HMS Diamond ( H22 ) HMS " Diamond " was a D - class destroyer built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s . The ship spent the bulk of her career on the China Station . She was briefly assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1939 before she was transferred to West Africa for convoy escort duties . " Diamond " returned to the Mediterranean Fleet in early 1940 where she generally escorted convoys to and from Malta . The ship participated in the Battle of Cape Spartivento in November . " Diamond " was sunk by German aircraft on 27 April 1941 whilst evacuating Allied troops from Greece . Description . " Diamond " 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 . " Diamond " carried a maximum of of fuel oil that gave her a range of at . The ship ' s complement was 145 officers and men . The ship mounted four 45 - calibre 4 . 7 - inch Mark IX guns in single mounts . For anti - aircraft ( AA ) defence , " Diamond " had a single 12 - pounder ( 3 - inch ( 76 . 2 mm ) ) gun between her funnels and two QF 2 - pounder Mark II guns mounted on the side of her bridge . She was fitted with two above - water quadruple torpedo tube mounts for 21 - inch torpedoe s . 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 . Career . " Diamond " was ordered on 2 February 1931 under the 1930 Naval Estimates , and was laid down at Vickers - Armstrong ' s yard at Barrow - in - Furness on 29 September 1931 . She was launched on 8 April 1932 and completed on 3 November 1933 , at a total cost of £223 , 509 , excluding equipment supplied by the Admiralty , such as weapons , ammunition and wireless equipment . The ship was initially assigned to the 1st Destroyer Flotilla in the Mediterranean and made a brief deployment to the Persian Gulf and Red Sea in September – November 1933 . " Diamond " was refitted at Devonport Dockyard between 3 September and 27 October 1934 for service on the China Station with the 8th ( later the 21st ) Destroyer Flotilla and arrived there in January 1935 , where she remained for the next four years . The ship began a refit at Singapore on 7 August 1939 and she was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet after it was completed in November . " Diamond " arrived at Malta on 19 December , but she was transferred to the South Atlantic Station the following month . She departed Malta on 8 January 1940 , bound for Freetown where she joined the 20th Destroyer Division for escort duties . In April the ship returned to the Mediterranean where " Diamond " was assigned to the newly formed 10th Destroyer Flotilla after a short refit at Malta . She was slightly damaged by air attacks on 11 and 17 June near Malta after the Italians declared war on the Allies on 10 June . Together with her sisters , , the Australian destroyer , and the light cruiser s and , she escorted Convoy AN . 2 from Egypt to various ports in the Aegean Sea in late July . " Diamond " bombarded the Italian seaplane base at Bomba , Libya on 23 August . A week later she escorted four transports to Malta with " Dainty " and the destroyers and as part of Operation Hats . The ship escorted Convoy MB . 8 during Operation Collar . After reaching Malta on 26 November , " Diamond " joined Force D and sailed to rendezvous with Force H , coming from Gibraltar . The next day , after the British forces had combined , they were spotted by the Italians and the inconclusive Battle of Cape Spartivento was fought . During Operation Excess , " Diamond " and " Defender " escorted Convoy MW . 5 to Malta in January 1941 . The ship escorted a convoy of four freighters from Malta to Alexandria in mid - April . Shortly afterwards , she began evacuating Allied troops from Greece . On 27 April 1941 , " Diamond " and another destroyer , , rescued over 500 troops from the sinking Dutch troopship , " Slamat " , and set out for Crete . However , both ships were attacked and sunk about four hours later by German Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters and Junkers Ju 88 bomber s . Only one officer , 41 enlisted men and eight soldiers from all three ships were rescued .