View source for HMS Matchless (G52)

{{short description|Destroyer built during WWII}}
{{other ships|HMS Matchless}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=HMS Matchless G52.jpg
|Ship caption=
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Ship country=[[United Kingdom]]
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
|Ship name=''Matchless''
|Ship ordered=7 July 1939
|Ship builder=[[Alexander Stephen and Sons]], [[Linthouse]], Scotland
|Ship laid down=14 September 1940
|Ship launched=4 September 1941
|Ship completed=26 February 1942
|Ship commissioned= 12 February 1942
|Ship recommissioned= August 1944
|Ship decommissioned= April 1946
|Ship fate=Sold to the [[Turkish Navy]] 16 July 1959
|Ship notes=[[Pennant number]] G52
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=title
|Ship country=Turkey
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Turkey|naval}}
|Ship name=TCG ''Kılıç Ali Paşa''
|Ship namesake= [[Uluç Ali Reis]]
|Ship acquired=16 July 1959
|Ship commissioned=
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned= 
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified=
|Ship refit=
|Ship captured=
|Ship identification= D350
|Ship struck= August 1971
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship fate= Scrapped
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=(as built)
|Ship class=[[L and M-class destroyer|M-class]] [[destroyer]]
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|1920|LT|t|lk=on}} ([[Standard displacement|standard]])
*{{convert|2725|LT|t}} ([[deep load]])
|Ship length={{convert|362|ft|3|in|m|1|abbr=on}} ([[Length overall|o/a]])
|Ship beam={{convert|37|ft|m|1|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught={{convert|14|ft|m|1|abbr=on}}
|Ship power=*2 × [[Admiralty 3-drum boiler]]s
*{{convert|48000|shp|kW|lk=on}}
|Ship propulsion=*2 × shafts
*2 × geared [[steam turbine]]s
|Ship speed={{convert|36|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range={{convert|5500|nmi|lk=in|abbr=on}} at {{convert|15|kn}}
|Ship complement=190
|Ship sensors=*[[ASDIC]]
*[[Type 285 radar|Type 285]] gunnery [[radar]]
*[[List of World War II British naval radar#Type 290|Type 290]] air warning radar
|Ship armament=*3 × twin [[QF 4.7-inch Mk XI naval gun|{{convert|4.7|in|mm|abbr=on}}]] [[DP gun]]s
*1 × single [[QF 4-inch Mk V naval gun|{{convert|4|in|mm|abbr=on|0}}]] [[AA gun]]
*1 × quadruple [[QF 2 pounder naval gun|2-pdr (40&nbsp;mm)]] AA guns
*2 × single [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|Oerlikon {{convert|20|mm|abbr=on|1}}]] AA guns
*2 × quadruple, 2 × twin [[Vickers .50 machine gun|0.5&nbsp;in (12.7&nbsp;mm)]] [[anti-aircraft machinegun]]s
*1 × quadruple [[British 21-inch torpedo|{{convert|21|in|mm|abbr=on|0}}]] [[torpedo tube]]s
*42 × [[depth charge]]s, 2 × racks, 2 × throwers
}}
|}

'''HMS ''Matchless''''' was an [[L and M-class destroyer|M-class destroyer]] built during [[World War II]]. After the war she was placed in reserve until August 1957 and eventually sold to the [[Turkish Navy]], who renamed her '''TCG ''Kılıç Ali Paşa'''''. She was struck from the Turkish Navy list and scrapped in 1971.

==Adoptions==
[[Maidenhead]] Borough Council in [[Berkshire]] officially adopted HMS ''Matchless'' after holding a [[Warship Week]] in March 1942 that raised £550,296.{{sfn|Redford|2012|p=18}} A ship's badge was presented to the borough in September 1942.{{sfn|Redford|2012|p=18}}

[[Associated Motor Cycles]] in southeast London, which made [[Matchless]] motorcycles, unofficially adopted the ship in 1943.{{sfn|Redford|2012|p=18}} After the [[Battle of the North Cape]] in December 1943 her [[War flag|battle flag]] and other mementoes were presented to the company.

==Service==

===Scapa Flow===
''Matchless'' undertook [[sea trial]]s in the [[Firth of Clyde]] and then joined the [[Home Fleet]] at [[Scapa Flow]] for crew training in gunnery and torpedo attacks.{{sfn|Redford|2012|p=18}} Her first active service was on an [[Arctic convoys of World War II|Arctic convoy]] to [[Murmansk]] and the [[Kola Peninsula|Kola Inlet]].{{sfn|Redford|2012|p=18}} On 13 May 1942 she was one of four destroyers that sailed from Murmansk escorting the light cruiser {{HMS|Trinidad|46|2}}, which had been damaged during a previous convoy and partially repaired for her homeward voyage. On 15 May 20 [[Junkers Ju 88|Ju 88]] bombers attacked the flotilla and one bomb set ''Trinidad'' on fire and crippled her. ''Matchless'' rescued over 200 survivors and then [[Scuttling|scuttled]] ''Trinidad'' by torpedoing her.{{sfn|Redford|2012|p=18}}

===Malta===
In June 1942 ''Matchless'' took part in [[Operation Harpoon (1942)|Operation Harpoon]]:{{sfn|Redford|2012|p=18}} a heavily armed convoy to relieve the [[Siege of Malta (World War II)|besieged island of Malta]]. The convoy sailed from [[Gibraltar]] on 12 June and ''Matchless'' was damaged by a mine off Malta on 15 June. This forced her to remain in Malta for repairs, where she survived 265 air raids.{{sfn|Redford|2012|p=18}} In August she sailed from Malta disguised as an Italian warship.{{sfn|Redford|2012|p=18}} She reached Gibraltar just in time to join [[Operation Pedestal]], which was the next convoy to relieve Malta.{{sfn|Redford|2012|p=18}}

===Arctic Convoys===
After Operation Pedestal, ''Matchless'' escorted two successful Arctic convoys from [[Loch Ewe]] to the Kola Inlet: [[Convoy JW 51A|JW 51A]] in December 1942 and [[Convoy JW 51B|JW 51B]] in December and January. In May and June 1943 ''Matchless'' escorted the ocean liner {{RMS|Queen Mary}} part-way across the North Atlantic while the liner was carrying [[Winston Churchill]] to the United States.{{sfn|Redford|2012|p=18}} She then escorted further Arctic convoys: [[Convoy JW 54B|JW 54B]] in November 1943 and [[Convoy JW 55A|JW 55A]] in December 1943.

====Sinking ''Scharnhorst''====
On 24–25 December 1943 ''Matchless'' was returning from the Kola Inlet escorting [[Convoy RA 55A]] when she and three other destroyers were ordered to detach from that convoy and join a JW convoy heading for Russia.  It was believed the German battleship {{ship|German battleship|Scharnhorst||2}} might be on the point of leaving her Norwegian fjord base to attack the convoys. On Christmas Day came a message that the 10th Cruiser Squadron consisting of {{HMS|Belfast|C35|2}}, {{HMS|Norfolk|78|2}} & {{HMS|Sheffield|C24|2}}, under Vice Admiral [[Robert Burnett]] had been in action against ''Scharnhorst''. Her mission was to attack the convoys, but she had been ordered to avoid battle with heavy Allied units. Accordingly, she disengaged from the cruisers and with her superior speed was soon out of contact. Vice-Admiral Burnett believed she might be heading north to attack the convoys: Acting on that assumption he also headed north & on Boxing Day did in fact make contact again, with exchange of shots, during which the ''Norfolk'' was hit. ''Scharnhorst'' disengaged again and headed south for the safety of her [[Altafjord]] base. The cruisers & destroyers took up a shadowing role. Burnett was aware that a heavier Royal Navy force commanded by Admiral [[Bruce Fraser, 1st Baron Fraser of North Cape|Bruce Fraser]] aboard the battleship {{HMS|Duke of York|17|2}} was steaming from the west to intercept her. Admiral [[Erich Bey]] aboard ''Scharnhorst'' was not aware. About 5.15pm the black of the winter Arctic night was lit up as bright as day by starshells, & the battle began in earnest. Outnumbered, outgunned, surrounded, her retreat cut off, there could be only one end. She was weakened first by shellfire from ''Duke of York'', then by torpedoes from the cruiser {{HMS|Jamaica|44|2}}, British and Norwegian destroyers.  Finally the destroyer detachment from [[Convoy JW 55A]], including ''Matchless'', closed in and sank ''Scharnhorst'' with a further 19 torpedoes going under around 7.15pm. Only 36 survivors were recovered; ''Matchless'' picking up six of them.

===Return to Home Fleet===
After the battle, ''Matchless'' returned to Scapa Flow, resumed duties with the Home Fleet and performed escort duties including further Arctic convoys until August 1944.{{sfn|Redford|2012|p=18}} She was then paid off in [[Kingston upon Hull|Hull]], but after repairs and a re-fit she was recommissioned later the same month.{{sfn|Redford|2012|p=18}} ''Matchless'' saw further service in the Mediterranean until 1945, and was then decommissioned in April 1946.{{sfn|Redford|2012|p=18}}

===Laid Up===
''Matchless'' was then laid up off [[Portchester Castle]] in [[Hampshire]] where she was held in reserve until at least 1957. Along with three other ships of the same class she was transferred to the [[Turkey|Turkish]] Navy as part of an agreement signed at Ankara on 16 August 1957. They underwent a refit which involved the removal of the after set of torpedo tubes and some secondary armament. They received a new deckhouse and [[Squid (weapon)|Squid anti-submarine]] weapons system. On 29 June 1959 they were handed over at Portsmouth. ''Matchless'', which was refitted at Harland & Wolff's shipyard at Govan, Glasgow, was commissioned as TCG ''Kılıç Ali Paşa''{{sfn|Redford|2012|p=18}} (D-350) after an Italian-born 16th century Turkish admiral, [[Uluç Ali Reis]] (1519–87).<ref>Blackman, Raymond V B, Jane's Fighting Ships 1963-4, Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd, London, p. 248</ref>
{{sfn|Redford|2012|p=18}}

She served in the [[Turkish Navy]] until 1971, when she was struck from the list and scrapped.{{sfn|Redford|2012|p=18}}

==Heritage==
After the war an HMS ''Matchless'' Association was formed to unite personnel who had served aboard her.{{sfn|Redford|2012|p=18}} The ship's badge that was presented to Maidenhead Borough Council in 1942 has since been lost.{{sfn|Redford|2012|p=18}} For a time the ship's battle flag from the Battle of the North Cape hung in the Directors' Office at Associated Motor Cycles' factory in [[Plumstead]].{{sfn|Redford|2012|p=18}} The flag, along with a photograph of the ship and a letter from her commanding officer, [[Lieutenant Commander]] J. Mowlam, were lost after [[Associated Motor Cycles#Decline|AMC went into receivership in 1966]].{{sfn|Redford|2012|p=18}}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{Cite Colledge2006}}
* {{cite book|last=English|first=John|title=Afridi to Nizam: British Fleet Destroyers 1937–43|publisher=World Ship Society|location=Gravesend, Kent|year=2001|isbn=0-905617-64-9}}
* {{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|title=British Destroyers & Frigates: The Second World War and After |publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|date=2006|isbn=1-86176-137-6|author-link=Norman Friedman}}
* {{cite book|last=Lenton|first=H. T.|title=British & Empire Warships of the Second World War|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=1998|isbn=1-55750-048-7|author-link=Henry Trevor Lenton}}
* {{cite book|last=March|first=Edgar J.|title=British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892–1953; Drawn by Admiralty Permission From Official Records & Returns, Ships' Covers & Building Plans|year=1966|publisher=Seeley Service|location=London |oclc=164893555}}
* {{cite book|editor1-last=Chumbley|editor1-first=Stephen|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1995 |year=1995 |publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|isbn=1-55750-132-7|author1-last=Lyon|author1-first=Hugh|author2-first=Stephen|author2-last=Chumbley|chapter=Turkey|name-list-style=amp}}
* {{cite journal |last=Redford |first=Bill |title=H.M.S. Matchless – 1942 to 1946 |journal=Jampot |date=January 2012 |issue=714 |publisher= AJS & Matchless Owners Club Ltd. |page=18 }}
* {{cite book|last=Rohwer|first=Jürgen|title=Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=2005|edition=Third Revised|isbn=1-59114-119-2 |author-link=Jürgen Rohwer}}
* {{cite book|last=Whitley|first=M. J.|title=Destroyers of World War 2: An International Encyclopedia|publisher=Naval Institute Press|date=1988|isbn=0-87021-326-1|location=Annapolis, Maryland|author-link=Michael J. Whitley}}

{{L and M class destroyers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matchless (G52)}}
[[Category:L and M-class destroyers of the Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built on the River Clyde]]
[[Category:1941 ships]]
[[Category:World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom]]