HMS Bedouin

Last updated

HMS Bedouin (F67) off Iceland c1941.jpg
Bedouin at Hvalfjörður, Iceland
History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
NameBedouin
Namesake Bedouin
Ordered19 June 1936
Builder William Denny, Dumbarton
Cost £340,400
Laid down13 January 1937
Launched21 December 1937
Completed15 March 1939
Identification Pennant numbers: L67, F67
FateSunk by surface and aerial forces, 15 June 1942
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type Tribal-class destroyer
Displacement
Length377 ft (114.9 m) (o/a)
Beam36 ft 6 in (11.13 m)
Draught11 ft 3 in (3.43 m)
Installed power
Propulsion2 × shafts; 2 × geared steam turbines
Speed36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph)
Range5,700  nmi (10,600 km; 6,600 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement190
Sensors and
processing systems		 ASDIC
Armament

HMS Bedouin was a Tribal-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in World War II.

Contents

Description

The Tribals were intended to counter the large destroyers being built abroad and to improve the firepower of the existing destroyer flotillas and were thus significantly larger and more heavily armed than the preceding I class. [1] The ships displaced 1,891 long tons (1,921  t ) at standard load and 2,519 long tons (2,559 t) at deep load. [2] They had an overall length of 377 feet (114.9 m), a beam of 36 feet 6 inches (11.13 m) [3] and a draught of 11 feet 3 inches (3.43 m). [4] The destroyers were powered by two Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by three Admiralty three-drum boilers. The turbines developed a total of 44,000 shaft horsepower (33,000  kW ) and gave a maximum speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph). [3] During her sea trials Bedouin made 37.5 knots (69.5 km/h; 43.2 mph) from 44,522 shp (33,200 kW) at a displacement of 2,035 long tons (2,068 t). [5] The ships carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of 5,700 nautical miles (10,600 km; 6,600 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). [4] The ships' complement consisted of 190 officers and ratings, although the flotilla leaders carried an extra 20 officers and men consisting of the Captain (D) and his staff. [6]

The primary armament of the Tribal-class destroyers was eight quick-firing (QF) 4.7-inch (120 mm) Mark XII guns in four superfiring twin-gun mounts, one pair each fore and aft of the superstructure, designated 'A', 'B', 'X', and 'Y' from front to rear. The mounts had a maximum elevation of 40°. For anti-aircraft (AA) defence, they carried a single quadruple mount for the 40-millimetre (1.6 in) QF two-pounder Mk II "pom-pom" gun and two quadruple mounts for the 0.5-inch (12.7 mm) Mark III machine gun. [7] Low-angle fire for the main guns was controlled by the director-control tower (DCT) on the bridge roof that fed data acquired by it and the 12-foot (3.7 m) rangefinder on the Mk II Rangefinder/Director directly aft of the DCT to an analogue mechanical computer, the Mk I Admiralty Fire Control Clock. Anti-aircraft fire for the main guns was controlled by the Rangefinder/Director which sent data to the mechanical Fuze Keeping Clock. [8]

The ships were fitted with a single above-water quadruple mount for 21-inch (533 mm) torpedoes. [6] The Tribals were not intended as anti-submarine ships, but they were provided with ASDIC, one depth charge rack and two throwers for self-defence, although the throwers were not mounted in all ships. [9] Twenty depth charges was the peacetime allotment, but this increased to 30 during wartime. [10]

Wartime modifications

Heavy losses to German air attack during the Norwegian Campaign demonstrated the ineffectiveness of the Tribals' anti-aircraft suite and the RN decided in May 1940 to replace 'X' mount with two QF 4-inch (102 mm) Mark XVI dual-purpose guns in a twin-gun mount. To better control the guns, the existing rangefinder/director was modified to accept a Type 285 gunnery radar as they became available. The number of depth charges was increased to 46 early in the war, and still more were added later. [11] To increase the firing arcs of the AA guns, the rear funnel was shortened and the mainmast was reduced to a short pole mast. [12]

Construction and career

Authorized as one of nine Tribal-class destroyers under the 1936 Naval Estimates, [13] Bedouin was the second ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy. [14] The ship was ordered on 19 June 1936 from William Denny and was laid down on 13 January 1937 at the company's Dumbarton shipyard. Launched on 21 December, Bedouin was completed on 15 March 1938 and commissioned the previous day at a cost of £340,400 which excluded weapons and communications outfits furnished by the Admiralty. [15]

Aerial view of Bedouin sinking, 15 June 1942 The Sinking of HMS Bedouin.jpg
Aerial view of Bedouin sinking, 15 June 1942

She served in the Second Battle of Narvik, where she was slightly damaged, and in the 1941 commando raid on the Lofoten islands. During Operation Harpoon, a large allied convoy to ressuply Malta, she was sunk by the combined action of Italian cruisers Raimondo Montecuccoli and Eugenio di Savoia and an SM.79 torpedo bomber on 15 June 1942. Bedouin was hit by at least 12 six-inch rounds and near-misses from the cruisers and an aerial torpedo before sinking. A gunner manning a .5-inch (12.7 mm) quad machine gun mounting shot down the torpedo bomber which delivered the coup de grâce . [16] [17] Twenty-eight men from her complement were killed in action and 213 were taken as prisoners of war by the Italian Navy. [18]

Notes

  1. ↑ Lenton, p. 164
  2. ↑ English, p. 14
  3. 1 2 Lenton, p. 165
  4. 1 2 English, p. 12
  5. ↑ March, p. 323
  6. 1 2 Whitley, p. 99
  7. ↑ Hodges, pp. 13–25
  8. ↑ Friedman, p. 32
  9. ↑ Hodges, pp. 30–31, 40
  10. ↑ English, p. 15
  11. ↑ Friedman, p. 34; Hodges, pp. 41–42
  12. ↑ Whitley, p. 116
  13. ↑ Brice, p. 11
  14. ↑ Colledge & Warlow, p. 35
  15. ↑ English, pp. 13, 16
  16. ↑ "HMS Bedouin (F 67) of the Royal Navy – British Destroyer of the Tribal class – Allied Warships of WWII – uboat.net". uboat.net. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  17. ↑ "HMS Bedouin story". www.world-war.co.uk. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  18. ↑ "HMS Bedouin, destroyer". www.naval-history.net. Retrieved 13 October 2016.

Related Research Articles

HMS <i>Inconstant</i> (H49) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Inconstant was an I-class destroyer built for the Turkish Navy, but was purchased by the Royal Navy in 1939.

HMS <i>Maori</i> (F24) Royal Navy Tribal class destroyer sunk in Malta

HMS Maori was a Tribal-class destroyer named after the indigenous Maori people of New Zealand. She served with the United Kingdom Mediterranean Fleet during World War II until she was bombed and sunk by German aircraft while at Malta in 1942. Her wreck was later raised and scuttled outside the Grand Harbour. The wreck is now a dive site.

HMS <i>Cossack</i> (F03) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Cossack was a Tribal-class destroyer named after the Cossack people of Ukrainian steppe. She became famous for the boarding of the German supply ship Altmark in Norwegian waters, and the associated rescue of sailors originally captured by the Admiral Graf Spee. She was torpedoed by the German submarine U-563 on 23 October 1941, and sank four days later.

HMS <i>Afridi</i> (F07) British Tribal-class destroyer

HMS Afridi was one of 16 Tribal-class destroyers built for the Royal Navy shortly before the beginning of Second World War in 1939. Completed in 1938 the ship was initially assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet where she served as a flotilla leader. Afridi was briefly involved enforcing the arms blockade on the combatants in the Spanish Civil War. The ship returned home shortly after the start of the Second World War and was assigned convoy escort duties. She played an active role in the Norwegian Campaign of April–May 1940, escorting convoys to and from Norway. Afridi was sunk by German dive bombers on 3 May as she was escorting the evacuation convoy after the failure of the Namsos Campaign.

HMS <i>Gurkha</i> (F20) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Gurkha was a Tribal-class destroyer that saw active service in the Norway Campaign in 1940, where she was sunk.

HMS <i>Zulu</i> (F18) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Zulu was a Tribal-class destroyer of the Royal Navy and the second ship to bear the name. Built in Glasgow by Alexander Stephen and Sons, her keel was laid down on 10 August 1936, she was launched on 23 September 1937 and commissioned on 7 September 1938.

HMS <i>Eskimo</i> (F75) Tribal-class destroyer launched 1937

HMS Eskimo was a Tribal-class destroyer, Eskimo served throughout the Second World War, seeing action in Norway, the Mediterranean, the English Channel and in Burma. After the war Eskimo was used as an accommodation and headquarters ship, finally being used as a practice target before being scrapped in 1949.

HMS <i>Mohawk</i> (F31) British Tribal-class destroyer

HMS Mohawk was one of 16 Tribal-class destroyers built for the Royal Navy shortly before the beginning of Second World War in 1939. Completed in 1938 the ship was initially assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet. She was briefly involved enforcing the arms blockade on the combatants in the Spanish Civil War in early 1939. Mohawk returned home shortly after the start of the Second World War and was assigned convoy escort duties, during which she was damaged by German bombers. She played an active role in the Norwegian Campaign of April–May 1940, escorting convoys to and from Norway.

O and P-class destroyer

The O and P class was a class of destroyers of the British Royal Navy. Ordered in 1939, they were the first ships in the War Emergency Programme, also known as the 1st and 2nd Emergency Flotilla, respectively. They served as convoy escorts in World War II, and some were subsequently converted to fast second-rate anti-submarine frigates in the 1950s.

ORP <i>Piorun</i> (G65) Polish Navy destroyer

ORP Piorun was an N-class destroyer operated by the Polish Navy in World War II. The word piorun is Polish for "Thunderbolt". Ordered by the Royal Navy in 1939, the ship was laid down as HMS Nerissa before being loaned to the Poles in October 1940 while still under construction.

HMS <i>Sikh</i> (F82) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Sikh was a Tribal-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy. The ship entered service in 1938 and served during the Second World War, participating in the sinking of Bismarck and the Battle of Cape Bon. In 1942, while participating in a commando raid, Sikh was sunk by a combination of shore artillery, anti-aircraft guns and aerial bombs.

HMS <i>Ashanti</i> (F51) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Ashanti was a Tribal-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. Following the style of her sister ships she was named for an ethnic group, in this case the Ashanti people of the Gold Coast in West Africa. She served in the Second World War and was broken up in 1949. She was the first of two Royal Navy ships to bear the name Ashanti.

J-, K- and N-class destroyer Destroyer

The J, K and N class consisted of 24 destroyers built for the Royal Navy beginning in 1938. They were a return to a smaller vessel, with a heavier torpedo armament, after the Tribal class that emphasised guns over torpedoes. The ships were built in three flotillas or groups, each consisting of eight ships with names beginning with "J", "K" and "N". The flag superior of the pennant numbers changed from "F" to "G" in 1940.

HMS <i>Punjabi</i> Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Punjabi was a Tribal-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that saw service in the Second World War, being sunk in a collision with the battleship King George V. She has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name "Punjabi" which, in common with the other ships of the Tribal class, was named after various ethnic groups of the world, mainly those of the British Empire.

HMS <i>Nubian</i> (F36) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Nubian was a Tribal-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that saw much distinguished service in World War II. She won 13 battle honours, a record only exceeded by one other ship, and matched by two others.

HMS <i>Matabele</i> (F26) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Matabele was a Tribal-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that saw service in World War II, being sunk by a U-boat on 17 January 1942. She has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name Matabele, which in common with the other ships of the Tribal class, was named after an ethnic group of the British Empire. In this case, this was the Anglicisation of the Ndebele people of Zimbabwe.

HMS <i>Mashona</i> British Tribal-class destroyer

HMS Mashona was one of 16 Tribal-class destroyers built for the Royal Navy shortly before the beginning of Second World War in 1939. Completed in that year, she was assigned to the Home Fleet. During the first year of the war, the ship was on convoy escort duties. Mashona played an active role in the Norwegian Campaign of April–May 1940, escorting convoys to and from Norway. The ship helped to briefly seize four Swedish warships en route from Italy to Sweden in June 1940 and resumed her role of convoy escort after their release in July. She accidentally collided with one of her sister ships in early 1941 and spent several months under repair.

HMS <i>Somali</i> (F33) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Somali was a Tribal-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in World War II. She was launched in 1937, captured the first prize of World War II and served in Home and Mediterranean waters. She was torpedoed on 20 September 1942 in the Arctic and foundered five days later while under tow.

HMS <i>Kashmir</i> (F12) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Kashmir (F12) was a K-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy during the 1930s, named after the princely state of Kashmir in British India.

HNLMS <i>Van Galen</i> (G84) British WWII-era N-class destroyer transferred to the Royal Netherlands Navy

HNLMS Van Galen was a N-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy during the Second World War and transferred to the Royal Netherlands Navy shortly after completion. The Dutch changed the pennant numbers several times G-84, J-3, JT-3, and D-803.

References

Coordinates: 36°12′0″N11°38′0″E / 36.20000°N 11.63333°E / 36.20000; 11.63333

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.