HMS Kelly (F01)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

HMS Kelly (F01) was a K-class destroyer in Britain's Royal Navy, launched on 25 October 1938 at Hawthorn Leslie, Hebburn and commissioned on 23 August 1939.

She served during World War II in Norway and the Mediterranean, and for all of its service was under the command of Lord Louis Mountbatten. In May 1940 she was torpedoed by a German E-boat during the battle of Norway. Severely damaged, she was taken under tow by the tug Great Emperor and for four days she was attacked by E-boats and bombers as she struggled back to port at 3 knots.

The Navy Controller wrote that she survived "not only by the good seamanship of the officers and men but also on account of the excellent workmanship which ensured the watertightness of the other compartments. A single defective rivet might have finished her". She was repaired and returned to service.

On 23 May 1941 in the evacuation of Crete she was bombed and sank. Half her crew were killed. After Kelly's sinking the survivors felt deeply the loss of their ship. Mountbatten shared their loss and tried to console the ship's company by reminding them all that "we didn't leave the Kelly, the Kelly left us!"

The film In Which We Serve starring Noel Coward and John Mills and telling the story of "HMS Torrin", is based on the career of Kelly.