Somali HMS 1937
Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2012 9:17 pm
Name: HMS SOMALI
Builder: Swan Hunter, Wallsend, United Kingdom; Laid down: 26 August 1936; Launched: 24 August 1937; Commissioned: 12 December 1938; Identification: Pennant number:; November 1938 - L33; January 1939 - F33; Autumn 1940 - G33; Fate: Torpedoed by U-703 & sank under while under tow, 25 September 1942
General characteristics:
Displacement: 1,870 tons, Length: 364 ft 8 in (111.15 m), Beam: 36 ft 6 in (11.13 m), Draught: 13 ft (4.0 m), Propulsion: 3 Admiralty 3-drum boilers at 300 lb/sq.in, all with 2 shaft Parsons geared turbines, Complement: 190, Armament: 8 × 4.7 in twin turrets, 1 × quadruple 2 pdr anti-aircraft guns, 2 × quadruple 0.5 cal machine guns, 1 × quadruple torpedo tubes (21 Mk IX Torpedoes), 2 × depth charge throwers, 1 × depth charge rail
History
On 3 September 1939, SOMALI intercepted the German freighter HANNAH BÖGE, 350 miles south of Iceland, and took her as a prize. This was the first enemy mercantile to be captured during the war.
SOMALI was the leader of the British 6th Destroyer Flotilla and spent most of the winter of 1940/41 screening Home Fleet sweeps.
In May 1941, SOMALI boarded the German weather ship MÜNCHEN. Prior to being boarded, the crew of the MÜNCHEN threw overboard the ship's enigma machine in a weighted bag. However, documents on the operation of the enigma machine were left on board, as were vital codebooks providing a breakthrough for Allied codebreakers.
On 13 August 1942, SOMALI rescued all 105 crew of the American cargo ship ALMERIA LYKES, which had been torpedoed by E boats while taking part in Operation Pedestal. The rescued crew were landed at Gibraltar.
Fate
Lieutenant Commander Colin Maud took over as captain in September 1942 when her own captain, Jack Eaton, was ill. On 20 September 1942 SOMALI was torpedoed by U-703 while covering Convoy PQ-18 during the Russian convoys. She was hit in her engine room, and although taken under tow by ASHANTI, she sank on 25 September, after heavy weather broke her back. Of the 102 men on board, only 35 were rescued from the Arctic waters. Leading Seaman Goad of ASHANTI was awarded the Albert Medal for "great bravery in saving life at sea" after diving into the freezing water to save Lieutenant Commander Maud.
SOMALI was the last Royal Navy Tribal-class destroyer to be sunk during the war.
Sources: Wikipedia. http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono ... Somali.htm.
Builder: Swan Hunter, Wallsend, United Kingdom; Laid down: 26 August 1936; Launched: 24 August 1937; Commissioned: 12 December 1938; Identification: Pennant number:; November 1938 - L33; January 1939 - F33; Autumn 1940 - G33; Fate: Torpedoed by U-703 & sank under while under tow, 25 September 1942
General characteristics:
Displacement: 1,870 tons, Length: 364 ft 8 in (111.15 m), Beam: 36 ft 6 in (11.13 m), Draught: 13 ft (4.0 m), Propulsion: 3 Admiralty 3-drum boilers at 300 lb/sq.in, all with 2 shaft Parsons geared turbines, Complement: 190, Armament: 8 × 4.7 in twin turrets, 1 × quadruple 2 pdr anti-aircraft guns, 2 × quadruple 0.5 cal machine guns, 1 × quadruple torpedo tubes (21 Mk IX Torpedoes), 2 × depth charge throwers, 1 × depth charge rail
History
On 3 September 1939, SOMALI intercepted the German freighter HANNAH BÖGE, 350 miles south of Iceland, and took her as a prize. This was the first enemy mercantile to be captured during the war.
SOMALI was the leader of the British 6th Destroyer Flotilla and spent most of the winter of 1940/41 screening Home Fleet sweeps.
In May 1941, SOMALI boarded the German weather ship MÜNCHEN. Prior to being boarded, the crew of the MÜNCHEN threw overboard the ship's enigma machine in a weighted bag. However, documents on the operation of the enigma machine were left on board, as were vital codebooks providing a breakthrough for Allied codebreakers.
On 13 August 1942, SOMALI rescued all 105 crew of the American cargo ship ALMERIA LYKES, which had been torpedoed by E boats while taking part in Operation Pedestal. The rescued crew were landed at Gibraltar.
Fate
Lieutenant Commander Colin Maud took over as captain in September 1942 when her own captain, Jack Eaton, was ill. On 20 September 1942 SOMALI was torpedoed by U-703 while covering Convoy PQ-18 during the Russian convoys. She was hit in her engine room, and although taken under tow by ASHANTI, she sank on 25 September, after heavy weather broke her back. Of the 102 men on board, only 35 were rescued from the Arctic waters. Leading Seaman Goad of ASHANTI was awarded the Albert Medal for "great bravery in saving life at sea" after diving into the freezing water to save Lieutenant Commander Maud.
SOMALI was the last Royal Navy Tribal-class destroyer to be sunk during the war.
Sources: Wikipedia. http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono ... Somali.htm.