HMS Kingston (F64)

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HMS Kingston
Kingston
Kingston
Ship data
flag United KingdomUnited Kingdom (Naval War Flag) United Kingdom
Ship type Destroyer , flotilla leader
class K class
Shipyard J. Samuel White , Cowes
Order March 23, 1937
Keel laying October 6, 1937
Launch January 9, 1939
takeover September 4, 1939
Removal from the ship register eliminated as a total write-off in May 1942
Ship dimensions and crew
length
108.7 m ( Lüa )
103.5 m ( Lpp )
width 10.9 m
Draft Max. 4.22 m
displacement 1773  ts standard;
2,384 ts maximum
 
crew 218-251 men
Machine system
machine 2 Admiralty three-drum boilers ,
Parsons geared turbines
Machine
performance 		40,000 PSw
Top
speed 		36 kn (67 km / h)
propeller 2
Armament

1941:

Sensors

Asdic

HMS Kingston (F64) was a destroyer of the K-class of the Royal Navy . The newbuild, laid in Kiel at J. Samuel White & Co. in Cowes on the Isle of Wight in October 1937 , was the second K-class ship to enter service with the Royal Navy on September 14, 1939.
For her missions in World War II , the Kingston was awarded the Battle Honors Atlanic 1939 , North Sea 1939 , Malta Convoys 1941/42 and Sirte 1942 .

On March 22, 1942, the Kingston took part in the attack of British destroyers on the Italian fleet during the second naval battle in the Gulf of Syrte and was penetrated by a 15 "grenade of the Littorio , which only exploded in the water. The pressure waves caused severe damage and the machine failed. 15 crew members were killed and 20 others injured. After a while the machine was able to be put back into operation and reached Malta on its own. Repairs failed due to ongoing air strikes, with fourteen other crew members killed and four others injured. After the bomb damage, the Kingston was classified as irreparable (Total Constructive Loss) .

history

HMS Kingston was laid down on October 6, 1937 at J. Samuel White & Co. in Cowes on the Isle of Wight, 16 days after the almost identical Jersey . On January 9, 1939, the new building was launched as the sixth Kingston for the Royal Navy. The ship was named after the London borough of Kingston upon Thames . The commissioning of the second ship of the K-class with the code F64 took place on 14 September 1939 three weeks after the at Hawthorn, Leslie & Co. completed flotilla Kelly instead, and the ship was the establishment of any fifth destroyer assigned which should include all newbuildings of the K-class, of which the Kimberley was put into service on February 21, 1940 as the last ship.

Calls

The “5th Destroyer Flotilla” was part of the Home Fleet and was to be used in the North Sea to secure convoy and counter submarines. During the training period with the Home Fleet, the destroyers were seldom used in the flotilla, but formed task forces according to availability. When the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau sank the British auxiliary cruiser Rawalpindi northwest of the Faroe Islands on November 23, 1939 , the Kingston ran out of the Firth of Forth with the destroyers Afridi and Gurkha and the cruisers Aurora , Edinburgh and Southampton to monitor the fair Isle Passage between Scotland and the Shetlands and took part in the search for the returning German ships. The Kingston achieved her first success on November 29, 1939 , when she attacked the German U-boat U 35 east of the Shetlands with depth charges with Kashmir and Icarus . The submarine sank itself at 60 ° 55 ′  N , 2 ° 47 ′  E , and the British destroyers were able to save the crew and take them prisoner.

Leaks in the ship's water supply forced repairs to be made at a shipyard in March 1940 at Silley Cox & Co. in Falmouth . After that, the destroyer was used in the canal and the southern North Sea.

Use in the Red Sea

The beginning of the German campaign in the west in 1940 led to the relocation of a large number of units of the Royal Navy to the Mediterranean, as Italy's entry into the war was feared. Alone on 16./17. May 1940 left in three groups 16 destroyers, two sloops and the flak cruiser Carlisle Plymouth to reinforce the Mediterranean Fleet . The Kingston led the second group, which set sail on the evening of the 16th, with the sister ships Khartoum and Kandahar as well as Nubian , Hyperion , Hostile and Hasty . The group reached Gibraltar on the 18th and continued to Malta the following day, arriving on the 21st. From there the three K-destroyers ran to Egypt and through the Suez Canal to the Red Sea , where they arrived on the 24th together with the sister ship Kimberley , the cruiser Carlisle and the sloops Auckland and Flamingo , which in other groups from Plymouth to the The Red Sea.

The seven newly arrived units were subordinated to the Red Sea Force belonging to the East Indies Station , which was supposed to secure the maritime traffic of the British Empire through the Red Sea to Egypt and, if necessary, prevent Italian attacks on it. In addition to the newly arrived units, it included two light cruisers with the New Zealand Leander and the Australian Hobart as well as four other sloops with Grimsby , Shoreham and Cornwallis and Clive from the Indian Navy . The first in command of the group was the Leander's commander . Kingston formed with her three sister ships the "28th Destroyer Division" led by the commander of the Kandahar , which belonged to the 14th Destroyer Flotilla newly formed in the Mediterranean fleet .

When Italy joined the war on the side of Germany on June 10, 1940, the four destroyers had already been relocated to Aden to prevent the Italians from breaking out of the Red Sea and preventing further enemy merchant ships from escaping to Eritrea . A first exploration of the Italian coastal areas on June 11th and 12th by the Hobart with Kingston and Khartoum provoked unsuccessful Italian air strikes on the British units, which could not detect any reaction from the Italian Navy. While trying to return to the Red Sea, on June 23, the Italian submarine Toricelli , which had been in the sea for over a week, shot at the sloop Shoreham , which was also hit and damaged. The alarmed destroyers Kandahar , Kingston and Khartoum as well as the Indian Sloop Indus intervened and sank the Toricelli north of Perim. The survivors were taken in by Kingston and Kandahar and taken to Aden as prisoners of war. The Khartoum , which remained on patrol , was later lost due to the explosion of its own torpedo on deck (see also HMS Khartoum (F45) #The end of the Khartoum ).

The Kingston secured convoys through the Red Sea with the sister ships Kandahar and Kimberley and other units of the Navy, such as the troop escort WS.2A with about 17,000 men on six passenger and five transport ships, the convoys AP.1 and AP. 2 with four transporters and the personnel and equipment of three tank regiments and AP.3 in October 1940 and at the end of the year US.7 with Australian troops for the Middle East. The maintenance base for the destroyers was Bombay during operations in the Red Sea. On March 16, 1941, Kingston supported with Kandahar and the cruisers Glasgow and Caledon as well as other auxiliary ships the recapture of the capital of British Somaliland, Berbera , which the British had evacuated on August 19, 1940 before the attacking Italians. Troops were set ashore from Aden and the city of Berbera was retaken with the support of the naval artillery.

The destroyer Pantera of Leone class

On April 5, the Kingston discovered the wrecks of the Leone-class destroyers Pantera and Tigre , which had been sunk by their crews south of Jeddah . Kingston shot up the hulls, which were then finally destroyed by British bombers from Port Sudan . Three days later, on April 8, the Kingston landed the Italian hospital ship RAMB IV off Massaua .

Use in the Mediterranean

On April 17, 1941, the Kingston arrived as the last of the destroyers used in the Red Sea in Alexandria to be used in the Mediterranean Fleet. First the destroyer with its two sister ships, also withdrawn from the Red Sea, was used to secure the retreat of Allied troops from Greece as part of Operation Demon , followed at the beginning of May by securing the heavy units of the Mediterranean fleet for the supply operation " Tiger " for Malta .

After the German air landings on Crete ( Operation Merkur ) the destroyer was part of the "Force C" to defend against German reinforcements over sea with the destroyers Kandahar , Nubian and Juno as well as the cruisers Naiad and the Australian Perth . On the night of May 21, the association was able to repel an Italian speedboat attack. On the 22nd, the association attacked the second German motor sailer squadron, reinforced by the flak cruisers Calcutta and Carlisle . Due to the skilful defense of the Italian torpedo boat Sagittario and constant air attacks by Ju-88 bombers of the I./LG 1 and III./KG 30 as well as Do-17 bombers of the KG 2 on the British units, the German convoy lost only two of his 30 vehicles, but was forced to turn away. Naiad and Carlisle were bombed, and the "Force C" also turned to join the heavy cover group, which was also the target of heavy air strikes by Ju-87 Stukas of StG 2 , Ju 88 of I. / LG l and II./LG l as well as Bf-109 fighter bombers . The I./LG l and a Jabo group of III./JG 77 scored several close hits on the battleship Warspite , Ju 87 sank the destroyer Greyhound , from which Kingston and Kandahar rescued survivors. Ju 88 and Ju 87 sank the cruiser Gloucester , who went down with nearly 700 men and from the German Do-24 - distress aircraft rescued still 65 survivors. Two individual Bf-109 fighter - bombers of I./LG 2 (Captain Herbert Ihlefeld ) hit the cruiser Fiji so badly that it had to be abandoned. Kingston was able to save 523 survivors with Kandahar . In the air raids, Naiad and Carlisle were hit again and the battleship Valiant was slightly damaged. Kingston had only suffered minor splinter damage in the air raids. She and the rescued reached Alexandria on May 24th and repaired the damage. In order to improve the defensive ability against air attacks, their rear torpedo tube set was replaced by a 102-mm-L / 45-Mk.V-Flak and their ineffective anti-aircraft machine-gun quadruplets by four individual 20-mm Oerlikon automatic cannons.

On June 17, Kingston replaced British units with the cruiser Naiad and the destroyers Nizam and Jaguar in the blockade of the Syrian coast. On the 23rd, the French destroyer Guépard broke the British blockade. He received a hit in the night battle with the cruisers Leander and Naiad and the destroyers Nizam , Jaguar and Kingston , but escaped due to his superior speed. On July 2, the Australian cruiser Perth , secured by Naiad , Kandahar , Havock , Griffin and Kingston , shelled French positions on the coast. In support of the advance of the British 8th Army in North Africa to relieve Tobruk ( Operation Crusader ), the Mediterranean Fleet simulated a supply operation for Malta in mid-November 1941 and formed a "cover group" with the destroyers Kingston , Kimberley , Napier , Nizam , Kipling and Jackal , of which the latter two unexpectedly approached the coast on the 19th and fired at positions of the Axis powers in the area of ​​the Halfaya Pass . An advance with the bulk of the Mediterranean fleet, probably following pressure from British Prime Minister Winston Churchill , led on the 25th north of Bardia to the loss of the battleship Barham with 862 dead by a torpedo compartment of U 331 , which broke through the security screen of the British battleship association, which also included the Kingston belonged.

After replenishing all supplies, the Kingston moved with the sister ship the Kimberley and the cruisers Ajax and Neptune to Malta to reinforce the "Force K", where the ships arrived on the 29th.
On November 30, 1941, the four new Force K units ran together with the cruisers Aurora and Penelope and the destroyer Lively for the first time against the supply traffic of the Central Powers to North Africa. Since the Italian security group with the heavy units could not be in the expected combat area in time due to technical problems, the Italian naval command (Supermarina) ordered that the other security units should evade the superior British forces and the convoys should run back or move east. The advance of Force K went nowhere. Only the RAF was able to discover and damage some ships. Among them was the tanker Iridio Mantovani (10,540 GRT) running from Trapani to Tripoli , which was hit by an air torpedo about 70 nm north of Tripoli on December 1st. The destroyer Alvise da Mosto , who remained behind with the tanker, discovered Penelope and Lively approaching the tanker and tried unsuccessfully to attack them with torpedoes. The two British units sank the Italian destroyer, while the broken-down tanker was later sunk by aircraft. To guide the supply ship Breconshire (9776 GRT) back to Alexandria, Kingston , Kimberley and Lively left Malta with Ajax and Neptune on December 5, the latter three of which returned to Malta on December 6, while Kingston and Kimberley took the supplier escorted to Alexandria and returned directly to the Mediterranean fleet.

On December 15, the Kingston was part of the "Force B" under Rear Admiral Philip Vian with the light cruisers Naiad , Euryalus , Carlisle and the destroyers Jervis , Kimberley , Nizam , Havock , Hasty and Decoy , with the transporter Breconshire from Alexandria to Malta again bring to. From the 16th, the Force K came with three light cruisers and eight destroyers in three groups to meet the association, which met on the 17th and continued together in the direction of Malta. Italian air raids were unsuccessful. At the same time, an Italian supply convoy with four ships was on the way to Tripoli, four battleships, two heavy and three light cruisers and thirteen destroyers of the Italian Navy under Admiral Angelo Iachino were at sea to secure it . According to reports from the Air Force, Iachino turned towards the British unit, but only came into contact with the British shortly after dark, which was described as the first sea battle in the Gulf of Syrte . Results were not achieved on either side because each association tried to cover its object of protection without knowing of the worthwhile goals on the other side. On the 18th, Vian and his unit began to march back to Alexandria, and the Breconshire reached Malta with Force K. The Force K searched with three cruisers and four destroyers in a renewed advance for the Italian escort, but got into a newly laid mine barrier off Tripoli, on which Neptune and Kandahar sank and the two other cruisers were damaged. Vian and his association reached Alexandria on the 19th, where Italian torpedo rider teams used this return to penetrate the port (see also Attack on Alexandria (1941) ).

In January 1942, the Kingston was involved in the British supply companies MF.2 and MF.4, in which a loaded transporter was escorted almost to Malta and empty ships were taken over from Malta and destroyers were exchanged, if necessary. Kingston replaced the Lance with Force K in Malta on January 26th .
At the supply company V.5 in March 1942, the Kingston and the cruiser Cleopatra were replaced from service in Malta. The retreating unit was attacked several times without success from the air and on March 11, 1942, north of Sollum, it lost the flagship Admiral Vians, the cruiser Naiad , to U 565 .

The end of Kingston

On March 22, 1942, the Kingston took part in the attack of British destroyers on the Italian fleet during the second naval battle in the Gulf of Syrte and was penetrated behind the funnel by a 15 ″ grenade from the battleship Littorio , which only entered the water exploded. The pressure waves caused severe damage and the drive failed. 15 crew members were killed and 20 others injured. After some time it was possible to put a machine back into operation and to reach Malta on its own.

A repair in Malta failed due to frequent air strikes, in which fourteen crew members died and four others were injured. The ship suffered further damage from a close hit on April 5, and on the 8th a dud hit the ship in the forecastle and forced it into a dock because of the necessary underwater repairs. On the 11th, the ship was hit again amidships by a bomb and capsized in the dock to starboard. There is a partial demolition of the Kingston, classified as irreparable (Total Constructive Loss) in the dock. Two parts of the hull were temporarily made buoyant in order to use them in the north of Malta near Saint Paul's Islands as block ships in the creation of a safe roadstead for larger associations in June 1943. These remains of the destroyer were lifted and demolished in 1947.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c HMS KINGSTON (G 64) - K-class Destroyer
  2. ^ Rohwer: Sea War. November 21-27, 1939, North Atlantic
  3. ^ Rohwer: Sea War. November 21-30, 1939, North Atlantic
  4. ↑ HMS Kingston (F 64) on uboat.net
  5. ^ Rohwer: Sea War. 5.8. – 16.9.1940, Atlantic / Indian Ocean.
  6. ^ Rohwer: Sea War. 22.8. – 25.9.1940, Atlantic / Indian Ocean.
  7. ^ Rohwer: Sea War. 10.9. – 22.10.1940, Atlantic / Indian Ocean.
  8. ^ Rohwer: Sea War. 11/21/1940, Australia.
  9. ^ Rohwer: Sea War. March 16, 1941, Red Sea / East Africa.
  10. ^ Rohwer: Sea War. April 1–10, 1941, Red Sea / East Africa
  11. ^ Rohwer: Sea War. April 24-30, 1941, Mediterranean.
  12. ^ Rohwer: Sea War. May 5-12, 1941, Mediterranean Operation Tiger
  13. ^ Rohwer: Sea War. May 20 – June 1, 1941, Mediterranean Sea, Merkur company, German air landing on Crete.  ( 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.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.wlb-stuttgart.de  
  14. ↑ Rohwer: naval warfare , 7.6.-14.7.1941 Mediterranean conquest of Syria by austral./indische and free-französ. Troops.
  15. ^ Rohwer: Sea War , November 18-27, 1941 Mediterranean, Operation Crusader .
  16. ↑ wv, November 23-25, 1941 Mediterranean.
  17. ↑ wv, November 27-29, 1941, Mediterranean.
  18. ↑ wv, November 28 - December 2, 1941, Mediterranean.
  19. ^ Rohwer: Sea War , December 15-19, 1941 Mediterranean.
  20. ^ Rohwer: Sea War. 5-9 January 1942, Mediterranean.
  21. ↑ wv, January 24-28, 1942 Mediterranean.
  22. ^ Rohwer: Sea War. 7-11 March 1942, Mediterranean.
  23. ^ Rohwer: Sea War. March 20–26, 1942, Mediterranean Sea, Second Battle of the Sirte

Remarks

  1. ↑ In Italian East Africa , in addition to Air Force units , seven destroyers, two older torpedo boats, four gunboats, seven submarines and five older speedboats of the Regia Marina were stationed in Massaua .
  2. ↑ The "14th DF" had only one division in the Mediterranean (27th) with the two destroyers Janus (as temporary flotilla commander) and Juno of the J class and Nubian and Mohawk of the tribal class
  3. ↑ Some sources believe in 8 ″ hits and attribute the hit to the heavy cruiser Gorizia (e.g. Sadkovich / O'Hara) or the Trento (Brescia) .

literature

  • Maurizio Brescia: Mussolini's Navy: A Reference Guide to the Regia Marina 1930-1945. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 2012, ISBN 978-1-5911-4544-8 , p. 74.
  • Maurice Cocker: Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893-1981. Ian Allen, 1983, ISBN 0-7110-1075-7 .
  • Norman Friedman: British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley 2009, ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9 .
  • Christopher Langtree: The Kellys: British J, K and N Class Destroyers of World War II. US Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 2002, ISBN 978-1-5575-0422-7 .
  • HT Lenton: Warships of the British and Commonwealth Navies. Ian Allan 1969.
  • Vincent P. O'Hara: Struggle for the Middle Sea. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 2009, ISBN 978-1-59114-648-3 , p. 168.
  • Antony Preston: Destroyers. Hamlyn, ISBN 0-600-32955-0 .
  • Jürgen Rohwer , Gerhard Hümmelchen : Chronicle of the naval war 1939-1945. Manfred Pawlak VerlagsGmbH, Herrsching 1968, ISBN 3-88199-009-7 .
  • James Sadkovich: The Italian Navy in World War II. Greenwood Press, Westport 1994, ISBN 0-313-28797-X , p. 245.

Web links