HMS Foresight (H68)

HMS "Foresight" was a Royal Navy F class destroyer. She operated as a fast minesweeper during World War II, and was sunk by air attack during Operation Pedestal, an attempt to bring supplies to Malta.

On 18 June 1941 "Foresight" took part in the sinking of the German submarine "U-138" west of Spain, together with her sister ships HMS|Faulknor|H62|6, HMS|Fearless|H67|6, HMS|Forester|H74|6, and HMS|Foxhound|H69|6.

On 6 April 1942, she left Scapa Flow for a routine convoy patrol, escorting convoy PQ14. Of the 24 ships that made up the convoy, sixteen were forced by unseasonal ice and bad weather to return to Iceland, and another was sunk by a U-Boat. Along with the remaining seven convoy vessels, "Foresight" arrived in Murmansk on 19 April. She then left, on 29 April, to cover the return convoy QP11. On 30 April, en route back from the Kola Peninsula, the German submarine "U-456" (under the command of Captain Max-Martin Teichert), which had been alerted to the convoy by German aerial reconnaissance, fired a torpedo into the starboard side of the cruiser HMS|Edinburgh|C16|6. The ship began to list heavily, but did not sink. Soon after, Teichert launched a second torpedo, which struck the stern of "Edinburgh", wrecking her steering equipment and effectively crippling her. Taken in tow, she attempted to limp back to Murmansk, and was hounded constantly by German torpedo bombers. On 2 May, she was attacked by three German destroyers off Bear Island, and torpedoed yet again. As she began to sink, her crew-members abandoned ship and took refuge in accompanying destroyers. "Foresight" had the task of scuttling the cruiser.

During Operation Pedestal in August 1942, while operating as a fast minesweeper, she took a torpedo from an Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 plane, severing her stern section entirely. With no power, the arrival of the Tribal class destroyer HMS|Tartar|F43|6 and her attempt to tow was fruitless, and she was scuttled by a torpedo after her crew was taken off.