HMS Eclipse (H08)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Eclipse.

Eclipse during World War II
History
UK
Name	HMS Eclipse
Namesake	Eclipse
Ordered	1 November 1932
Builder	William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton
Cost	£246,664
Laid down	22 March 1933
Launched	12 April 1934
Completed	29 November 1934
Identification	Pennant number: H08
Motto	Nunquan ("Never eclipsed")
Honours and awards	Battle honours: Norway 1940 Arctic 1942-42 Sicily 1943 Atlantic 1943 Salerno 1943 Aegean 1943
Fate	Sunk by a mine, 24 October 1943
Badge	On a Field Blue, the Earth Black over a sun Gold.
General characteristics
Class and type	E-class destroyer
Displacement	1,350–1,405 long tons (1,372–1,428 t) standard 1,886–1,940 long tons (1,916–1,971 t) full load
Length	329 ft (100 m) o/a 318 ft 3 in (97.00 m) p/p
Beam	33 ft 3 in (10.13 m)
Draught	12 ft 6 in (3.81 m)
Propulsion	3 Admiralty 3-drum boilers 300 psi (2,100 kPa), 620 °F 2 shaft Parsons geared turbines 36,000 shp (26,845 kW)
Speed	26 knots (48 km/h; 30 mph)
Range	6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Endurance	471 tons fuel oil
Complement	145 (173 in 1942)
Armament	• 4 × 4.7 inch/45 (120 mm) Mk XVIII (4×1) • 8 × Vickers .50 machine guns (2×4) • 5 × .303 inch machine guns (5×1) • 8 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (2×4) • 2 × depth charge racks • 60 depth charges 1940 : • 4 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes replaced by • 1 × 3 in (76.2 mm)/50 and 2 × 20 mm Oerlikon (2×1)

HMS Eclipse was an E-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that saw service in the Atlantic, Arctic, and Mediterranean theatres during World War II, until sunk by a mine in the Aegean Sea on 24 October 1943.

Service history

From 12 April 1941 Eclipse was refitted at Devonport Dockyard, sailing in early June to rejoin the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla. On 25 June she was deployed to protect the ships of the 1st Minelaying Squadron during a minelay in the Northern Barrage, replacing the destroyer Brighton, which had been damaged in a collision with the cruiser Kenya. At the end of July she was part of the destroyer screen of Force P—the carriers Furious and Victorious, and the cruisers Devonshire and Suffolk—during the raid on Kirkenes and Petsamo (Operation EF).

Operation Gauntlet

In mid-August Eclipse and five other destroyers were deployed as the screen for the cruisers Aurora and Nigeria, as they escorted the troopship Empress of Canada and the auxiliary tanker RFA Oligarch to Spitsbergen in Operation Gauntlet. Canadian troops landed to destroy mining equipment and two radio stations, while Norwegian and Russian civilians were evacuated.

Operation Gearbox

Eclipse remained on screening duty from June to August, transferring to the 8th Destroyer Flotilla in July. In September she was deployed with the destroyers Amazon, Bulldog, Echo and Venomous as the screen for the cruisers Cumberland and Sheffield to establish a refuelling facility at Lowe Sound, Spitsbergen, and re-supply the garrison there (Operation Gearbox).

She then refitted at a shipyard on the Humber River before rejoining the Flotilla at Scapa Flow on 20 November.

Demise

The next day on the 24th Eclipse hit a mine east off Kalymnos in position 37°01′N 27°11′E. She broke in two and sank within five minutes with the loss of 119 of the ship's company and 134 soldiers (from A Company, 4th Battalion, Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment)).

References

Bibliography

• English, John (1993). Amazon to Ivanhoe: British Standard Destroyers of the 1930s. Kendal, England: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-64-9.
• Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939-1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
• Shores, Christopher (1987). Air War for Yugoslavia, Greece, and Crete. London: Grub Street. ISBN 0-948817-07-0. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-326-1.

External links

• HMS Eclipse - A Survivors Story