HMS Terror (I03)

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Career

Ordered:
Laid down:	26 October 1915
Launched:	18 May 1916
Commissioned:	6 August 1916
Fate:	Sunk 23 February 1941 off Darnah
General Characteristics
Displacement:	7200 BRT
Length:	405 ft.
Beam:	88 ft.
Draught:	11 feet 8 inches
Propulsion:	Reciprocating engines, 2 shafts, 6000 HP
Speed:	12 knots
Range:
Complement:	315 officers & sailors
Armament:	Main: 2 15-inch (1x2) Anti-aircraft: 4 4-inch (8x1) 2 3-inch AA guns (2x1) 8 0.5-inch AA (2x4)
Aircraft:	None

HMS Terror was an Erebus-class monitor built for the Royal Navy in 1915-16 at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Govan, Scotland.

The Erebus class monitors were of 7,200 BRT displacement, 405 feet long, with a maximum speed of 12 knots produced by reciprocating engines with two shafts, and a crew of 315. The ship's armament consisted of two 15-inch main guns in a single forward turret, eight secondary 4-inch guns in eight single turrets, two 3-inch anti-aircraft guns in single turrets, as well as eight .50 inch anti-aircraft Vickers machine guns in two quadruple mounts. The class mostly served in the Naval Gunfire Support (NGS) role.

Terror served in the Mediterranean Theatre during World War II. After first using her anti-aircraft armament to help defend Malta against the first Italian Regia Aeronautica air attacks on 11 June 1940, HMS Terror played an important part in Operation Compass, the British assault against the Italian Army in Libya.

During the successful advance by the Western Desert Force (later to become the 8th Army "Desert Rats") Terror bombarded Italian land forces and fortifications, amongst others the fortified port of Bardia in eastern Libya, firing 660 rounds from her main guns. The ship also served as a water carrier for the advancing British and Commonwealth army.

HMS Terror was subjected to diving attacks by German Junkers Ju-88 bombers on 22 February 1941 after leaving Benghazi. She was badly damaged by near misses and abandoned by her crew. Although taken under tow, she sank off Darnah, Libya before reaching the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet base at Alexandria, Egypt.