HMS Harvester ( H19 ) HMS " Harvester " was a H - class destroyer originally ordered by the Brazilian Navy with the name " Jurua " in the late 1930s , but was bought by the Royal Navy after the beginning of World War II in September 1939 . Almost immediately after commissioning , in May 1940 , the ship began evacuating Allied troops from Dunkirk and other locations in France . Afterwards she was assigned to the Western Approaches Command for convoy escort duties . " Harvester " and another destroyer sank a German submarine in October . She was briefly assigned to Force H in 1941 , but her anti - aircraft armament was deemed too weak and she was transferred to the Newfoundland Escort Force the next month for escort duties in the North Atlantic . The ship was returned to the Western Approaches Command in October 1941 and was converted to an escort destroyer in early 1942 . " Harvester " was torpedoed and sunk in March 1943 by a German submarine after having rammed and sunk another submarine the previous day while escorting Convoy HX 228 . Description . " Harvester " 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 . " Harvester " carried a maximum of of fuel oil , giving her a range of at . The ship ' s complement was 152 officers and men . The vessel was designed for four 45 - calibre 4 . 7 - inch Mk IX guns in single mounts , designated ' A ' , ' B ' , ' X ' , and ' Y ' from front to rear , but ' Y ' gun was removed to compensate for the additional depth charges added . For anti - aircraft ( AA ) defence , " Harvester " 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 originally fitted , but this was increased to three sets of rails and eight throwers while fitting - out . The ship ' s load of depth charges was increased from 20 to 110 as well . Wartime modifications . " Harvester " had her rear torpedo tubes replaced by a 12 - pounder AA gun after the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940 , but it is not known exactly when this modification was made . During her 1942 conversion to an escort destroyer , the ship ' s short - range AA armament had been augmented by two Oerlikon 20 mm guns on the wings of the ship ' s bridge . The . 50 - calibre machine gun mounts were replaced by a pair of Oerlikons later . ' A ' gun was replaced by a Hedgehog anti - submarine spigot mortar . The ship ' s director - control tower and rangefinder above the bridge were removed in exchange for a Type 271 target indication radar . A Type 286 short - range surface search radar was probably also fitted mid - way through the war . The ship also received a HF / DF radio direction finder mounted on a pole mainmast . Service . " Jurua " was ordered by Brazil on 6 December 1937 from Vickers - Armstrongs , Barrow - in - Furness . The ship was laid down on 3 June 1938 and she was purchased by the British on 5 September 1939 and renamed HMS " Handy " . The ship was launched on 29 September 1939 and renamed " Harvester " in January 1940 as her original name was thought too liable to be confused with . " Harvester " was commissioned on 23 May and briefly worked up at Portland Harbour before she was assigned to the 9th Destroyer Flotilla . The ship joined the Dunkirk evacuation on 29 May and returned 272 men to Dover during the day . However , the situation at Dunkirk soon became too dangerous to risk the larger and more modern destroyers , so " Harvester " made no attempt to evacuate any troops during daylight hours on 30 May . This decision was rescinded during the day on 30 May and the ship sailed for Dunkirk on the night of 30 / 31 May . En route she was narrowly missed by two torpedoes , but she rescued 1341 men in two trips on 31 May and an additional 576 on 1 June . " Harvester " was lightly damaged by strafing German aircraft that same day and required repairs that were made at Chatham . On 9 June the ship was ordered to Le Havre , France , to evacuate British troops , but none were to be found . She loaded 78 men at Saint - Valery - en - Caux on 11 June . Later in the month she escorted ships evacuating refugees and troops from Saint - Nazaire and St . Jean de Luz ( Operation Ariel ) . From July to September , " Harvester " was assigned to convoy escort duties with the Western Approaches Command and she rescued 90 survivors from the armed merchant cruiser " Dunvegan Castle " in late August . The ship , together with five other destroyers of the 9th Flotilla , was assigned to Plymouth Command for anti - invasion duties between 8 and 18 September before returning to her role as an escort vessel . On 30 October , with help from her sister , she sank the . " Harvester " rescued 19 survivors from on 5 December and 131 survivors from the Armed Boarding Vessel " Crispin " on 3 February 1941 . She rescued four survivors from a Royal Air Force Armstrong Whitworth Whitley bomber four days later . The ship was refitted at Barrow between 18 March and 18 April and then was assigned to Force H in Gibraltar where she escorted ships during Operations Tiger and Splice in May . " Harvester " was transferred to the Newfoundland Escort Force in June as her anti - aircraft capability was believed by Admiral James Somerville to be too weak . She was assigned to the 14th Escort Group upon her arrival at St . John ' s on 1 July . The ship was transferred back to the Western Approaches Command three months later and assigned to the 9th Escort Group . " Harvester " was converted to an escort destroyer during a lengthy refit at Dundee , Scotland , from 30 January 1942 to 16 April . She conducted sea trials of her Type 271 radar during May and then resumed her escort duties in the North Atlantic as flagship of Mid - Ocean Escort Force Escort Group B - 3 . The ship was refitted at Liverpool between 12 December and 11 February 1943 . Whilst defending Convoy HX 228 on 3 March , " Harvester " forced to the surface and then rammed it . She was badly damaged by the ramming , but she rescued five survivors after the submarine sank . The next day , " Harvester " was torpedoed by and broke in half . Nine officers and 136 ratings were lost , but the rammed and sank U - 432 herself and then rescued " Harvester " s few survivors .