HMS Fearless ( H67 ) HMS " Fearless " was an E - class destroyer built for the Royal Navy , that was commissioned in 1934 , and saw service early in World War II before being sunk in July 1941 . Construction . The ship was ordered from Cammell Laird at Birkenhead under the 1932 Programme . She was laid down on 17 July 1933 , and launched on 12 May 1934 , as the seventh RN ship to carry this name , and completed on 22 December 1934 . Service history . Force H , 1940 – 1941 . On 3 July 1940 she took part in the attack on the French Fleet at Mers - el - Kébir ( " Operation Catapult " ) , and was part of the screen for the carrier and other ships during air attacks on the two days later . On the 8th she escorted Force H ships during a planned attack on Cagliari , which had to be abandoned after Italian air attacks ( " Operation MA5 " ) . The attack was eventually carried out on 2 August ( Operation Crush ) , but on the 4th , while returning to the UK " Fearless " was involved in a collision with the trawler " Flying Wing " and was repaired at the Barclay Curle shipyard on the Clyde . On 11 October she prepared for operational duty with the Flotilla , but on the 30th was involved in another collision with SS " Lanark " at Greenock . More repairs followed at Troon , and " Fearless " did not return to duty at Gibraltar until January 1941 . On 31 January 1941 she took part in " Operation Picket " , an air attack on the Tirso Dam on Sardinia , and also in Operation Grog , a naval bombardment of Genoa on 6 February . In March " Fearless " was deployed with three other destroyers of the Flotilla and the cruiser to intercept a Vichy convoy . A later attempt to capture the French merchant ship " Bangkok " off the port of Ghazaouet , Algeria , was prevented by shore battery fire . In early April " Fearless " and four other destroyers escorted the " Sheffield " , battlecruiser , and the carrier " Ark Royal " in Operation Winch , which delivered 12 Hurricane fighter aircraft to Malta . Later in the month she was part of the screen for the same ships escorting Force S , a group of reinforcement ships for the Fleet in Alexandria ( Operation Salient ) . In early May she was part of destroyer screen with five other destroyers for the battleship , and the cruisers , and which were joining the Fleet in the Eastern Mediterranean . This was part of Operation Tiger which included a supply convoy taking tanks to the Middle East and the transfer of warships . After arrival in Malta on the 12th " Fearless " carried out a minesweeping operation to enable the ships of 5th Destroyer Flotilla to safely leave harbour for an offensive operation against Italian convoys . On the 19th she and three other destroyers escorted the heavy cruiser to cover the delivery of further aircraft to Malta by the carriers " Ark Royal " and . In June she was deployed in the Atlantic on anti - submarine operations with the Flotilla . On the 16th " Fearless " and four other destroyers sank the off Gibraltar . On the 22nd she was deployed with four other destroyers to intercept a German supply ship spotted heading towards towards the French coast . The next day the Flotilla intercepted the SS " Alstertor " which was scuttled by her crew on the approach of the British ships . They rescued 78 British POWs taken from ships sunk by German raiders and the crew . In July " Fearless " resumed duty with " Force H " in the Mediterranean . On the 20th she joined Force X in " Operation Substance " , another Malta convoy . On the 23rd whilst screening " Ark Royal " she was torpedoed and heavily damaged by an Italian Savoia - Marchetti SM . 79 . Her crew was rescued by , which then sank the wrecked and burning ship with torpedoes about north - north - east of Bône , Algeria , in position .