HMS ''Hecla'' (F20) was a

destroyer tender A destroyer tender or destroyer depot ship is a type of depot ship: an auxiliary ship designed to provide maintenance support to a flotilla of destroyers or other small warships. The use of this class has faded from its peak in the first half of ...

of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

in World War II. In addition to ample space for stores to resupply shorter-ranged destroyers at sea, ''Hecla'' boasted of workshop space and three cranes, one rated at 10-tons and the other two at 4-tons apiece.

Service history

Following

commissioning Commissioning is a process or service provided to validate the completeness and accuracy of a project or venture. It may refer more specifically to: * Project commissioning, a process of assuring that all components of a facility are designed, in ...

and work-up, ''Hecla'' sailed for the North Atlantic to support anti-submarine operations in the ongoing

Battle of the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allies of World War II, ...

. Based first at Hvalfjord,

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

, it was there that she tended to the captured German submarine before the vessel was towed to the United Kingdom, where she was renamed HMS ''Graph'' and entered service with the

. Reassigned, ''Hecla'' left Iceland bound for the Far East, but her journey was interrupted by an encounter with a German

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging *Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun M ...

. On 15 May 1942 she struck, amidships, one of 80 mines laid a month prior by the auxiliary minelayer , killing 24 and wounding another 112 men. The worst of the damage was to her workshops and storerooms, scattering and destroying dozens of mines,

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

es, and

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon designed to destroy submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited ...

s. Fortunately, none of these detonated. With her steering gear out of commission, the

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several operational roles from search-and-destroy to ocean escort to sea ...

towed ''Hecla'' to Simonstown, a suburb of

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

for repairs. The remainder of May and June were spent in

drydock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

, repairing extensive underwater damage. In July she conducted

trials In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, wh ...

and then returned to drydock for additional work, finally returning to operational status in September. From South Africa the ship steamed north in support of

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8–16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa whil ...

, the Allied invasion of

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

Loss

In the early hours of the morning on 12 November 1942, ''Hecla'' was torpedoed by under the command of

Werner Henke Werner Henke (13 May 1909 – 15 June 1944) was the commander of German submarine in the Battle of the Atlantic of World War II. ''U-515'' was sunk by the US task group 22.3, commanded by Daniel V. Gallery on 9 April 1944 and Henke was captured ...

. The submarine fired a spread of four torpedoes at its target, though only one hit. That hit, in the engine room, was not immediately fatal to the ship. The submarine followed its first four shots with three additional torpedoes, sinking the ship approximately west of

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

. The sinking resulted in 281 casualties. Though one of ''Hecla''s two escorts, was badly damaged at the same time the other, , rescued 568 survivors and landed them at

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

. The wreck lies at an approximate depth of , in position 35° 43'N, 9° 54'W.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hecla (1940) Destroyer tenders Ships of the Royal Navy 1940 ships Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II Maritime incidents in November 1942 Ships built on the River Clyde