HMS Hostile ( H55 ) HMS " Hostile " ( H55 ) was an H - class destroyer built for the Royal Navy in the 1930s . During the Spanish Civil War of 1936 – 1939 the ship spent considerable time in Spanish waters , enforcing the arms blockade imposed by Britain and France on both sides of the conflict . She was transferred to Freetown , Sierra Leone , in October 1939 to hunt for German commerce raiders in the South Atlantic with Force K . " Hostile " participated in the First Battle of Narvik in April 1940 and the Battle of Calabria in July 1940 . The ship was damaged by a mine off Cape Bon in the Strait of Sicily while on passage from Malta to Gibraltar on 23 August 1940 . She was then scuttled by . Description . " Hostile " 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 . " Hostile " 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 " Hostile " 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 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 . Service . " Hostile " was laid down by Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Company at Greenock , Scotland on 27 February 1935 , launched on 24 January 1936 , and completed on 10 September 1936 . Excluding government - furnished equipment like the armament , the ship cost £253 , 382 . She was assigned to the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla of the Mediterranean Fleet upon commissioning . " Hostile " patrolled Spanish waters in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War enforcing the edicts of the Non - Intervention Committee . The ship received an overhaul at Gibraltar between 17 November and 15 December 1937 . She resumed patrolling Spanish waters in 1938 and 1939 . After the end of the Spanish Civil War , " Hostile " was refitted in Sheerness Dockyard between 31 May and 26 July 1939 . She returned to the Mediterranean and was in Malta when World War II began . In October the ship was transferred to Freetown to hunt for German commerce raiders in the South Atlantic with Force K . The ship and her half - sisters , , , and , rendezvoused with the battlecruiser , the aircraft carrier , and the light cruiser on 17 December . They refuelled in Rio de Janeiro , Brazil , before proceeding to the estuary of the River Plate in case the damaged German pocket battleship attempted to escape from Montevideo , Uruguay , where she had taken refuge after losing the Battle of the River Plate . " Hostile " was overhauled at Chatham Dockyard between 26 January and 29 March 1940 and then rejoined the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla , now assigned to the Home Fleet . During the First Battle of Narvik on 10 April the ship engaged the and badly damaged her , hitting her at least five times . " Hostile " was only hit once , but the shell did little damage . She escorted her badly damaged sister ship , , to the repair base set up at Flakstadøya in the Lofoten Islands . " Hostile " briefly escorted the battleship before she returned to Rosyth for repairs between 27 April and 4 May . The ship briefly returned to Norwegian waters , where she again escorted " Warspite " , before being transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in mid - May . On 9 July " Hostile " participated in the Battle of Calabria as an escort for the heavy ships of Force C and unsuccessfully engaged Italian destroyers , suffering no damage . The ship , together with her sister , , and the destroyers and , were ordered to Gibraltar on 22 August where they were to join Force H . " Hostile " struck a mine en route on the early morning of 23 August off Cap Bon that broke her back . The explosion killed five men and wounded three others . " Mohawk " took off the survivors while " Hero " fired two torpedoes to scuttle her .