HMS Dainty ( H53 ) HMS " Dainty " was a D - class destroyer built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s . The ship was initially assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet before she was transferred to the China Station in early 1935 . She was temporarily deployed in the Red Sea during late 1935 during the Abyssinia Crisis , before returning to her assigned station where she remained until mid - 1939 . " Dainty " was transferred back to the Mediterranean Fleet just before World War II began in September 1939 . She briefly was assigned to West Africa for convoy escort duties in 1940 before returning to the Mediterranean . The ship participated in the Battle of Calabria in July 1940 and was assigned to convoy escort and patrol duties until she was sunk by German bomber s off Tobruk on 24 February 1941 . Description . " Dainty " 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 . " Dainty " 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 QF 4 . 7 - inch Mark IX guns in single mounts . For anti - aircraft ( AA ) defence , " Dainty " had a single 12 - pounder ( 3 - inch ( 76 . 2 mm ) ) gun and two quadruple Mark I mounts for the QF 0 . 5 - inch Vickers Mark 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 . Career . " Dainty " was ordered on 2 February 1931 under the 1930 Naval Estimates and was laid down at the yards of the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company , Govan , Scotstoun on 20 April 1931 . She was launched on 3 May 1932 and completed on 22 December 1932 , at a total cost of £229 , 378 , 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 October – November 1933 . " Dainty " was refitted at Portsmouth between 3 September and 23 October 1934 for service on the China Station with the 8th ( later the 21st ) Destroyer Flotilla and arrived there on 3 January 1935 . She was attached to the Mediterranean Fleet in the Red Sea from 30 September 1935 to June 1936 during the Abyssinian Crisis . The ship was refitted afterwards in Hong Kong between 21 September and 15 October and conducted anti - piracy patrols after her refit was complete . On 21 January 1937 , the merchant ship SS " Hsin Pekin " grounded on the Nemesis Rock off Ningbo and " Dainty " posted a guard aboard her until she was refloated . The ship made a number of port visits in Sarawak , Singapore and the Philippines in January – March 1938 . As war loomed , she was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet , arriving at Alexandria with her sister on 30 September 1939 , after the outbreak of World War II . " Dainty " was assigned to search for contraband being shipped across the Mediterranean throughout October and November , before undergoing a refit at Malta from 8 – 30 December . On its completion she was transferred to the 2nd Destroyer Division , based in Freetown , Sierra Leone to search for German commerce raiders operating in the South Atlantic . The ship was transferred back to the Mediterranean Fleet in April and was given another refit at Malta from 21 April to 2 June 1940 . On its completion , " Dainty " was assigned to the 10th Destroyer Flotilla . On 12 June , she rescued over 400 survivors from the light cruiser , which had been sunk off Crete . Eight days later , the ship , and three other destroyers , escorted the and three British cruisers as they bombarded Bardia during the night of 20 / 21 June . On 27 June , " Dainty " , her sister and the destroyer attacked the and damaged her so badly that she was forced to scuttle herself . Two days later , " Dainty " and " Ilex " attacked the submarines and , sinking the " Uebi Scebeli " , although " Salpa " was able to escape . The British ships were able to salvage important encryption material , including the latest codebook . They may also have been responsible for the sinking of the on 29 June as she returned from Tobruk . " Dainty " participated in the Battle of Calabria on 9 July as an escort for the heavy ships of Force C and unsuccessfully engaged Italian destroyers and suffered no damage . Together with her sisters " Defender " and , the Australian destroyer , and the light cruisers and , she escorted Convoy AN . 2 from Egypt to various ports in the Aegean Sea in late July . On 29 August " Dainty " , " Diamond " and the destroyers , escorted the Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker " Plumleaf " and two merchant ships , and , from Egypt to Malta with relief supplies . " Dainty " and " Ilex " escorted the light cruiser as she bombarded the Italian airfield on Scarpanto on 4 September . Together with three Australian destroyers and two British anti - aircraft cruisers , the ship escorted a convoy from Egypt to Suda Bay , Crete and then to Malta in early November . In December she was assigned to intercept enemy supply convoys along the North Africa n coast and captured two schooner s off Bardia on 31 December . In early January 1941 , " Dainty " escorted the capital ship s of Force A during Operation Excess . She towed the disabled tanker " Desmoulea " to Suda Bay after the latter had been torpedoed by the off Crete on 31 January . Sinking . Shortly afterwards , " Dainty " returned to patrol the North African coast . In the late afternoon of 24 February she left Tobruk on a patrol , accompanied by the destroyer . The ships were attacked by 13 Junkers Ju 88 bombers of III . / Lehrgeschwader 1 and " Dainty " was hit by a bomb which passed through the captain ' s cabin and detonated in the fuel tanks . This started a major fire which caused her after magazine to explode and the ship to sink . 16 of " Dainty " ’ s crew were killed in the attack and 18 were wounded .