HMS Gipsy ( H63 ) HMS " Gipsy " was a G - class destroyer built for the Royal Navy during the 1930s . She spent most of the pre - war period as part of the Mediterranean Fleet . The ship was transferred to the British Isles to escort shipping in local waters shortly after the beginning of World War II . Less than a month after her arrival she struck a mine outside Harwich and sank with the loss of 30 of her crew . Her wreck was salvaged and slowly scrapped over the course of the war . Description . " Gipsy " 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 . " Gipsy " 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 . The ship mounted four 45 - calibre 4 . 7 - inch ( 120 mm ) Mark IX guns in single mounts . For anti - aircraft defence " Gipsy " had two quadruple Mark I mounts for the 0 . 5 inch Vickers Mark III machine gun . She was fitted with two above - water quadruple torpedo tube mounts for torpedo es . One rail and two depth charge throwers were fitted ; 20 depth charges were originally carried , but this increased to 35 shortly after the war began . Service . " Gipsy " was laid down by the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company , at Govan , Scotland on 4 September 1934 , launched on 7 November 1935 and completed on 22 February 1936 . Excluding government - furnished equipment like the armament , the ship cost £250 , 364 . Aside from a brief period assigned to the 20th Destroyer Flotilla of the Home Fleet after her commissioning , " Gipsy " spent the pre - war period assigned to the 1st Destroyer Flotilla with the Mediterranean Fleet . She was refitted at Devonport Dockyard between 2 June and 30 July 1938 . On the outbreak of war in September 1939 , " Gipsy " was deployed with the 1st Destroyer Flotilla for patrols and contraband control in the Eastern Mediterranean , based at Alexandria . " Gipsy " and her entire flotilla were transferred to the Western Approaches Command at Plymouth in October . On 12 November she collided with her sister ship , , en route to Harwich , and her new assignment with the 22nd Destroyer Flotilla , but she was only slightly damaged . The ship rescued three German airmen outside of Harwich harbour on 21 November and returned to port to turn them over the army . Later that evening , " Gipsy " set out with , and to patrol in the North Sea . She struck a magnetic mine amidships outside of the harbour , possibly laid by the aircraft whose crew she had rescued earlier that day , and sank . Thirty of her crew , including the captain , were killed . The 115 survivors were rescued by the other destroyers . The ship ' s wreck was upright on the seabed with only the bridge visible at high tide , but it blocked the channel . Only buckled plating amidships held the two main sections of the wreck together and they were cut by explosives when salvage began shortly after her sinking . The two halves were raised by pontoons , and were subsequently broken up . of ferrous scrap and of non - ferrous metals were recovered between June 1940 and February 1944 .