HMS ''Mahratta'' was an M-class

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

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 ...

which served during World War II. Begun as ''Marksman'', she was damaged while under construction, and dismantled to be rebuilt on a new slipway. She was launched as ''Mahratta'' in 1942, completed in 1943, and quickly pressed into service. After a short but busy career in the North Atlantic and Arctic, largely guarding merchant convoys, she was torpedoed and sunk on 25 February 1944.

History

''Mahratta'' was originally to have been named ''Marksman''. She was laid down on 21 January 1940 but the incomplete ship was blown off the slipway during an air raid in May 1941. ''Marksman'' was to have been the lead ship of the M-class destroyers, and the class was sometimes known as the ''Marksman'' class. Damage sustained by ''Marksman'' was so bad that she had to be dismantled and transferred to an alternative site. The new ship was laid down on 18 August 1941, but she was renamed ''Mahratta'' at her launch in July 1942, after the

Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern India, early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent. It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent List of Maratha dynasties and states, Ma ...

of India, as a recognition of the financial support given by India to the war effort. ''Mahratta'' was adopted by the people of

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

, who held a "

Warship Week Warship Weeks were British National savings campaigns during the Second World War, with the aim of a Royal Navy warship being adopted by a civil community. During the early parts of the war, the Royal Navy not only had lost many capital ships but ...

" from 7–14 February 1942, aiming to raise £700,000 – the cost of a warship. She was completed on 8 April 1943 and entered service on that date. During trials in May 1943 HMS ''Mahratta'' escorted RMS ''Queen Mary'' part way across the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

Operation FH

HMS ''Mahratta'' departed

Scapa Flow Scapa Flow (; ) is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray,S. C. George, ''Jutland to Junkyard'', 1973. South Ronaldsay and Hoy. Its sheltered waters have played an impor ...

on 2 June 1943 with HMS ''Musketeer'' and HMS ''Onslaught'', arriving back at Scapa Flow the same day. On 4 June ''Mahratta'' left Seidisfjord,

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 ...

bound for

Spitzbergen Svalbard ( , ), previously known as Spitsbergen or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago that lies at the convergence of the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it lies about midway between the northern coast o ...

, Norway as part of Operation FH, which was the relief of the garrison there.

Operation FJ

HMS ''Mahratta'' departed Scapa Flow on 8 June 1943 for

Kola Inlet Kola Bay () or Murmansk Fjord is a 57-km-long fjord of the Barents Sea that cuts into the northern part of the Kola Peninsula. It is up to 7 km wide and has a depth of 200 to 300 metres. The Tuloma, Rosta and Kola Rivers discharge into t ...

In July 1943, HMS ''Mahratta'' and HMS ''Musketeer'' waited in Iceland for ice to clear before making a high speed run to

Murmansk Murmansk () is a port city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast in the far Far North (Russia), northwest part of Russia. It is the world's largest city north of the Arctic Circle and sits on both slopes and banks of a modest fjord, Ko ...

. Amongst her valuable cargo was a bathtub for an admiral.

Operation Camera

Operation Camera was a

war game A normal wargame is a strategy game in which two or more players command opposing armed forces in a simulation of an armed conflict. Wargaming may be played for Recreational wargaming, recreation, to train military officers in the art of milit ...

off the coast of

to test the defences against an attempt by ''Tirpitz'' to break out from Kåfjord. The operation was based at Scapa Flow, departing on 7 July 1943. The other participants were HMS ''Duke of York'', USS ''Ellyson'', USS ''Emmons'', USS ''Fitch'', , HMS ''Glasgow'', USS ''Macomb'', HMS ''Meteor'', HMS ''Milne'', HMS ''Musketeer'', USS ''Rodman'', and USS ''South Dakota''.

Operation Governor

Operation Governor was an attempt to lure ''Tirpitz'' and other heavy battleships out of harbour by simulating a raid on southern Norway. Operation Governor departed Hvalfjord on 26 July 1943. HMS ''Mahratta'' was part of Force A, other participants of Force A were HMS'' Anson'', , USS ''Emmons'', USS ''Fitch'', , USS ''Macomb'', HMS ''Meteor'', HMS ''Milne'', HMS ''Musketeer'', and USS ''Rodman''.

Operation SF

Operation SF departed Scapa Flow on 30 July 1943. ''Mahratta'' was part of Group B. She sailed with HMS ''Milne'' and HMS ''Musketeer'' to join HMS ''Oribi'' and HMS ''Orwell'' escorting oil tanker SS ''Blue Ranger''.

Operation Lorry

Operation Lorry departed Skaalefjord on 26 August 1943. ''Mahratta'' was part of the 10th Cruiser Squadron. Operation Lorry enabled the passage of destroyers and stores to

Kola unit was the big kola int eh Kola may refer to: People * Koła, a Polish noble family * Kola (name), people with the given name/surname Kola * Kola (singer), Ukrainian singer, songwriter and performer of her own songs * Kola people, Gabonese p ...

in northern

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. ''Tirpitz'' left her base in Kåfjord with several destroyers to attack the convoy, but was a few hours too late. Operation Lorry delivered parts and crew that were to service the

Spitfires The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced continuously throughout the ...

used for photo-reconnaissance in preparation for

Operation Source Operation Source was a series of attacks to neutralise the heavy German warships – ''Tirpitz'', ''Scharnhorst'', and ''Lützow'' – based in northern Norway, using X-class midget submarines. The attacks took place in September 1943 at K� ...

Escort duties

In September 1943, ''Mahratta'' was sent to the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

with HMS ''Matchless'' to escort to

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

for repairs. ''Matchless'' broke down on the way back, and was taken in tow by ''Mahratta''. The chain later broke, and after this ''Mahratta'' rescued some survivors from a

Coastal Command RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was founded in 1936, when the RAF was restructured into Fighter, Bomber and Coastal commands and played an important role during the Second World War. Maritime Aviation ...

Halifax aircraft that had been shot down by a German

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

. They had spent eleven days in the water. ''Mahratta'' arrived in Plymouth on 11 October 1943 and later that month sailed north again to Scapa Flow and Seidisfjord to escort Convoy JW 54A as part of Operation FR.

Operation FR

Operation FR was the despatch of escort ships to northern Russia which were to act as escorts for the first of the winter 1943 season convoys, Convoy RA 54A. Other participants were HNoMS ''Eglantine'', HMS ''Harrier'', HMS ''Matchless'', HMS ''Milne'', HMS ''Musketeer'', , HMS ''Savage'', HMS ''Scorpion'', HMS ''Scourge'', HMS ''Seagull'', and HMS ''Westcott''. Cover was provided by USS ''Augusta'', HMS ''London'', and HMS ''Middleton''.

Convoy RA 54A

Convoy RA 54A, including the aircraft carrier ''Formidable'' and the battleship ''Anson'', sailed from Kola Inlet on 1 November 1943. The departure of the convoy was delayed by thick

fog Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus and is heavily influenc ...

, but allowed the convoy to reach

Loch Ewe Loch Ewe () is a sea loch in the region of Wester Ross in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. The shores are inhabited by a traditionally Gàidhlig-speaking people living in or sustained by crofting villages, the most notable of which, si ...

without being attacked.

Convoy JW 54A

Convoy JW 54A sailed on 22 November 1943, arriving at

Archangel Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the Catholic hierarchy of angels, based on and put forward by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite in the 5th or 6th century in his book ''De Coelesti Hierarchia'' (''On the Celestial Hierarchy'') ...

on 3 December. Again, the convoy managed to avoid being attacked.

Convoy RA 54B

Convoy RA 54B departed Archangel on 26 November 1943 bound for Loch Ewe. Passage was hampered by poor weather conditions, but the convoy did not come under attack.

Convoy JW 56B

Convoy JW 56B departed Loch Ewe on 22 January 1944 and arrived at Kola Inlet on 1 February. During the passage the convoy was attacked. HMS ''Hardy'' was hit by a

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 ...

from the and HMS ''Venus'' later sank her.

Convoy RA 56

Convoy RA 56 departed Kola Inlet on 3 February 1944 and arrived at Loch Ewe on 11 February 1944.

Convoy JW 57

Convoy JW 57 sailed from Loch Ewe on 11 February 1944, arriving at Kola Inlet on 28 February. On 23 February a Focke-Wulf Condor aircraft was spotted.

Wildcats The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while th ...

were flown from HMS ''Chaser'' and it was thought that they had driven the Condor away, but it kept watch at a distance. Several U-boats were spotted by the Wildcats and

Swordfish The swordfish (''Xiphias gladius''), also known as the broadbill in some countries, are large, highly migratory predatory fish characterized by a long, flat, pointed bill. They are the sole member of the Family (biology), family Xiphiidae. They ...

aircraft were sent to attack any U-boats they could find. HMS ''Kessel'' was successful in sinking with depth charges.

Loss

On 25 February 1944, a Catalina aircraft of 210 Squadron attacked and sank which was trailing the convoy. ''Mahratta'' was struck by two T5 Gnat torpedoes fired by off the coast of Norway. She sank at . Only 16 of the 236 crew survived. Although ''Mahratta'' was lost, the convoy was a success. It was the largest convoy ever sent to Russia.

Memorial

A memorial to those who lost their lives on the Arctic Convoys was unveiled at

in 1991, on the 50th anniversary of the first Arctic Convoy.

Notes

References

* * * * * * *

External links

Crew list of HMS ''Mahratta''
*
Wartime tale of Halifax aircrew shot down over Atlantic and saved by the ''Mahratta''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahratta (G99) L and M-class destroyers of the Royal Navy Ships built on the River Clyde 1942 ships World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II World War II shipwrecks in the Arctic Ocean Maritime incidents in February 1944