HMS St. Kitts (D18)
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 HMS St. Kitts |
|
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS St. Kitts |
| Builder: | Swan Hunter |
| Laid down: | 8 September 1943 |
| Launched: | 4 October 1944 |
| Commissioned: | 21 January 1946 |
| Decommissioned: | 1957 |
| Fate: | Sold for scrap 19 February 1962 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 2,315 tons |
| Length: | 379 ft (116 m) |
| Beam: | 40.25 ft (12.27 m) |
| Draught: | 12.75 ft (3.89 m) (mean) 17.5 ft (5.3 m) (max) |
| Propulsion: | Parsons geared turbines 2 Shafts. S.H.P. 50,000 |
| Speed: | 34 knots |
| Complement: | 250 (peace), 337 (war) |
| Armament: | 2 × dual 4.5-inch (114 mm) gun 1 × single 4 in gun 14 × Bofors 40 mm gun 8 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes |
HMS St. Kitts (D18) was a Battle-class destroyer of the Royal Navy (RN). She was named in honour of the Battle of St. Kitts which took place in 1782. So far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name. St. Kitts was built by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson Limited on the Tyne. She was launched on the on 4 October 1944 and commissioned on the on 21 January 1946.
St. Kitts joined the 5th Destroyer Flotilla of the Home Fleet upon commission. In 1948, St. Kitts deployed to the Arctic to join the carrier HMS Vengeance, along with a variety of other ships, including other Battle-class destroyer during experiments in that region. In 1953, St. Kitts took part in the large Fleet Review at Spithead to celebration the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. St. Kitts was positioned in the middle of her sister-ships HMS Camperdown and HMS Barfleur. St. Kitts was subsequently placed in Reserve.
In 1954, St. Kitts joined the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla, also part of the Home Fleet. In 1955, St. Kitts, still with the 3rd Flotilla, deployed to the Mediterranean, and took part in the Suez Crisis, which had occurred after the nationalisation of the Suez Canal by the Egyptian leader Nasser. During Operation Musketeer, the invasion of Egypt, St. Kitts performed a variety of duties, including escorting the carrier HMS Eagle, as-well as performing naval bombardment of Port Said. That same year, St. Kitts, along with the rest of the Flotilla, left the Mediterranean to join the Home Fleet. In 1957, St. Kitts was decommissioned, being scrapped in 1962 at Sunderland.
[edit] References
- 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.
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