed at the beginning of the war with the light cruisers Southampton and Glasgow of the "2. Kreuzergeschwaders “the Humber Force in Immingham , in order to be able to repel any attacks by the Navy against the British east coast or in the southern North Sea more quickly.
On December 7, 1939, the Juno and Jersey encountered the German destroyers Z 10 Hans Lody and Z 12 Erich Giese , who had carried out a mine-laying operation off the Bay of Cromer on the east coast of England the previous night . The German ships attacked the British with torpedoes and Erich Giese scored a hit on the Jersey , which caused fire and serious damage. The Juno managed to tow her sister ship so that it could be repaired later.
In May 1940 the Juno was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet and assigned to the newly formed 14th Destroyer Flotilla in Alexandria . In June she was active in the eastern Mediterranean and carried out escort duties for heavier fleet units. On July 6, she bombarded with the cruiser Capetown and the destroyers Ilex , Imperial and Janus Bardia in support of landing operations. On July 9, 1940, the Juno took part in the naval battle of Punta Stilo (Calabria), in which it formed the safety shield of the "Force C" with the battleships Malaya and Royal Sovereign and the aircraft carrier Eagle with nine other destroyers . From this sub-unit of the Mediterranean fleet, mainly the torpedo aircraft of the Eagle were used. On July 14, the association returned to Alexandria.
For the rest of the year, the Juno resumed her duties as escort, interrupted on August 23 by an advance into Bomba Bay near Tobruk with the destroyers Stuart , Waterhen , Diamond and Ilex , on September 17 for the bombardment of Sidi Barrani . Together with the Janus , Jervis and Mohawk and the gunboat Ladybird , she intervened in the land fighting near Sollum and on September 22nd shot at an airfield and troop gatherings near Sidi Barrani, which she repeated on the 25th with Hereward , Hyperion and Mohawk .
At the end of October 1940, the destroyer participated together with the Jervis in an advance of the cruisers Orion and Sydney through the entire Aegean Sea to the Dardanelles in search of contraband transporting ships. In the first half of November a convoy operation to Malta served to cover up the carrier attack on Taranto ; Juno was one of the security forces but was not involved in the porter attack. As on the return journey the carrier Illustrious then Leros attack that made Juno with the destroyers Janus , Nubian and Mohawk and the cruisers Gloucester and Glasgow 's backup. From a convoy operation to Malta at the end of the year, an advance by the “7th Kreuzergeschwaders ”with three light cruisers and the destroyers Janus , Jervis and Juno to Otranto Street , which was unsuccessful.
From January 20 to 22, Juno moved with the destroyers Jervis , Janus and Greyhound in high speed from Alexandria via the Suda Bay to Malta, to accompany the heavily damaged aircraft carrier Illustrious from there to Alexandria from 23 to 25 after the arsenal Malta had temporarily repaired the damage to such an extent that the carrier could run 24 knots and be steered again.
In February 1941, the Juno had a brief mission in the Red Sea , but soon returned to Alexandria. At the end of March 1941 she was involved in the battle of Cape Matapan off the coast of the Peloponnese .
The end of Juno
On 21 May 1941 she was on the way to Crete from five Italian CANT Z.1007 - bombers attacked. She received three bomb hits that broke the ship in two and sank about 30 nautical miles southeast of the island at position 34 ° 35 ′ N , 26 ° 34 ′ E . 116 crew members lost their lives, 96 survivors were taken in by the destroyers Kingston , Kandahar and Nubian . Five of these later died from their injuries.
Armament
The armament consisted of six 120 mm cannons in double mounts Mk XII for use against sea and air targets (two towers in front of the bridge, the rear in an elevated position; a mount on a platform in the rear). As anti-aircraft armament, the destroyer had a 2-pounder quadruple gun Mk VIII on a platform behind the funnel and two quadruple 0.5-inch (12.7-mm) flak machine guns . Ten torpedo tubes in two sets of five tubes each and 20 depth charges completed the armament.
The poor defense ability of the class against air attacks led from 1940 to the exchange of the rear torpedo tube set for a 102 mm Mk.V flak . Later, the Vickers FlaMGs were also replaced by four individual Oerlikon automatic cannons .
Individual evidence
- ^ Service History HMS Juno (F46) - J-class Destroyer.
- ^ Royal Navy, Ships, September 1939
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. 6.7.1940, Mediterranean.
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. July 6-11, 1940, Mediterranean.
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. August 22-24, 1940, Mediterranean Sea.
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. September 13–19, 1940, North Africa, advance of the 10th Italian Army (Marshal Graziani) across the Libyan-Egyptian border, September 22–25, 1940, Mediterranean.
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. October 25-28, 1940, Mediterranean Sea.
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War. November 4–14, 1940, Mediterranean Sea, British naval operation with carrier attack on Taranto a. November 26, 1940, Mediterranean.
- ↑ Rohwer: naval warfare , 23.- 01.25.1941 Mediterranean
literature
- MJ Whitley: Destroyer in World War II. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-613-01426-2 (Original: Destroyers of World War Two. Arms & Armors Press, London), pp. 114–118 (N-Class), 219, 215.
Web links
J-class Jackal | Jaguar | Janus | Javelin | Jersey | Jervis | Juno | Jupiter
K-class Kandahar | Kashmir | Kelly | Kelvin | Khartoum | Kimberley | Kingston | Kipling
N class Napier | Nepal | Nerissa | Nestor | Nizam | Noble (G84) | Noble (G65) | Nonpareil | Norman
Australia :
Napier |
Nepal |
Nestor |
Nizam |
Norman
