HMS Duchess (H64)

HMS "Duchess" was a D class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She served in the Second World War, operating briefly in Home waters and the Mediterranean, before becoming an early war loss after being sunk in a collision with the battleship HMS "Barham" on 10 December 1939.

Construction and commissioning

"Duchess" was ordered on 2 February 1931 under the 1930 Naval Estimates and was laid down at the yards of the Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company, Jarrow on 20 June 1931. She was launched on 19 July 1932 and commissioned on 24 January 1933, at a total cost of £229,367, excluding equipment supplied by the Admiralty, such as weapons, ammunition and wireless equipment.

Career and loss

"Duchess" initially served in the Mediterranean, before undergoing a refit at Chatham Dockyard in 1934 for service on the China Station in the 8th Destroyer Flotilla. She served on the Station until September 1939, when the outbreak of the Second World War caused the Admiralty to order her to return to the Mediterranean to take up her war station with the Mediterranean Fleet at Alexandria. She then deployed out of Malta for duties including Fleet screening and interception of contraband.

In December she, along with HMS "Delight" and HMS "Dainty", was assigned to escort the battleship HMS "Barham" back to the UK, and the ships departed Gibraltar on 6 December. Having successfully reached Home waters, the ships were sailing through the North Western Approaches on 10 December when disaster occurred.

At 0400 hours in the North Channel, nine nautical miles off the Mull of Kintyre, possibly due to fog in the area, the zigzagging pattern of the battleship and destroyer crossed. "Barham" collided with "Duchess", cutting her in half and causing her to sink almost immediately. Only 23 survivors were recovered, whilst 124 went down with the ship.

References

*Colledge
* [http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4373.html HMS Duchess at Uboat.net]
* [http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-10DD-19D-Duchess.htm HMS Duchess's career]