HMS ''Kipling'' (F91) was a K-class destroyer built for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

during the 1930s.

Description

The K-class destroyers were repeats of the preceding J class, except that they were not fitted for

minesweeping Minesweeping is the practice of the removal of explosive naval mines, usually by a specially designed ship called a minesweeper using various measures to either capture or detonate the mines, but sometimes also with an aircraft made for that ...

gear. They displaced at

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object ...

load and at

deep load The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into we ...

. The ships had an overall length of , a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy * Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy ** Laser beam * Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized g ...

of and a draught of . They were powered by two Parsons geared

steam turbine A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turb ...

s, each driving one

propeller shaft A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power and torque and rotation, usually used to connect ...

, using steam provided by two

Admiralty three-drum boiler Three-drum boilers are a class of water-tube boiler used to generate steam, typically to power ships. They are compact and of high evaporative power, factors that encourage this use. Other boiler designs may be more efficient, although bulkier, an ...

s. The turbines developed a total of and gave a maximum speed of . The ships carried a maximum of of

fuel oil Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil, marine fuel oil (MFO), bu ...

that gave them a range of at . The ships' complement was 183 officers and men.Lenton, p. 167 The ships were armed with six 4.7-inch (120 mm) Mark XII guns in twin mounts, two superfiring in front of the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

and one aft of the

superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...

. For

anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

(AA) defence, they had one quadruple mount for 2-pounder "pom-pom" guns and two quadruple mounts for the 0.5 inch Vickers Mark III

anti-aircraft machinegun Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

. The K-class ships were fitted with two above-water quintuple mounts for torpedoes.Whitley, p. 117 The ship was fitted with two

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive hydraulic shock. Most depth charges use ...

throwers and one rack for 20 depth charges.

Construction and career

HMS ''Kipling'', named after the author and poet

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much o ...

, was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

Yarrow ''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Other common names include old man's pepper, devil's nettle, sanguinary, milfoil, soldier's woundwort, and thousand seal. The ...

Scotstoun Scotstoun ( gd, Baile an Sgotaich) is an area of Glasgow, Scotland, west of Glasgow City Centre. It is bounded by Garscadden and Yoker to the west, Victoria Park, Jordanhill and Whiteinch to the east, Jordanhill to the north and the River Cly ...

on 20 October 1937, launched on 19 January 1939, by Kipling's daughter, and commissioned on 12 December 1939. On 11 October 1940, ''Kipling'', along with another six destroyers, escorted the battleship HMS ''Renown'' to bombard the French port of

Cherbourg Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former commune and subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It was merged into the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville on 28 ...

. At dawn on the 23rd of 1941 HMS Kelly and HMS Kashmir were retiring at full speed round the west of Crete. After surviving two heavy air attacks they were overtaken at 7.55 a.m. by a formation of twenty-four dive-bombers. Both ships were quickly sunk, with a loss of 210 lives. Fortunately the destroyer Kipling was near by, and, despite continuous bombing, rescued from the sea 279 officers and men, including

Lord Louis Mountbatten Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979) was a British naval officer, colonial administrator and close relative of the British royal family. Mountbatten, who was of German ...

, while she herself remained unscathed. Next morning, while still fifty miles away from Alexandria, and crowded from stem to stern with men, she ran completely out of fuel, but was safely met and towed in. On 17 December 1941, she was lightly damaged by splinters from a 203 mm round from the Italian cruiser ''

Gorizia Gorizia (; sl, Gorica , colloquially 'old Gorizia' to distinguish it from Nova Gorica; fur, label=Standard Friulian, Gurize, fur, label= Southeastern Friulian, Guriza; vec, label= Bisiacco, Gorisia; german: Görz ; obsolete English ''Goritz ...

'' during the

First Battle of Sirte The First Battle of Sirte was fought between the British Royal Navy and the '' Regia Marina'' (Italian Royal Navy) during the Mediterranean campaign of the Second World War. The engagement took place on 17 December 1941, south-east of Malt ...

. The British assessment concluded instead that ''Kipling'' was hit by near-misses from 305 mm shells fired by the battleships ''

Andrea Doria Andrea Doria, Prince of Melfi (; lij, Drîa Döia ; 30 November 146625 November 1560) was a Genoese statesman, ', and admiral, who played a key role in the Republic of Genoa during his lifetime. As the ruler of Genoa, Doria reformed the Repu ...

'' and ''

Giulio Cesare ''Giulio Cesare in Egitto'' (; , HWV 17), commonly known as ''Giulio Cesare'', is a dramma per musica (''opera seria'') in three acts composed by George Frideric Handel for the Royal Academy of Music in 1724. The libretto was written by Ni ...

''. Her wireless aerials were knocked down, her structure, hull and attached boats holed. One crewmember was killed in action. On 28 December 1941 ''Kipling'' sank the German submarine . ''Kipling'' was attacked by

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Ju 88 The Junkers Ju 88 is a Nazi Germany, German World War II ''Luftwaffe'' twin-engined multirole combat aircraft. Junkers, Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works (JFM) designed the plane in the mid-1930s as a so-called ''Schnellbomber'' ("fast bomber") th ...

bombers of

Lehrgeschwader 1 ''Lehrgeschwader'' 1 (LG 1) (Training Wing 1) formerly ''Lehrgeschwader Greifswald'' was a Luftwaffe multi-purpose unit during World War II, operating fighter, bomber and dive-bomber ''Gruppen''. The unit was formed in July 1936 and operated t ...

north-west of

Mersa Matruh Mersa Matruh ( ar, مرسى مطروح, translit=Marsā Maṭrūḥ, ), also transliterated as ''Marsa Matruh'', is a port in Egypt and the capital of Matrouh Governorate. It is located west of Alexandria and east of Sallum on the main highw ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

on 11 May 1942 and sunk by

Joachim Helbig Joachim Helbig (10 September 1915 – 5 October 1985) was a German bomber pilot during World War II. He joined the Luftwaffe in 1936 and served almost all of his career with Demonstration Wing 1 (''Lehrgeschwader'' 1 (LG 1)). With his unit, he ...

. 29 of her crew were killed and 221 men were rescued.

Notes

References

* Bragadin, Marc'Antonio: ''The Italian Navy in World War II'', United States Naval Institute, Annapolis, 1957. * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

''HMS Kipling (F91)''

IWM Interview with survivor Len Chivers

IWM Interview with survivor Eric Clark

IWM Interview with survivor John Bainbridge
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kipling (1939) J, K and N-class destroyers of the Royal Navy 1939 ships World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea Destroyers sunk by aircraft Maritime incidents in May 1942 Ships sunk by German aircraft