HMS ''Thanet'' was an S-class destroyer of 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 ...

. Built during, and commissioned shortly after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

, she went on to see service in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, being sunk early in 1942. ''Thanet'' had been one of the ships on the

China Station The Commander-in-Chief, China was the admiral in command of what was usually known as the China Station, at once both a British Royal Navy naval formation and its admiral in command. It was created in 1865 and deactivated in 1941. From 1831 to 18 ...

on the outbreak of war. After briefly being converted to a minelayer she spent the early years of the war patrolling off

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

. With the Japanese entry to the war ''Thanet'' evacuated Hong Kong with another destroyer, just hours after the Japanese began their attack on the city. She made her way to

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

and briefly deployed there until being sent to intercept an enemy troop convoy, in company with the Australian destroyer . The allied ships ran into a heavy Japanese force, and after a short battle ''Thanet'' was sunk and ''Vampire'' was forced to withdraw.

Construction and commissioning

''Thanet'' was ordered from the yards of

Hawthorn Leslie & Company R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, Limited, usually referred to as Hawthorn Leslie, was a shipbuilder and locomotive manufacturer. The company was founded on Tyneside in 1886 and ceased building ships in 1982. History The company was form ...

Hebburn Hebburn is a town in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, England. It governed under the borough of South Tyneside; formerly governed under the county of Durham until 1974 with its own urban district from 1894 until 1974. It is on the sou ...

in July 1917, part of the 1917–18 Programme. She was laid down there on 13 December 1917 and launched on 5 November 1918, six days before the

Armistice with Germany The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed at Le Francport near Compiègne that ended fighting on land, sea, and air in World War I between the Entente and their last remaining opponent, Germany. Previous armistic ...

. She was commissioned on 3 August 1919, and was initially used to trial a 'flying off platform' for aircraft.

Second World War

''Thanet'' was on the

, deployed with the Local Destroyer Flotilla at

on the outbreak of the Second World War on 3 September 1939. Her initial duties involved carrying out patrols and intercepting German shipping, and in October she was nominated to be converted for use as a

minelayer A minelayer is any warship, submarine or military aircraft deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for installing contro ...

. Work began at the naval dockyard in Hong Kong on 18 October, and she was able to participate in the laying of a defensive

minefield A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automati ...

Lantau Channel Lantau Channel () is a channel south of Fan Lau Kok of Lantau Island in Hong Kong. The channel is also on the water boundary between Hong Kong and mainland China. Across the border is the islands of Guishan Dao (), Niutou Dao () and Zhongxin Dao ( ...

between 21 and 27 October, the following day reverting to her anti-submarine role. The rest of the year and all of 1940 was spent carrying out similar duties, deploying out of Hong Kong to protect trade and patrol in search of enemy vessels. The threat of the Japanese entry to the war in December 1941 led to negotiations on 6 December between the British commander in the area, Admiral Tom Phillips, and his American counterpart Admiral Thomas C. Hart. Hart agreed to send four destroyers to Singapore, , , and , while Phillips would move ''Thanet'' and her sister-ship to Singapore. Events were overtaken by the Japanese

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawa ...

the following day, and the Japanese assault on Hong Kong which began on 8 December, which was effectively the same day as the Pearl Harbour assault for the International Dateline placed Hong Kong twenty-four hours ahead of the USA. ''Thanet'' and ''Scout'' hurriedly evacuated the port on 8 December, just hours after the Imperial Japanese Army attack on Mainland positions began, and made their way to

to join the

Eastern Fleet Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 * Eastern Air ...

. A small force consisting of the destroyer , the

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-ste ...

and eight motor torpedo boats remained behind to gallantly fight the Japanese. On their arrival at Singapore on 13 December, ''Thanet'' and ''Scout'' carried out various escort duties.

Last battle and sinking

On 26 January 1942

Malaya Command The Malaya Command was a formation of the British Army formed in the 1920s for the coordination of the defences of British Malaya, which comprised the Straits Settlements, the Federated Malay States and the Unfederated Malay States. It consisted ...

received intelligence that a Japanese troop convoy was approaching Endau, and attempted to attack it with nine

Lockheed Hudson The Lockheed Hudson is a light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built by the American Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. It was initially put into service by the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and pr ...

s of No. 1 and No. 8 Squadrons, and 12

Vickers Vildebeest The Vickers Vildebeest and the similar Vickers Vincent were two very large two- to three-seat single-engined British biplanes designed and built by Vickers and used as light bombers, torpedo bombers and in army cooperation roles. First flown i ...

s. The attack went badly, losing five Vildebeests, and being unable to inflict significant damage. The Japanese commander, Vice-Admiral

Jisaburō Ozawa was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. He was the last Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet The was the main sea-going component of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Until 1933, the Combined Fleet was not a pe ...

had received intelligence reports that two cruisers were at Singapore, and so concentrated his forces off Endau. The two cruisers were in fact ''Thanet'', and the destroyer , and following the failure of the air attacks, Malaya Command ordered them to sea to intercept the convoy. They steamed from Singapore at 4:30 pm on 26 January, carrying only three

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

es each. Early in the morning of 27 January they ran into the covering force of Japanese warships, consisting of three destroyers, and later being joined by the Japanese cruiser ''Sendai''. ''Thanet'' was hit in the engine room and disabled, and began to sink. ''Vampire'' attempted to lay down a

smoke screen A smoke screen is smoke released to mask the movement or location of military units such as infantry, tanks, aircraft, or ships. Smoke screens are commonly deployed either by a canister (such as a grenade) or generated by a vehicle (such as a ...

but was driven off under heavy fire, and managed to escape. ''Thanet'' sank with the loss of 12 men afterwards.Cannon, p. 79 Sixty-five crewmen managed to get to the coast and arrived at Singapore, but 31 were picked up by and handed over to Japanese troops the next day. It is believed they were executed in retaliation for heavy Japanese losses sustained in an ambush by the Australian 2/18th Battalion which occurred at the same time as the naval battle off Endau.

Citations

General references

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External links