HMS Gurkha (F20)
HMS "Gurkha" was a destroyer that saw active service in the Norway Campaign in 1940, where she was sunk. Description. The Tribals were intended to counter the large destroyers being built abroad and to improve the firepower of the existing destroyer flotillas and were thus significantly larger and more heavily armed than the preceding . The ships displaced at standard load and at deep load. They had an overall length of , a beam of and a draught of . The destroyers were powered by two Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by three  Admiralty three-drum boilers. The turbines developed a total of and gave a maximum speed of . During her sea trials "Ghurka" made from at a displacement of . The ships carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of at . The ships' complement consisted of 190 officers and ratings, although the flotilla leaders carried an extra 20 officers and men consisting of the Captain (D) and his staff. The primary armament of the Tribal-class destroyers was eight quick-firing (QF) 4.7-inch (120 mm) Mark XII guns in four superfiring twin-gun mounts, one pair each fore and aft  of the superstructure, designated 'A', 'B', 'X', and 'Y' from front to rear. The mounts had a maximum elevation of 40°. For anti-aircraft (AA) defence, they carried a single quadruple mount for the QF two-pounder Mk II "pom-pom" gun and two quadruple mounts for the 0.5-inch (12.7 mm) Mark III machine gun. Low-angle fire for the main guns was controlled by the director-control tower (DCT) on the bridge roof that fed data acquired by it and the rangefinder on the Mk II Rangefinder/Director directly aft of the DCT to an analogue mechanical  computer, the Mk I Admiralty Fire Control Clock. Anti-aircraft fire for the main guns was controlled by the Rangefinder/Director which sent data to the mechanical Fuze Keeping Clock. The ships were fitted with a single above-water quadruple mount for torpedoes. The Tribals were not intended as anti-submarine ships, but they were provided with ASDIC, one depth charge rack and two throwers for self-defence, although the throwers were not mounted in all ships; Twenty depth charges was the peacetime allotment, but this increased to 30 during wartime. Construction and career. Authorized as one of seven Tribal -class destroyers under the 1935 Naval Estimates, "Gurkha" (originally "Ghurka") was the second ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy. The ship was ordered on 10 March 1936 from Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering and was laid down on 6 July at the company's Govan shipyard. Launched on 7 July 1937, "Gurkha" was commissioned on 21 October at a cost of £340,997 which excluded weapons and communications outfits furnished by the Admiralty. The ship's completion was delayed by the late delivery of her gunsights. On commissioning, "Gurkha" joined the First Tribal Destroyer Flotilla (which was  renamed the 4th Destroyer Flotilla in April 1939) as part of the Mediterranean Fleet. She was involved in exercises and port visits until the outbreak of war, suffering minor damage in a collision with sister-ship . In September 1939, "Gurkha" was one of a group of ships assigned to monitor Italian naval activity in the Red Sea. In October 1939 the flotilla was reassigned to the Home Fleet, on escort duty from Portland. "Gurkha", like many of the Tribals, suffered from mechanical defects including problems with the ship's turbines and leaks in the reserve feed tanks, and underwent repair  at Thornycroft's Southampton shipyard from December 1939 to January 1940, before rejoining her Flotilla, now based at Scapa Flow. On the night of 23/24 February 1940, "Gurkha" spotted the German submarine on the surface between the Faroe Islands and Orkney Islands. She attacked and sank the enemy south of the Faroe Islands on 23 February 1940. "U-53" dived to avoid a ramming attempt by "Gurkha". "Gurkha" responded with a series of depth charge attacks, sinking "U-53" with the loss of all hands. On 9 April 1940, Germany invaded Norway, and "Gurkha" was part of a naval force (consisting of  the cruisers , , , and , together with the destroyers , "Gurkha", "Sikh", , , and ) detached from the Home Fleet to attack Bergen, where a German cruiser was reported. The attack was cancelled by the British Admiralty, however, and the British force was attacked by 47 German Ju 88 and 41 He 111 bombers of Kampfgeschwader 30 and Kampfgeschwader 26. In an attempt to obtain better firing conditions, "Gurkha" moved away from the mutual protection of the naval force. She then became an easy target for concentrated air attack and soon was stopped by a single bomb hit. The crew were rescued by the cruiser  Aurora and the destroyer "Mashona", with "Gurkha" sinking with the loss of 16 of her crew.