HMS Harvester after 1942 conversion to escort destroyer | |
History | |
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Brazil | |
Name | Jurua |
Ordered | 6 December 1937 |
Builder | Vickers-Armstrongs, Barrow-in-Furness |
Laid down | 3 June 1938 |
Fate | Purchased by the United Kingdom, 5 September 1939 |
United Kingdom | |
Name | HMS Handy |
Launched | 29 September 1939 |
Acquired | 5 September 1939 |
Commissioned | 23 May 1940 |
Renamed | HMS Harvester, January 1940 |
Identification | Pennant number: H19 [1] |
Fate | Sunk by U-432, 11 March 1943 |
General characteristics (as built) | |
Class and type | Brazilian H-class destroyer |
Displacement | |
Length | 323 ft (98.5 m) |
Beam | 33 ft (10.1 m) |
Draught | 12 ft 5 in (3.8 m) |
Installed power | 34,000 shp (25,000 kW) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph) |
Range | 5,530 nmi (10,240 km; 6,360 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
Complement | 145 |
Sensors and processing systems | ASDIC |
Armament |
|
HMS Harvester was an H-class destroyer originally ordered by the Brazilian Navy with the name Jurua in the late 1930s, but bought by the Royal Navy after the beginning of World War II in September 1939. Almost immediately after being commissioned, in May 1940, the ship began evacuating Allied troops from Dunkirk and other locations in France. Afterwards she was assigned to the Western Approaches Command for convoy escort duties. Harvester and another destroyer sank a German submarine in October. She was briefly assigned to Force H in May 1941, but her anti-aircraft armament was deemed too weak and she was transferred to the Newfoundland Escort Force in June 1941 for escort duties in the North Atlantic. The ship was returned to the Western Approaches Command in October 1941 and was converted to an escort destroyer in early 1942. Harvester was torpedoed and sunk in March 1943 by a German submarine after having rammed and sunk another submarine the previous day while escorting Convoy HX 228.
Harvester displaced 1,350 long tons (1,370 t) at standard load and 1,883 long tons (1,913 t) at deep load. The ship had an overall length of 323 feet (98.5 m), a beam of 33 feet (10.1 m) and a draught of 12 feet 5 inches (3.8 m). She was powered by Parsons geared steam turbines, driving two shafts, which developed a total of 34,000 shaft horsepower (25,000 kW) and gave a maximum speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph). Steam for the turbines was provided by three Admiralty 3-drum water-tube boilers. Harvester carried a maximum of 470 long tons (480 t) of fuel oil, giving her a range of 5,530 nautical miles (10,240 km; 6,360 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). [2] The ship's complement was 152 officers and men. [3]
The vessel was designed for four 45-calibre 4.7-inch Mk IX guns in single mounts, designated 'A', 'B', 'X', and 'Y' from front to rear, but 'Y' gun was removed to compensate for the additional depth charges added. For anti-aircraft (AA) defence, Harvester had two quadruple Mark I mounts for the 0.5 inch Vickers Mark III machine gun. She was fitted with two above-water quadruple torpedo tube mounts for 21-inch (533 mm) torpedoes. [2] One depth charge rail and two throwers were originally fitted, but this was increased to three sets of rails and eight throwers while fitting-out. The ship's load of depth charges was also increased, from 20 to 110. [4] [5]
Harvester had her rear torpedo tubes replaced by a 12-pounder AA gun after the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940, but it is not known exactly when this modification was made. During her 1942 conversion to an escort destroyer, the ship's short-range AA armament had been augmented by two Oerlikon 20 mm guns on the wings of the ship's bridge. The .50-calibre machine gun mounts were replaced by a pair of Oerlikons later. 'A' gun was replaced by a Hedgehog anti-submarine spigot mortar. The ship's director-control tower and rangefinder above the bridge were removed in exchange for a Type 271 target indication radar. A Type 286 short-range surface search radar was probably also fitted midway through the war. The ship also received a HF/DF radio direction finder mounted on a pole mainmast. [3]
Jurua was ordered by Brazil on 6 December 1937 from Vickers-Armstrongs, Barrow-in-Furness. The ship was laid down on 3 June 1938 and she was purchased by the British on 5 September 1939 and renamed HMS Handy. The ship was launched on 29 September 1939 and renamed Harvester in January 1940 as her original name was thought too liable to be confused with Hardy. Harvester was commissioned on 23 May and briefly worked up at Portland Harbour before she was assigned to the 9th Destroyer Flotilla. [6]
The ship joined the Dunkirk evacuation on 29 May and returned 272 men to Dover during the day. However, the situation at Dunkirk soon became too dangerous to risk the larger and more modern destroyers, so Harvester made no attempt to evacuate any troops during daylight hours on 30 May. This decision was rescinded during the day on 30 May and the ship sailed for Dunkirk on the night of 30/31 May. En route she was narrowly missed by two torpedoes, but she rescued 1341 men in two trips on 31 May and an additional 576 on 1 June. [7] Harvester was lightly damaged by strafing German aircraft that same day and required repairs that were made at Chatham. On 9 June the ship was ordered to Le Havre, France, to evacuate British troops, but none were to be found. She loaded 78 men at Saint-Valery-en-Caux on 11 June. Later in the month she escorted ships evacuating refugees and troops from Saint-Nazaire and St. Jean de Luz (Operation Aerial). [8]
From July to September, Harvester was assigned to convoy escort duties with the Western Approaches Command and she rescued 90 survivors from the armed merchant cruiser HMS Dunvegan Castle on 27 August. The ship, together with five other destroyers of the 9th Flotilla, was assigned to Plymouth Command for anti-invasion duties between 8 and 18 September before returning to her role as an escort vessel. On 30 October, with help from her sister Highlander, she sank the German submarine U-32. Harvester rescued 19 survivors from the merchant vessel Silverpine on 5 December and 131 survivors from the ocean boarding vessel HMS Crispin on 3 February 1941. She rescued four survivors from a Royal Air Force Armstrong Whitworth Whitley bomber four days later. [9]
The ship was refitted at Barrow between 18 March and 18 April and then was assigned to Force H in Gibraltar where she escorted ships during Operations Tiger and Splice in May. Harvester was transferred to the Newfoundland Escort Force in June as her anti-aircraft capability was believed by Admiral James Somerville to be too weak. She was assigned to the 14th Escort Group upon her arrival at St. John's on 1 July. The ship was transferred back to the Western Approaches Command three months later [10] and assigned to the 9th Escort Group. [11] Harvester was converted to an escort destroyer during a lengthy refit at Dundee, Scotland, from 30 January 1942 to 16 April. She conducted sea trials of her Type 271 radar during May and then resumed her escort duties in the North Atlantic as flagship of Mid-Ocean Escort Force Escort Group B-3. [12]
The ship was refitted at Liverpool between 12 December and 11 February 1943. Whilst defending Convoy HX 228 on 3 March, Harvester forced U-444 to the surface and then rammed it. She was badly damaged by the ramming, but she rescued five survivors after the submarine sank. [12] The next day, Harvester was torpedoed by U-432 and broke in half. [12] Nine officers and 136 ratings were lost, but the French corvette Aconit rammed and sank U-432 herself and then rescued Harvester's few survivors. [12]
HMS Gallant (H59) was a G-class destroyer, built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1930s. During the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 the ship spent considerable time in Spanish waters, enforcing the arms blockade imposed by Britain and France on both sides of the conflict. Gallant was transferred from the Mediterranean Fleet shortly after the beginning of World War II to the British Isles, to escort shipping in local waters. She was slightly damaged by German aircraft during the evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk at the end of May 1940. Following repairs, Gallant was transferred to Gibraltar and served with Force H for several months. In November, the ship was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet, where she escorted several convoys. She struck a mine in January 1941 and was towed to Malta for repairs. These were proved extensive and Gallant was further damaged by near-misses during an air raid in April 1942, before they were completed. The additional damage made the ship uneconomical to repair so she was scuttled as a blockship in 1943. Her wreck was broken up in 1953.
HMS Jaguar was a J-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. Commissioned in September 1939, she was present at the Dunkirk evacuation the following year, during which Jaguar was damaged by dive bombers. She later served in the Mediterranean and was involved in several actions there. She was torpedoed off the coast of Egypt on 26 March 1942 and sunk.
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HMS Griffin (H31) was a G-class destroyer, built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1930s. In World War II she took part in the Norwegian Campaign of April–May 1940 and the Battle of Dakar in September before being transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in November. She generally escorted larger ships of the Mediterranean Fleet as they protected convoys against attacks from the Italian Fleet. Griffin took part in the Battle of Cape Matapan in March 1941 and the evacuations of Greece and Crete in April–May 1941. In June she took part in the Syria-Lebanon Campaign and was escorting convoys and the larger ships of the Mediterranean Fleet until she was transferred to the Eastern Fleet in March 1942.
HMS Grenade (H86) was a G-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy during the 1930s. She was transferred from the Mediterranean Fleet shortly after the beginning of World War II for service in home waters. The ship participated in the early stages of the Norwegian Campaign in April 1940. German Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers sank Grenade as she evacuated Allied troops during Operation Dynamo on 29 May 1940.
HMS Hesperus was an H-class destroyer that had originally been ordered by the Brazilian Navy with the name Juruena in the late 1930s, but was purchased by the Royal Navy after the beginning of World War II in September 1939, commissioned in 1940 as HMS Hearty and then quickly renamed as Hesperus.
HMS Wolverine was an Admiralty modified W-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy. She was one of four destroyers ordered in April 1918 from James Samuel White & Co Ltd under the 14th Order for Destroyers of the Emergency War Programme of 1917–18. She was the seventh Royal Navy Ship to carry the name. It had been introduced in 1798 for a gun brig and last borne by a destroyer sunk after a collision in 1917.
The G- and H-class destroyers were a group of 18 destroyers built for the Royal Navy during the 1930s. Six additional ships being built for the Brazilian Navy when World War II began in 1939 were purchased by the British and named the Havant class. The design was a major export success with other ships built for the Argentine and Royal Hellenic Navies. They were assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet upon completion and enforced the Non-Intervention Agreement during the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939.
HMS Grafton (H89) was a G-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy during the mid-1930s. During the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 the ship spent considerable time in Spanish waters, enforcing the non-intervention measures agreed by Britain and France. After the beginning of World War II she was transferred from the Mediterranean Fleet to Great Britain for escort and contraband inspection duties. Grafton was refitting when the Norwegian Campaign began in April 1940, but the ship escorted convoys to Norway once her refit was completed. She evacuated British troops from the Dunkirk bridgehead in May, but was sunk by a German submarine after she stopped to rescue survivors from another British destroyer.
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