HMS Ilex was one of nine I-classdestroyersdestroyer built for the Royal Navy during the 1930s. She is the only ship of the Royal Navy ever to have been named after Ilex, the genus of flowering plants commonly known as holly.
The I-class ships were improved versions of the preceding H-class. They displaced 1,370 long tons (1,390t) at standard load and 1,888 long tons (1,918t) at deep load. The ships had an overall length of 323 feet (98.5m), a beam of 33 feet (10.1m) and a draught of 12feet 6inches (3.8m). They 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 34,000 shaft horsepower (25,000kW) and were intended to give a maximum speed of 35.5 knots (65.7km/h; 40.9mph).[2]Ilex only reached a speed of 33.6 knots (62.2km/h; 38.7mph) from 34,487shp (25,717kW) during her sea trials.[3] The ships carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of 5,500 nautical miles (10,200km; 6,300mi) at 15 knots (28km/h; 17mph). Their crew numbered 145 officers and ratings.[2]
The ships mounted four 4.7-inch (120mm) Mark IX guns in single mounts, designated 'A', 'B', 'X' and 'Y' from bow to stern. For anti-aircraft (AA) defence, they had two quadruple mounts for the 0.5inch Vickers Mark IIImachine gun. The I class was fitted with two above-water quintuple torpedo tube mounts amidships for 21-inch (533mm) torpedoes.[4] One depth charge rack and two throwers were fitted; 16 depth charges were originally carried,[2] but this increased to 35 shortly after the war began.[5] The I-class ships were fitted with the ASDIC sound detection system to locate submarines underwater.[6]
Construction and career
1939
On the outbreak of war Ilex was deployed in the Mediterranean with the Third Destroyer Flotilla. She was immediately transferred to the Western Approaches for convoy escort duty with her flotilla. On 13 October under the command of Lieutenant Commander Philip Lionel Saumarez[7] she attacked and sank U-42 south-west of Ireland in company with the destroyer Imogen.
1940
The Italian submarine Uebi Scebeli sinking after attacks by Ilex and Dainty
The first half of 1940 saw Ilex conducting Fleet screening duties in and around the North Sea. In May she transferred to the Second Destroyer Flotilla for service in the Mediterranean. On 27 June 1940, in company with Dainty, Defender, Decoy and the Australian destroyer Voyager she depth-charged the Italian submarineConsole Generale Liuzzi off Crete.[1] The submarine was forced to the surface and scuttled by her crew. Two days later, on 29 June, the same ships attacked and probably sank the Italian submarineArgonauta at around 0615, although the possibility exists that this submarine was sunk by an RAF Sunderland later that same day.[1] Also on 29 June Dainty and Ilex shared in the sinking of the Italian submarineUebi Scebeli south-west of Crete.[8]Ilex participated in the Battle of Calabria and on 19 June she escorted Sydney during the sinking of the Italian cruiserBartolomeo Colleoni off Cape Spada, rescuing 230 survivors.
On 20 March she formed part of the destroyer screen for the fleet at the Battle of Cape Matapan. On 14 June she suffered major structural damage from dive-bombing near misses during an operation to prevent interference by Vichy French warships. She was towed to Haifa and underwent a series of temporary repairs there, and at Suez, Aden, Mombassa and Durban, in order to reach the United States of America for a refit and full repair.
It was not until September 1942 that Ilex was re-commissioned. She spent the rest of the year at Freetown, Sierra Leone, conducting convoy duties.
1943
In February 1943 Ilex returned to the Mediterranean, and in July and August she participated in the Sicily and Salerno landings. On 13 July, she sank, with assistance from Echo, the Italian submarineNereide south east of the Straits of Messina. In December she was withdrawn from operational service because of a high defect load and poor availability.[1]
1944
Ilex was laid up at Bizerte in Tunisia, then transferred to Ferryville in June, and laid up there.
1945
In March 1945 the destroyer was towed to Malta for repair, and in April reduced to "reserve category C", the survey declaring her "not required for further operational service". She was placed on the disposal list in August.
Disposal
Ilex was sold for scrap at Malta on 22 January 1946 and broken up in Sicily in 1948.
Sea Cadet Corps
Salford Sea Cadets are affiliated with the ship and are named TS Ilex. Salford sea cadets are located in Worsley and provide youth services to young people aged 10–18 from across the City of Salford.
The unit was incorporated in 1936 during Eccles warship week and is one of the oldest continuously operating youth groups in the city. The current City of Salford Sea Cadets is an amalgamation of Eccles and District Sea Cadets (TS Ilex) and Salford Sea Cadets (TS Irwell). The unit moved to its present home in Worsley in the late 1980s.
City of Salford Sea Cadets while an independent charity in its own right is also part of the larger Sea Cadet Corps
English, John (1993). Amazon to Ivanhoe: British Standard Destroyers of the 1930s. Kendal, England: World Ship Society. ISBN0-905617-64-9.
Friedman, Norman (2006). British Destroyers & Frigates: The Second World War and After. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN1-86176-137-6.
Lenton, H. T. (1998). British & Empire Warships of the Second World War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN1-55750-048-7.
March, Edgar J. (1966). British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892-1953; Drawn by Admiralty Permission From Official Records & Returns, Ships' Covers & Building Plans. London: Seeley Service. OCLC164893555.
Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Reviseded.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN1-59114-119-2.
Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN0-87021-326-1.
HMS Imogen was a I-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1930s. During the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939, the ship enforced the arms blockade imposed by Britain and France on both sides as part of the Mediterranean Fleet. After the start of the Second World War the ship was transferred to Home Fleet and participated in the Norwegian Campaign in April 1940. Imogen sank two German submarines before her own sinking following an accidental collision in July 1940.
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HMS Jervis, was a J-class destroyer of the Royal Navy named after Admiral John Jervis (1735–1823). She was laid down by R. and W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, Limited, at Hebburn-on-Tyne on 26 August 1937. The ship was launched on 9 September 1938 and commissioned on 8 May 1939, four months before the start of the Second World War.
The C and D class was a group of 14 destroyers built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s. As in previous years, it was originally intended to order a complete flotilla comprising eight destroyers—plus a flotilla leader as the ninth unit—in each year. However, only four ships—plus a leader—were ordered under the 1929–1930 Programme as the C class. The other four ships planned for the C class were never ordered as an economy measure and disarmament gesture by the Labour government of Ramsay MacDonald. A complete flotilla—the 'D' class—was ordered under the 1930–1931 Programme.
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