HMS Zulu (F18)
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HMS ''Zulu'' was a
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 ...
and the second ship to bear the name. Built in Glasgow by
Alexander Stephen and Sons Alexander Stephen and Sons Limited, often referred to simply as Alex Stephens or just Stephens, was a Scottish shipbuilder, shipbuilding company based in Linthouse, Glasgow, on the River Clyde and, initially, on the east coast of Scotland. Hist ...
, her
keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...
was laid down on 10 August 1936, she was launched on 23 September 1937 and commissioned on 7 September 1938. ''Zulu'' was sunk by German or Italian aircraft on 14 September 1942, off Tobruk. Some sources credit
Junkers Ju 87 The Junkers Ju 87, popularly known as the "Stuka", is a German dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft. Designed by Hermann Pohlmann, it first flew in 1935. The Ju 87 made its combat debut in 1937 with the Luftwaffe's Condor Legion during the ...
"Stuka" dive bombers from
StG 3 ''Sturzkampfgeschwader 3'' (StG 3—Dive Bomber Wing 3) was a Dive bomber wing in the German ''Luftwaffe'' during World War II and operated the Junkers Ju 87 ''Stuka''. The wing was activated on 9 July 1940 using personnel from German medium bo ...
with her sinking, but the ship's commanding officer testified she was sunk by a combination of Ju 87s and
Junkers Ju 88 The Junkers Ju 88 is a twin-engined multirole combat aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works. It was used extensively during the Second World War by the ''Luftwaffe'' and became one o ...
s.


Description

The Tribals were intended to counter the large destroyers being built by other nations and to improve the firepower of the existing destroyer
flotilla A flotilla (from Spanish, meaning a small ''flota'' ( fleet) of ships), or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. Composition A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same cla ...
s and were significantly larger and more heavily armed than the preceding . The ships 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 weig ...
. They had an
overall length The overall length (OAL) of an ammunition cartridge is a measurement from the base of the brass shell casing to the tip of the bullet, seated into the brass casing. Cartridge overall length, or "COL", is important to safe functioning of reloads i ...
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 *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...
of Lenton, p. 165 and a draught of .English, p. 12 The destroyers were powered by two Parsons geared
steam turbine A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...
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, torque, and rotation, usually used to connect o ...
using steam provided by three
Admiralty three-drum boiler Three-drum boilers are a class of water-tube boiler used to generate steam, typically to power Steamship, ships. They are compact and of high evaporative power, factors that encourage this use. Other boiler designs may be more efficient, although ...
s. The turbines developed a total of and gave a maximum speed of . During her
sea trial A sea trial or trial trip is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on op ...
s ''Zulu'' made from at a displacement of . The ships carried enough
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 (bunker fuel), marine f ...
to give them a range of at . The ships' complement consisted of 190 officers and ratings, although the
flotilla leader A flotilla leader was a warship of late 19th century and early 20th century navies suitable for commanding a flotilla of destroyers or other small warships, typically a small cruiser or a large destroyer (known as a destroyer leader). The floti ...
s carried an extra 20 officers and men consisting of the
Captain (D) In the Royal Navy, a Captain (D) or Captain Destroyers is a commander responsible for the administration of ships and other vessels of either a destroyer flotilla or squadron. See also * Captain (D) afloat Captain (Capt.) is a senior office ...
and his staff.Whitley, p. 99 The primary armament of the Tribal-class was eight quick-firing (QF) 4.7-inch (120 mm) Mark XII guns in four
superfiring Superfiring armament is a naval design technique in which two or more turrets are located one behind the other, with the rear turret located above ("super") the one in front so that it can fire over the first. This configuration meant that both ...
twin-gun mounts, one pair each fore and 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 ...
, designated 'A', 'B', 'X', and 'Y' from front to rear. The mounts had a maximum
elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...
of 40°. For anti-aircraft (AA) defence, they carried a quadruple mount for the QF two-pounder Mk II "pom-pom" gun and two quadruple mounts for the 0.5-inch (12.7 mm) Mark III machine guns. Low-angle fire for the main guns was controlled by the director-control tower (DCT) on the
bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...
roof that fed data acquired by it and the
rangefinder A rangefinder (also rangefinding telemeter, depending on the context) is a device used to Length measurement, measure distances to remote objects. Originally optical devices used in surveying, they soon found applications in other fields, suc ...
on the Mk II Rangefinder/Director directly aft of the DCT to an analogue
mechanical computer A mechanical computer is a computer built from mechanical components such as levers and gears rather than electronic components. The most common examples are adding machines and mechanical counters, which use the turning of gears to incremen ...
, the Mk I
Admiralty Fire Control Clock Admiralty Fire Control Table in the transmitting station of .The Admiralty Fire Control Table (A.F.C.T.) was an electromechanical analogue computer fire-control system that calculated the correct elevation and deflection of the main armament of a ...
. Anti-aircraft fire for the main guns was controlled by the Rangefinder/Director which sent data to the mechanical
Fuze Keeping Clock The Fuze Keeping Clock (FKC) was a simplified version of the Royal Navy's High Angle Control System analogue fire control computer. It first appeared as the FKC MkII in destroyers of the 1938 ,''Tribal Class Destroyers'', Hodges, p. 27 while lat ...
. The ships were fitted with an above-water quadruple mount for torpedoes. The Tribals were not intended as anti-submarine ships, but they were provided with
ASDIC Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances ( ranging), communicate with or detect objects o ...
, one
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 ...
rack and two throwers for self-defence, although the throwers were not mounted in all ships; Twenty depth charges was the peacetime allotment, but this increased to 30 during wartime.


Wartime modifications

Heavy losses to German air attack during the Norwegian Campaign demonstrated the ineffectiveness of the Tribals' anti-aircraft suite and the RN decided in May 1940 to replace 'X' mount with two QF Mark XVI
dual-purpose gun A dual-purpose gun is a naval artillery mounting designed to engage both surface and air targets. Description Second World War-era capital ships had four classes of artillery: the heavy main battery, intended to engage opposing battleships and ...
s in a twin-gun mount. To better control the guns, the existing rangefinder/director was modified to accept a Type 285
gunnery radar A fire-control radar (FCR) is a radar that is designed specifically to provide information (mainly target azimuth, elevation, range and range rate) to a fire-control system in order to direct weapons such that they hit a target. They are sometime ...
as they became available. The number of depth charges was increased to 46 early in the war, and still more were added later. To increase the firing arcs of the AA guns, the rear
funnel A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening. Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its constructi ...
was shortened and the
mainmast The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall spar, or arrangement of spars, erected more or less vertically on the median line of a ship or boat. Its purposes include carrying sails, spars, and derricks, giving necessary height to a navigation light ...
was reduced to a short pole mast. and two, single 2 pounder guns were mounted on the bridge wings.


Construction and career

Authorized as one of seven Tribal-class destroyers under the 1935 Naval Estimates, ''Zulu'' was the second ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy. The ship was ordered on 10 March 1936 from
Alexander Stephen and Sons Alexander Stephen and Sons Limited, often referred to simply as Alex Stephens or just Stephens, was a Scottish shipbuilder, shipbuilding company based in Linthouse, Glasgow, on the River Clyde and, initially, on the east coast of Scotland. Hist ...
and 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 ...
on 27 August at the company's
Linthouse Linthouse is a neighbourhood in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated directly south of the River Clyde and lies immediately west of Govan, with other adjacent areas including Shieldhall and the Southern General Hospital to the west, ...
shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are shipbuilding, built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes m ...
. Launched on 23 September 1937, ''Zulu'' was commissioned on 6 September 1938 at a cost of £351,135 which excluded weapons and communications equipment that would be furnished by the
Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Tra ...
. During 1940 she developed engine trouble and was dry docked for repairs and
degaussing Degaussing, or deperming, is the process of decreasing or eliminating a remnant magnetic field. It is named after the gauss, a unit of magnetism, which in turn was named after Carl Friedrich Gauss. Due to magnetic hysteresis, it is generally not ...
. She returned to service in early March when she was employed escorting convoys around the
Western Approaches The Western Approaches is an approximately rectangular area of the Atlantic Ocean lying immediately to the west of Ireland and parts of Great Britain. Its north and south boundaries are defined by the corresponding extremities of Britain. The c ...
. In June 1941, she sailed to Falmouth for a refit. Following this, she was attached to
Force H Force H was a British naval formation during the Second World War. It was formed in late-June 1940, to replace French naval power in the western Mediterranean removed by the French armistice with Nazi Germany. The force occupied an odd place ...
at
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 ...
. On 4 August 1942, ''Zulu'' with , and attacked and sank off
Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...
and ''Zulu''s
commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...
,
Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...
R.T. White, DSO was
Mentioned in Despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...
for his leadership. In April 1941 she was assigned to provide Atlantic convoy defence as part of the RN's 4th Destroyer flotilla. On 22nd May 1941 she joined military convoy WS8B as local escort during its passage in the western Approaches together with HMS Cairo, and the destroyers HMS Cossack, Bridge, Maori, Ottawa (RCN), ORP Piorun (Polish), Sikh & Restigouche (RCN). On the 26th May she was detached from the escort to relieve the destroyer escorts of HMS King George V during her search for German Battleship Bismarck. on the 27th she carried out torpedo attacks on Bismarck with destroyers of RN's 4th destroyer Flotilla. On the 14 September ''Zulu'', ''Sikh'' and the
light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...
, landed and covered
Operation Agreement Operation Agreement was a ground and amphibious operation carried out by British, Rhodesian and New Zealand forces on Axis-held Tobruk from 13 to 14 September 1942, during the Second World War. A Special Interrogation Group party, fluent in Ge ...
, a commando raid on
Tobruk Tobruk ( ; ; ) is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District (formerly Tobruk District) and has a population of 120,000 (2011 est.)."Tobruk" (history), ''Encyclopà ...
. ''Sikh'' was hit and sunk by 152 mm Italian coastal artillery, German 88 mm guns and a bomb dropped by a Macchi C.200. 115 men were killed but ''Zulu'' was able to save lives of several of her crew. Later the same day, ''Coventry'' was heavily damaged by
Junkers Ju 88 The Junkers Ju 88 is a twin-engined multirole combat aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works. It was used extensively during the Second World War by the ''Luftwaffe'' and became one o ...
s of
Lehrgeschwader 1 ''Lehrgeschwader'' 1 (LG 1) (Demonstration 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 opera ...
. Dead in the water, on fire and with 63 killed she was scuttled by gunfire and torpedoes from ''Zulu''. Aircraft continued to attack ''Zulu'' and she was badly damaged and left without engine power an hour later. According to her commanding officer, the attack was carried out by a combination of Ju 88s and Ju 87s. The type II Hunt-class destroyer, ''HMS Croome'' came alongside to take off the surviving personnel, save for a towing party and ''Zulu'' was taken under tow by ''HMS Hursley''. By 19:00 hours and a hundred miles from
Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
, it was clear she was sinking and the towing party was recovered after a strafing pass by an enemy aircraft. Soon after, ''Zulu'' rolled to starboard and sank in position . Across both attacks, twelve men were killed, twenty-seven were missing and one was wounded.HMS Zulu (F18) at Uboat.net
/ref>


Notes


References

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External links


HMS Cavalier.orgHMS Zulu (F18) at Wrecksite.eu
White, Richard Taylor {{DEFAULTSORT:Zulu (F18) Tribal-class destroyers (1936) of the Royal Navy Ships built on the River Clyde 1937 ships World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea Maritime incidents in September 1942 Destroyers sunk by aircraft Ships sunk by German aircraft