HMAS Waterhen (D22)
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.jpg) HMAS Waterhen |
|
| Career (United Kingdom (RN)) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS Waterhen |
| Builder: | Palmers Shipbuilding and Engineering Company at Jarrow-on-Tyne |
| Laid down: | 3 July 1917 |
| Launched: | 23 March 1918 |
| Completed: | 17 July 1918 |
| Decommissioned: | 11 October 1933 |
| Motto: | Always ready |
| Fate: | Transferred to RAN |
| Career (Australia (RAN)) |  |
| Name: | HMAS Waterhen |
| Commissioned: | 11 October 1933 |
| Decommissioned: | 9 October 1934 |
| Recommissioned: | 14 April 1936 |
| Decommissioned: | 1 June 1938 |
| Recommissioned: | 1 September 1939 |
| Nickname: | The Chook[1] |
| Honours and awards: |
Battle honours: Libya 1940-41 Greece 1941[2] |
| Fate: | Sunk by dive bombers on 30 June 1941 at 32.15N, 25.20E |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | W class destroyer |
HMS Waterhen (D22/I22) was a W class destroyer that served in the Royal Navy (RN) from 1918 until 1933, and the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) from 1933 until her loss in 1941 to a German/Italian bomber force.
Contents |
[edit] Construction
Waterhen was laid down by Palmers Shipbuilding and Engineering Company at Jarrow-on-Tyne on 3 July 1917, launched on 23 March 1918, completed on 17 July 1918 and commissioned into the RN.[when?]
[edit] Operational history
[edit] RN service
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This section requires expansion. |
[edit] Transfer to RAN
Waterhen was transferred to the RAN at Portsmouth on 11 October 1933 and commissioned as HMAS Waterhen.[3]
Waterhen departed for Australia on 17 October 1933 and arrived in Sydney on 21 December 1933. She was paid off into reserve on 9 October 1934 but recommissioned on 14 April 1936 and served on the Australia Station, and was decommissioned again on 1 June 1938.
[edit] World War II
The destroyer was again re-commissioned on 1 September 1939 upon the outbreak of World War II. Waterhen served in the Mediterranean as part of the Scrap Iron Flotilla. She was involved in the evacuation of Greece in April 1941.
[edit] Loss
HMAS Waterhen was severely damaged during an attack by 12 German and 7 Italian dive bombers off Sollum in North Africa on 29 June 1941. HMS Defender took her in tow but, at 0150 on 30 June 1941, Waterhen rolled over and sank. She was the first ship of the Royal Australian Navy to be lost by enemy action in World War II.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ a b MacDougall, Anthony K. (2002) [1991]. Australians at war: a pictoral history (2nd (revised and expanded) ed.). Noble Park, Vic: The Five Mile Press. p. 217. ISBN 1-86503-865-2.
- ^ Festberg, Alfred N. (1981). Heraldry in the Royal Australian Navy. Melbourne, VIC: Silverleaf Publishing. p. 99. ISBN 0949746002. OCLC 9780949746009.
- ^ uboat.net - Allied Warships - Destroyer HMAS Waterhen of the Admiralty V & W class
