HMS Abdiel (M39)
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Built by: | J. Samuel White, of Cowes, UK |
| Laid down: | 29 March 1939 |
| Launched: | 23 April 1940 |
| Commissioned: | 15 April 1941 |
| Paid off: | n/a |
| Fate: | Lost 10 September 1943 |
| Pennant: | M39 |
| General Characteristics | |
| Type: | Minelayer |
| Displacement: | 2,650 tons (standard) 4,000 tons (full load) |
| Length: | 127.4 metres (overall) |
| Beam: | 12.2 metres |
| Draught: | 3.4 metres |
| Propulsion: | 72,000 shp |
| Speed: | 40 knots |
| Range: | |
| Complement: | 244 |
| Armament: | 6 x 4.7" anti-aircraft guns 1 x quadruple pom-pom anti-aircraft guns 12 x 20 millimetre guns 160 mines |
| Armour: | magazine box protection, deck,
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| Aircraft: | |
HMS Abdiel (M39) was an Abdiel class minelayer that served with the Royal Navy during World War II. She served with the Mediterranean Fleet (1941), Eastern Fleet (1942), Home Fleet (1942-43), and the Mediterranean Fleet (1943). Abdiel was sunk by mines in Taranto harbour in 1943. Although designed as a fast minelayer her speed and capacity made her suitable for employment as a fast transport.
[edit] Service
- Abdiel (Captain Hon. E. Pleydell-Bouverie) laid a field of 150 mines off Akra Dhoukaton (Cape Dukato, southern tip of Lefkada island, Ionian sea). On the field were later the same day lost the Italian destroyer Carlo Mirabello (1,840 tons) and gunboat Pellegrino Matteucci and the German transports Kybfels (7764 GRT) and Marburg (7564 BRT).
- On the night of the 26-27 May, Abdiel, escorted by the destroyer HMS Hero (Commander H.W. Biggs, RN) and the Australian destroyer HMAS Nizam (Lieutenant Commander M.J. Clark, RAN), landed 800 Commandos at Suda Bay.
- Abdiel sailed from Alexandria for Sfakia, Crete, with the light cruiser HMS Phoebe (Captain G. Grantham) and 3 destroyers. During the following night these ships removed 4,000 troops from Crete.
- Between December 1942 and April 1943 Abdiel, in cooperation with the minelaying submarine HMS Rorqual and Abdiel's sistership HMS Welshman laid several minefields, totaling some 2,000 mines, in the Strait of Sicily.
- Lays one of the fields mentioned above, athwart the Axis evacuation routes from Tunisia. Later the same day an Italian convoy fouled the field and lost the destroyer Corsaro (1,645 tons), while the destroyer Maestrale (1440 tons) is severely damaged.
- Another Italian convoy fouls one her minefields, this one south of Marettimo island, off the western tip of Sicily, losing the destroyer Saetta (1,225 tons) and the torpedo boat Uragano (910 tons).
- Lays a minefield on the Axis evacuation route, 30 nm north of Cap Bon, Tunisia. On 24 March a convoy enters the field, losing the Italian destroyers Ascari (1,645 tons) and Lanzerotto Malocello (2,125 tons).
- Lays a minefield between the Italian fields X-2 and X-3, whose location was known to the Allies through Ultra intercepts and captured documents. On 7 March a convoy fouls the field, losing the Italian torpedo boat Ciclone (910 tons).
[edit] Sinking
Abdiel, commanded by Captain D. Orr-Ewing, DSO, was sunk by mines in Taranto harbour, Italy on 10 September 1943. The mines had been laid just a few hours earlier by two German torpedo boats (S-54 and S-61), as they left the harbour. Abdiel, carrying troops of the British 1st Airborne Division (6th Royal Welsh battalion), took the berth which had been declined earlier by the captain of USS Boise. Shortly after midnight, two ground mines detonated beneath Abdiel and the minelayer sank in three minutes with great loss of life among both sailors and soldiers. The Airborne Division lost 58 dead and around 150 injured and 48 ship's crew were lost. There is an unconfirmed report that the ship's degaussing equipment had been turned off to reduce noise and to allow troops to sleep better.[citation needed]
