HMS Sikh (F82)
.jpg) Sikh underway after completion
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Sikh |
| Namesake | Sikh |
| Builder | Alexander Stephen and Sons, Linthouse |
| Cost | £337,704 |
| Laid down | 24 September 1936[1] |
| Launched | 17 December 1937 |
| Completed | 12 October 1938 |
| Identification | Pennant numbers: L82/F82/G82 |
| Motto | Sicut leonis: 'Be like the lions' |
| Honours and awards |
|
| Fate | Sunk, 14 September 1942 |
| Badge | On a Field Red. a 'Sikh' lion, Gold, behind his head a Sikh quoit, silver. |
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Class and type | Template:Sclass2- |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 377 ft (115 m) (o/a) |
| Beam | 36 ft 6 in (11.13 m) |
| Draught | 11 ft 3 in (3.43 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 2 × shafts; 2 × geared steam turbines |
| Speed | 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph) |
| Range | 5,700 nmi (10,600 km; 6,600 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement | 190 |
| Sensors and processing systems | ASDIC |
| Armament |
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HMS Sikh was a Template:Sclass2- destroyer of the Royal Navy. The ship entered service in 1938 and served during the Second World War, participating in the sinking of Bismarck and the Battle of Cape Bon. In 1942, while participating in a commando raid, Sikh was sunk by a combination of antiaircraft guns, shore artillery and aerial bombs.
Construction and career
Sikh was built by Alexander Stephen and Sons in Glasgow and commissioned in 1938. The ship entered service as part of the 4th Destroyer Flotilla of the Royal Navy.
In 1941, while under the command of Commander Stokes, she took part in the sinking of the German battleship Bismarck in 1941. The night before Bismarck was sunk, she fired a salvo of four torpedoes and claimed a hit after hearing underwater explosions, but actually there were no hits.
Sikh transferred to the Mediterranean serving as part of Force H. On 13 December 1941, Sikh — together with Legion, Maori and the Dutch vessel HNLMS Isaac Sweers — sank the Italian cruisers Alberico da Barbiano and Alberto di Giussano in the Battle of Cape Bon.
On 4 August 1942, Sikh together with Zulu, Croome and Tetcott sank the German submarine U-372 off Haifa.
On 14 September, Sikh and Zulu landed and then covered Operation Agreement, a commando raid on Tobruk. Sikh was hit and sunk by German 88 mm guns and/or 152 mm Italian coastal artillery, and by a bomb dropped by a Macchi C.200[2] — 115 men were lost and many more were taken prisoner. Zulu was damaged and sunk by bombing the following day.
Notes
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "HMS Sikh (F 82)". Uboat.net. Retrieved 2009-08-04.
- ^ L'operazione Daffodil nel piano Agreement
References
- Brice, Martin H. (1971). The Tribals. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0245-2.
- English, John (2001). Afridi to Nizam: British Fleet Destroyers 1937–43. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-64-9.
- Friedman, Norman (2006). British Destroyers and Frigates, the Second World War and After. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-86176-137-6.
- Haarr, Geirr H. (2010). The Battle for Norway: April–June 1940. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-051-1.
- Haarr, Geirr H. (2009). The German Invasion of Norway, April 1940. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-310-9.
- Hodges, Peter (1971). Tribal Class Destroyers. London: Almark. ISBN 0-85524-047-4.
- Lenton, H. T. (1998). British & Empire Warships of the Second World War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-048-7.
- Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
- Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-326-1.
Further reading
- Davies, John. Lower Deck.
- Landsborough, Gordon. Tobruk Commando. ISBN 1-85367-025-1.
- Smith, Peter C. Massacre at Tobruk. ISBN 0-7183-0664-3.
