HMS Diana (H49)
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.jpg/300px-HMS_Diana_(H49).jpg) HMS Diana at a buoy |
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| Career (UK) |  |
|---|---|
| Class and type: | D class destroyer |
| Name: | HMS Diana |
| Ordered: | 2 February 1931 |
| Builder: | Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company, Hebburn-on-Tyne |
| Laid down: | 20 June 1931 |
| Launched: | 16 June 1932 |
| Commissioned: | 21 December 1932 |
| Out of service: | Transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy on 6 September 1940 |
| Career (Canada) |  |
| Name: | HMCS Margaree |
| Commissioned: | 6 September 1940 |
| Fate: | Sunk in a collision on 22 October 1940 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 1,375 tons |
| Length: | 329 ft (100 m) |
| Beam: | 33 ft (10 m) |
| Draught: | 12 ft 6 in (3.8 m) |
| Propulsion: | Three x Admiralty 3-drum water tube boilers Parsons geared steam turbines 36,000 shp on two shafts |
| Speed: | 36 kt (66.7 km/h) |
| Range: | 5,500 nmi at 15 kt |
| Complement: | 145 |
| Armament: |
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| Motto: | Certo Dirigo ictu (I aim with sure blow) |
| Badge: | On a Field Blue, a crescent Moon Silver |
HMS Diana was a D class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She served briefly in the Second World War, operating in Home Waters and in the North Sea. She was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy in 1940 and renamed HMCS Margaree. She served for just over a month with the Canadians before being sunk in a collision with a merchant vessel she was escorting.
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[edit] Pre-World War II
Diana was ordered under the 1930 Naval Estimates on 2 February 1931 from the yards of Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company, Hebburn-on-Tyne. She was laid down on 20 June 1931, launched on 16 June 1932 and finally commissioned into the Navy on 21 December 1932. She cost a total of £229,502, excluding the weapons and the communications equipment which were supplied by the Admiralty.
On completion, Diana was assigned to serve in the Mediterranean. She was refitted at Sheerness in 1934 for service on the China Station with the 8th (later the 21st) Destroyer Flotilla. HMS Duncan was the leader of the Flotilla, and Diana the "half-leader". Early 1938 was spent around Singapore and Indonesia, as well as acting as plane guard for the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle. From October of that year, with the steady progression of Japanese units southward through mainland China, she and the other destroyers of her flotilla spent much of their time scattered along the coast evacuating civillians. She served in the Far East until the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939.
[edit] Wartime career
With the outbreak of war Diana and her sisters HMS Duncan, HMS Daring and HMS Dainty joined the Mediterranean Fleet at Alexandria, arriving there from China in October. After a period carrying out duties such as contraband control and fleet screening, she underwent repair at Malta for defects caused by corrosion, rejoining the fleet in December. She was then nominated to join the Home Fleet, sailing for Britain at the end of the year.
Diana arrived in Home waters in January 1940 and was assigned to the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla. Here her duties included screening units of the Home Fleet and carrying out patrols. On 15 February she escorted HMS Duncan, after she had been damaged in a collision whilst escorting a convoy. Duncan was towed by tugs from Invergordon to the Forth for repairs. Diana then returned to her regular duties. On 21 February Diana rescued 35 of the crew from the SS Loch Maddy, which had been torpedoed and damaged by U-57.
With the German invasion of Norway, Diana was deployed on 8 April to escort troop convoys to Norway. On arrival off the coast, she screened major fleet units, carried out patrols and supported shore operations. On 1 May she screened the cruisers HMS Manchester and HMS Birmingham as they covered the evacuations from Åndalsnes and Molde. On 14 May she escorted the aircraft carrier HMS Glorious from the Clyde to Norway, to cover Operation Alphabet, the allied withdrawal from Norway. In June she and the destroyers HMS Acheron and HMS Highlander escorted HMS Ark Royal from Norway. It was about this time that discussions to transfer Diana to the Royal Canadian Navy to replace HMCS Fraser were held. Fraser had been sunk in a collision on 25 June 1940.
In July Diana was taken in hand for refit and repair in London. Whilst this was under way, her transfer to the Royal Canadian Navy was approved. After post refit trials in August, Diana was transferred and formally commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy as HMCS Margaree on 6 September 1940.
[edit] Sinking
Margaree completed her final work-ups in early October and on 17 October she joined Convoy OL8 in the North Western Approaches as an escort for its passage to Canada. On 22 October she collided with MV Port Fairy[1] and sank in position [2][3], 450 miles off north west Ireland. 34 survivors were rescued by Port Fairy, but 142 men were lost, including her captain, Lt Cdr Roy.
[edit] Commanding Officers
| From | To | Captain |
| 20 December 1932 | July(?) 1934 | Cdr Gerald Maxwell Bradshaw Langley RN, later Vice Admiral Langley OBE CB[4] |
| July 1934 | 17 December 1934 | Cdr Geoffrey Nigel Oliver RN, later Admiral Sir Geoffrey Oliver DSO GBE KCB RN[4] |
| 17 December 1934 | August 1936(?) | Lt Cdr William Halford Selby RN, later Rear Admiral Selby DSC CB[4] |
| 27 August 1936 | 1938 (?) | Lt Cdr John Lee Machin RN[4] (killed in HMS Hood in 1941[5]) |
| 1938 (?) | 6 September 1940 | Lt Cdr Edward Gerard Le Geyt RN[6] |
| 6 September 1940 | 22 October 1940 | Lt Cdr J W R Roy RCN |
[edit] References
- ^ MNA Website - MV Port Fairy bio. Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
- ^ U-boat.net (HMCS Margaree). Retrieved on 2008-05-14.
- ^ a b c d Royal Navy Officers 1939 - 1945 website. Retrieved on 2008-05-14.
- ^ HMS Hood roll-of-honour (Lt Cdr John Machin). Retrieved on 2008-05-14.
- ^ U-boat.net (HMS Diana). Retrieved on 2008-05-14.
- Colledge, J. J. and Warlow, Ben (2006). Ships of the Royal Navy: the complete record of all fighting ships of the Royal Navy, Rev. ed., London: Chatham. ISBN 9781861762818. OCLC 67375475.
- HMS Diana at Uboat.net
- HMS Diana's career
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