HMS Hurricane (H06)

HMS ''Hurricane'' was an H-class destroyer that had originally been ordered by the Brazilian Navy in the late 1930s with the name ''Japura'', but was bought by the Royal Navy after the beginning of World War II in September 1939 and later renamed. When completed in June 1940, the ship was temporarily assigned to the Home Fleet before she began escorting convoys and conducting anti-submarine patrols. She was badly damaged during a German air raid on Liverpool in May 1941 and her repairs were not completed until the beginning of 1942. ''Hurricane'' was then assigned as the flotilla leader of Escort Group B1 assigned to the Mid-Ocean Escort Force, escorting convoys in the North Atlantic for the next two years. The ship was torpedoed by a German submarine on Christmas Eve 1943, and had to be scuttled the next day as she was unable to steam back to port.

Description

''Hurricane'' displaced at standard load and at deep load. The ship had an overall length of , a beam of and a draught of . She was powered by Parsons geared steam turbines, driving two shafts, which developed a total of and gave a maximum speed of . Steam for the turbines was provided by three Admiralty 3-drum water-tube boilers. ''Hurricane'' carried a maximum of of fuel oil, giving her a range of at .Whitley, p. 109 The ship's complement was 152 officers and men.Lenton, p. 163

The vessel was designed for four 4.7-inch Mk IX guns in single mounts, designated 'A', 'B', 'X', and 'Y' from front to rear, but 'Y' gun was removed to compensate for the additional depth charges added. For anti-aircraft (AA) defence, ''Hurricane'' had two quadruple Mark I mounts for the 0.5 inch Vickers Mark III machine gun. She was fitted with two above-water quadruple torpedo tube mounts for torpedoes. One depth charge rail and two throwers were originally fitted, but this was increased to three sets of rails and eight throwers while fitting-out. The ship's load of depth charges was increased from 20 to 110 as well. She was fitted with an ASDIC set to detect submarines by reflections from sound waves beamed into the water.

Wartime modifications

Little data on ''Hurricane''s modifications during the war has survived, although it is known that she had her rear torpedo tubes replaced by a 12-pounder AA gun by October 1940. The ship's short-range AA armament may have been augmented by two Oerlikon 20 mm guns on the wings of the ship's bridge and the .50-calibre machine gun mounts may have also been replaced by a pair of Oerlikons. The ship's director-control tower and rangefinder above the bridge may have been removed in exchange for a Type 271 target indication radar. A Type 286 short-range surface search radar was probably also fitted midway through the war. The ship probably also received a HF/DF radio direction finder mounted on a pole mainmast. It is not known at what point the dazzle camouflage paint scheme was applied.

Service

''Japura'' was ordered by Brazil on 6 December 1937 from Vickers-Armstrongs, Barrow-in-Furness. The ship was laid down on 3 June 1938 and she was purchased by the British on 5 September 1939 after the beginning of World War II. Renamed HMS ''Hurricane'', the ship was launched on 29 September and commissioned on 21 June 1940. She was assigned to the 9th Destroyer Flotilla of the Home Fleet upon commissioning until new construction replaced the losses suffered over the previous few months. ''Hurricane'' then began escorting convoys and conducting anti-submarine patrols until May 1941. On 17 September, the ship rescued survivors of , a small passenger ship evacuating 90 children from the United Kingdom to Canada, and the freighter . She rescued 451 survivors from the passenger-cargo liner and landed them at Greenock, Scotland on 1 May 1941.English, p. 134

''Hurricane'' was bombed and sunk in a German air raid on Liverpool during the night of 7/8 May 1941. She was struck by a bomb that passed through the hull and detonated underneath her. The explosion blew a large hole in her bottom and flooded her engine room and oil tanks. The ship's structure was badly damaged enough that her stern began to sag downwards and ''Hurricane'' was moved to Bidston Dock lest she sink and block traffic in the harbour. No one was killed in the attack, although a few crewmen received minor injuries.

The ship was repaired and returned to service in January 1942 as flotilla leader of Escort Group B1 assigned to the Mid-Ocean Escort Force. ''Hurricane'' remained as the leader for the next two years. Whilst escorting Convoy OS 62/KMS 36, the ship was hit by an acoustic T5 torpedo fired by the on the evening of 24 December 1943.Rohwer, p. 294 The torpedo homed in on the ship's propeller noises and blew off of her stern. The explosion killed three and wounded nine of her crew, and rendered her unable to move. The following morning, she was scuttled by the destroyer at .

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hurricane (H06)
Jurua-class destroyers
Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness
1939 ships
G and H-class destroyers of the Royal Navy
World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom
Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II
World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean
Maritime incidents in May 1941
Maritime incidents in December 1943