View source for HMS Niger (J73)

{{short description|Minesweeper}}
{{other ships|HMS Niger{{!}}HMS ''Niger''}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2016}}
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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=HMS Niger.jpg
|Ship caption=''Niger'' in 1940
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
|Ship name=''Niger''
|Ship ordered=5 February 1935
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[J. Samuel White]], [[Cowes]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bartiesworld.co.uk/postcards/ship_list_naval.htm |title=Naval Ships of J. Samuel White |access-date=23 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928070947/http://www.bartiesworld.co.uk/postcards/ship_list_naval.htm |archive-date=28 September 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|Ship yard number=
|Ship laid down=1 April 1935
|Ship launched=29 January 1936
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|Ship identification=[[Pennant number]]: J73
|Ship homeport=[[Dover]], [[Kent]]
|Ship motto=
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|Ship captured=
|Ship fate=Sunk on 5 July 1942 from damage caused by a mine off [[Iceland]].
|Ship notes=
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}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Halcyon|minesweeper}}
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|815|-|835|LT|t|lk=on}}
*{{convert|1310|-|1372|LT|t}}, full load
|Ship length={{convert|245|ft|3|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|33|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught={{convert|9|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=Vertical triple-expansion, {{cvt|2,000|ihp|lk=on}}
|Ship speed = {{convert|17|kn|km/h|0}}
|Ship range={{convert|7200|nmi|km|-1|abbr=on}} at {{convert|10|kn|km/h|0}}
|Ship endurance=
|Ship complement=80
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=
* 2 × [[QF 4 inch Mk V naval gun|QF 4 in Mk.V (L/45 102 mm) guns]], single mounts HA Mk.III
* 4 × [[Vickers machine gun|QF 0.5 in Mk.III (12.7 mm) Vickers]] machine guns, quad mount HA Mk.I
* 8 × 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis machine guns
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}}
|}
'''HMS ''Niger''''' was a {{sclass|Halcyon|minesweeper}} of the [[Royal Navy]]. She was [[Ceremonial ship launching|launched]] in 1936 and was sunk during the [[Second World War]]. On 5 July 1942, the vessel sailed into a [[Naval mine|minefield]] while escorting [[Convoy QP 13]] and struck one of the mines, later sinking with only eight survivors.

==Service history==
In fog on 5 July 1942 ''Niger'' mistook an iceberg for [[Iceland]]'s North Western Cape and led six merchant ships of [[Murmansk]] to [[Reykjavík]] [[convoy QP 13]] into [[Northern Barrage]] minefield SN72 laid one month earlier at the entrance to the [[Denmark Strait]].<ref name=icg>{{Cite web |url=http://www.lhg.is/english/eod/mines/ |title=Mines and Mine Laying in Iceland WWII |work=Icelandic Coast Guard |access-date=22 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160331043004/http://www.lhg.is/english/eod/mines/ |archive-date=31 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Every ship detonated British [[naval mine|mines]]. There were no crewmen lost aboard the Soviet freighter ''Rodina'' (4,441 [[gross register tons|GRT]]),<ref>{{cite book | last=Hague |first=Arnold |title=The Allied Convoy System 1939–1945 |year=2000 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland |page=190 |isbn= 1-55750-019-3}}</ref> the [[Panama]]nian-flagged freighter ''Exterminator'' (6,115 GRT), or the American freighter ''Hybert'' (6,120 GRT); but 46 civilian crew and 9 [[Naval Armed Guard]]s died aboard the American [[Liberty ship]] ''John Randolph'' (7,191 GRT) and freighters ''Hefron'' (7,611 GRT) and ''Massmar'' (5,825 GRT);<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.usmm.org/sunk42b.html |title=Ships Sunk or Damaged July 1942 (63 ships) |work=American Merchant Marine at War |access-date=23 January 2014}}</ref> and there were only eight survivors of the 127 men aboard ''Niger''. Only ''Exterminator'' could be salvaged.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/russian/index.html?home.htm~rumain |title=Convoy QP.13 |work=Convoy Web |access-date=23 January 2014}}</ref> The value of the Northern Barrage was questioned following the accident.<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Ops-Minelaying.htm#1 |title=British Naval Minelaying in World War 2 |author=Lieutenant Commander Geoffrey B. Mason  |year=2006 |work=naval-history.net |access-date=12 January 2011}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3669.html UBoat.net HMS ''Niger'' page]
* [http://www.halcyon-class.co.uk/niger/niger_1940.htm Halcyon-Class.co.uk HMS ''Niger'' page]

{{Halcyon class minesweeper}}
{{July 1942 shipwrecks}}
{{coord|66|35|N|23|14|W|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Niger (J73)}}
[[Category:Halcyon-class minesweepers]]
[[Category:Ships built on the Isle of Wight]]
[[Category:1936 ships]]
[[Category:World War II minesweepers of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in July 1942]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by mines]]