HMS Havock ( H43 ) HMS " Havock " was an H - class destroyer built for the British 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 . During the first few months of the Second World War , " Havock " searched for German commerce raiders in the Atlantic Ocean and participated in the First Battle of Narvik during the Norwegian Campaign of April – June 1940 before she was transferred back to the Mediterranean Fleet in May where she escorted a number of convoys to Malta . The ship took part in the Battle of Cape Spada in July 1940 , the Battle of Cape Matapan in March 1941 and the evacuation of Greece in April 1941 . She was damaged during the Battle of Crete the following month , but participated in the Syria – Lebanon Campaign in June . " Havock " began escorting supply convoys in June to Tobruk , Libya until the ship was damaged in October . She was repaired in time to escort a convoy to Malta during the First Battle of Sirte in December and was badly damaged whilst protecting another convoy during the Second Battle of Sirte in March 1942 . Repairs were attempted in Malta , but the ship was further damaged in an air raid in early April . The Admiralty decided that further attempts to repair her at Malta were pointless and ordered her to Gibraltar for permanent repairs . On 6 April , while on passage to Gibraltar , " Havock " ran aground near Cape Bon , Tunisia , and her crew was interned by the Vichy French at Laghouat in the Sahara . Description and construction . " Havock " displaced at standard load and at deep load . The ship had an overall length of , a beam of and a draught of . She was powered by Parsons geared steam turbines , driving two shafts , which developed a total of and gave a maximum speed of . Steam for the turbines was provided by three Admiralty 3 - drum water - tube boilers . " Havock " carried a maximum of of fuel oil that gave her a range of at . The ship ' s complement was 137 officers and men in peacetime , but this increased to 146 in wartime . The ship mounted four 45 - calibre 4 . 7 - inch Mk IX guns in single mounts , designated ' A ' , ' B ' , ' X ' , and ' Y ' from front to rear . For anti - aircraft ( AA ) defence , " Havock " had two quadruple Mark I mounts for the 0 . 5 inch Vickers Mk III machine gun . She was fitted with two above - water quadruple torpedo tube mounts for 21 - inch torpedoes . One depth charge rail and two throwers were fitted ; 20 depth charges were originally carried , but this increased to 35 shortly after the war began . By mid - 1940 , this had increased to 44 depth charges . Ordered on 13 December 1934 from William Denny & Brothers , " Havock " was laid down at their shipyard at Dumbarton , Scotland on 15 May 1935 . She was launched on 7 July 1936 and completed on 16 January 1937 . Excluding government - furnished equipment like the armament , the ship cost £248 , 470 . Wartime modifications . Most ships of " Havock " s class had the rear torpedo tubes replaced by a 12 - pounder AA gun after the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940 , but it is not clear if she received this modification . Other changes may have included exchanging her two quadruple . 50 - calibre Vickers machine guns mounted between her funnels for two Oerlikon 20 mm AA guns , the addition of two Oerlikon guns to her searchlight platform and another pair on the wings of the ship ' s bridge . Service . " Havock " was assigned to the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla of the Mediterranean Fleet upon commissioning . She patrolled Spanish waters during the Spanish Civil War enforcing the policies of the Non - Intervention Committee . On the night of 31 August / 1 September 1937 , she was unsuccessfully attacked by the with torpedoes , between the Gulf of Valencia and the Balearic Islands . The ship was refitted in Gibraltar between 19 October and 13 November and required repairs between 16 April and 6 May 1938 after hitting the stone side of a quay . " Havock " was given a brief refit at Sheerness Dockyard between 15 and 26 August 1939 before returning to Gibraltar . The ship sailed to Freetown , Sierra Leone on 30 August and arrived on 4 September to search for German commerce raiders . She was transferred back to the UK in November for a more thorough refit at Sheerness between 18 December and 23 March 1940 . In the meantime , the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla had been assigned to the Home Fleet and " Havock " rejoined them when her refit was finished . On 6 April " Havock " and the rest of the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla escorted the four destroyer minelayer s of the 20th Destroyer Flotilla as they sailed to implement Operation Wilfred , an operation to lay mines in the Vestfjord to prevent the transport of Swedish iron ore from Narvik to Germany . The mines were laid on the early morning of 8 April , before the Germans began their invasion , and the destroyers joined the battlecruiser and her escorts . During the First Battle of Narvik on 10 April 1940 , " Havock " and four other H - class ships of the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla attacked the German destroyers that had transported German troops to occupy Narvik in northern Norway the previous day . The flotilla leader led four of her half - sisters down Ofotfjord in a surprise dawn attack on Narvik harbour during a blinding snowstorm . and were initially left at the entrance , but " Havock " was third into the harbour and fired five of her torpedoes into the mass of shipping . One torpedo hit in the stern . In addition , the ship hit twice with shells . As the British ships were withdrawing , they encountered five German destroyers at close range . Two of the German ships crossed the T of the British ships and quickly set " Hardy " on fire and forced her to run aground . " Havock " was next in line and fired torpedoes at the German destroyers , but they all missed . She was hit in return , but not significantly damaged . In the confusion and limited visibility , " Havock " pulled out of the line to find out what happened to " Hardy " and to protect the rear of the British formation from the other three German destroyers in pursuit , but then had to then to turn again to allow her rear guns to fire when her forward guns failed . " Havock " and " Hostile " turned back to protect their badly damaged sister , " Hotspur " , and all three continued to withdraw down the Ofotfjord . En route , they encountered the German supply ship Rauenfels , loaded with artillery and ammunition , whose crew ran her aground and abandoned ship after " Hostile " fired at the ship . A boarding party from " Havock " found the ship on fire and she blew up after the ship fired two shells into her . The ship remained in Norwegian waters until May , when she escorted the light cruiser on an unsuccessful sweep of the North Sea looking for German ships , early in the month . " Havock " was assigned to the Nore Command shortly afterwards and bombarded German troops occupying Waalhaven Airfield on 10 May together with her sister . She rescued survivors from the sunken ferry Prinses Juliana off the Dutch coast and returned them to the Hook of Holland where she recovered a number of British demolition parties . On 16 May , the ship ordered to reinforce the Mediterranean Fleet at Malta and was assigned to the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla . During the Battle of Cape Spada on 19 July , the ship escorted the Australian light cruiser and rescued some of the 525 survivors from the together with the other escorting destroyers . Her boiler room was flooded after an attack by Italian aircraft after this battle and she was repaired at Suez from 29 July to 15 September . " Havock " and her sister surprised the on the surface on 2 October off the coast of Egypt and forced her to scuttle herself . The destroyers rescued 47 survivors between them . " Havock " was engaged on escort duties for the next six months , including escorting the carrier during the Battle of Taranto on the night of 11 / 12 November , aside from a refit in Malta from 22 December to 20 February 1941 . During the Battle of Cape Matapan , she torpedoed and sank the on 28 March . The ship evacuated Commonwealth troops from Greece at the end of April and was one of three destroyers escorting the light cruiser when they bombarded Benghazi on the night of 7 / 8 May . " Havock " was damaged by dive bombers on 23 May , killing 15 and wounding 10 men , after a patrol off Heraklion , Crete . She was under repair at Alexandria until 16 June . The ship bombarded Vichy French positions in Lebanon in early July and then began escorting ships to Tobruk until October when her propeller shafts and propellers were damaged . " Havock " was under repair from 21 October to 4 December at Alexandria . In mid - December , the ship escorted the supply ship to Malta during the brief engagement known as First Battle of Sirte and then joined Force K in an attempt to intercept an Italian convoy to Tripoli , Libya . On the night of 18 / 19 December , the reinforced Force K ran over an Italian minefield that sank one cruiser and damaged two others . " Havock " escorted the badly damaged light cruiser back to Malta . " Havock " was one of four destroyers that escorted " Breconshire " back to Alexandria in early January 1942 . Whilst escorting another convoy to Malta , the ship was diverted to escort the damaged freighter " Thermoplylae " from Benghazi back to Alexandria , but the latter was attacked and sunk by Axis aircraft en route on 19 January . " Havock " rescued some 350 survivors before " Thermoplylae " sank . The ship was transferred to the 22nd Destroyer Flotilla in February and continued to escort convoys to Malta . On 22 March 1942 , a splinter from a near miss by the perforated one of her boilers during the Second Battle of Sirte , and " Havock " was forced to make for Malta for repairs . Whilst in dock , the ship had become a major target for Axis aircraft and sustained some damage on 3 April , so she was ordered to Gibraltar before her repairs were complete . " Havock " ran aground off Kelibia , Tunisia , in the Strait of Sicily on 6 April and was wrecked . One crewman was killed in the incident . Her crew and passengers were interned by the Vichy French at Laghouat in the Sahara , but were released in November as a result of Operation Torch . Her wreck was later torpedoed by the .