HMS Hunter (H35)

"See HMS "Hunter" for other ships of this name."

HMS "Hunter" (H35) was one of nine H-class destroyers of the Royal Navy. She was laid down by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson Limited at Wallsend-on-Tyne on 26 March 1935, launched on 25 February 1936 and commissioned on 20 September 1936.

General characteristics

The ships of this class were equipped with new 4.7 inch gun mountings of the CP Mark XIX type, which were 13 inches taller than the previous single-mount CP Mark XVIII type, and this made it necessary to raise the wheelhouse to give the helmsman an adequate forward field of view. Accordingly, the armoured wheelhouse was raised and placed forward of, rather than below, the bridge. This resulted in a characteristic "wedge" shape, with a sloping roof to give the bridge a view of the fo'c'sle.

Career

"Hunter" struck a mine south of Almeria on 13 May 1937 while serving on non-intervention patrol off Almeria, Spain during the Spanish Civil War, suffering heavy damage. Eight men of the crew were killed, 24 wounded. The mine had been laid several days earlier by a Spanish nationalist E-boat, either the "Falange" or the "Oviedo". [Gretton, Peter: "The Forgotten Factor: the Naval Aspect of the Spanish Civil War". Oxford University press, 1984, pp. 256-257.]

During the First Battle of Narvik on 10 April 1940, "Hunter" and five other H-class boats of the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla attacked the German destroyers that had transported German land forces to occupy Narvik in northern Norway the previous day. The flotilla was engaged by German destroyers in the Ofotfjord at the entrance to the harbour and sank the destroyers "Z 21 Wilhelm Heidkamp" and "Z 22 Anton Schmidt", heavily damaged "Z 17 Diether von Roeder" and inflicted lesser damage on two others. Seven German or German-seized transport ships were also sunk. As the British flotilla turned to leave, it was engaged by three German destroyers emerging from the Herjangsfjord and then by two more coming from Ballangen Bay. In the ensuing battle, the British flotilla leader "HMS Hardy" was badly mauled and had to be beached in flames, while "Hunter" sank after receiving heavy fire and colliding with HMS "Hotspur".

Rediscovery (2008)

The wreck was rediscovered on 5 March 2008 by the Royal Norwegian Navy mine control vessel HNoMS "Tyr" after being missing for nearly 70 years, and will be marked as a war grave, commemorating the 110 people who died.cite news
url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUKL1015923120080310
title=World War Two ship found in Norwegian fjord
publisher=Reuters
date= 10 March 2008
accessdate=2008-03-11
quote=We searched the area where HMS Hunter most likely was located and spent around 14 hours before we found the vessel.]

Co-ordinated memorial ceremonies were held on Saturday 8 March 2008 honouring the victims, with over a thousand British and Norwegian sailors, Royal Marines and soldiers taking part on board five warships which steamed in line past the spot where the ship lies. The last resting place of the dead was marked with wreaths cast into the sea.cite news
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7280215.stm
title=Sunken WW2 warship found in fjord
publisher=BBC News
date= 5 March 2008
accessdate=2008-03-01
quote=] cite news
url=http://mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/HistoryAndHonour/NavyWarshipsHonourHmsHunter.htm
title=UK MOD: Royal Navy honours HMS Hunter
publisher=Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
date= 10 March 2008
accessdate=2008-03-11]

ee also

*List of shipwrecks in 1940

Notes

ources and references

* English, John. "Amazon to Ivanhoe - British Standard Destroyers of the 1930s".
* March, Edgar J. "British Destroyers, 1892-1953".

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7283819.stm BBC News: "HMS Hunter: A survivor remembers"]
* [http://world.bdnews24.com/details.php?id=44024&cid=7#tp44024 BDNews: "British World War Two ship found in Norwegian fjord"]