HMS Havant ( H32 ) HMS " Havant " was an H - class destroyer originally ordered by the Brazilian Navy with the name " Javary " in the late 1930s , but was bought by the Royal Navy after the beginning of World War II in September 1939 . The ship was initially assigned to escort duties in the Western Approaches , but was transferred to the Home Fleet when the Norwegian Campaign began in April 1940 . She was only peripherally involved in the campaign as she escorted ships carrying troops that occupied Iceland and the Faeroe Islands as well as convoys to Narvik . " Havant " was evacuating troops from Dunkirk when she was badly damaged by Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bomber s on 1 June and had to be scuttled . Description . " Havant " 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 . " Havant " 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 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 , " Havant " 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 3 sets of rails and eight throwers while fitting - out . The ship ' s load of depth charges was increased from 20 to 110 as well . Service . " Javary " was ordered by Brazil on 8 December 1937 from J . Samuel White , Cowes . The ship was laid down on 30 March 1938 and launched on 17 July 1939 . She was purchased by the British on 5 September and renamed HMS " Havant " . The ship was commissioned on 19 December and arrived at Portland Harbour on 8 January 1940 to begin working up . She made one unsuccessful anti - submarine sweep 4 – 9 February with the destroyers and after she was assigned to the 9th Destroyer Flotilla of the Western Approaches Command at Plymouth . " Havant " had degaussing equipment fitted and minor repairs were made through March . The ship was en route to Greenock to escort a convoy to Gibraltar on 7 April when she was transferred to the Home Fleet as a result of the impending German invasion of Norway . Along with her sister , " Havant " escorted the heavy cruiser on 13 April as the latter ship carried a detachment of Royal Marine s to occupy the Faeroe Islands . The ship then escorted convoys to Narvik until 7 May . A week later she escorted the ocean liners and as they carried troops to occupy Iceland . " Havant " joined the Dunkirk evacuation on 29 May and rescued over 2 , 300 men by 1 June . That morning she had embarked 500 troops and then went alongside the destroyer , which had been disabled by German dive bombers earlier that morning . The ship loaded all of the troops and wounded from " Ivanhoe " and sailed for Dover under heavy air attack . Shortly afterwards , Stukas hit " Havant " with two bombs in her engine room and another exploded beneath her hull . Eight crewmen were killed and 25 were wounded in the attack . At least 25 soldiers were also killed . She was severely damaged and had to be scuttled by the minesweeper after an attempt to tow her failed .