HMS Somali at anchor |
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| Career (UK) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS Somali |
| Builder: | Swan Hunter, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom |
| Laid down: | 26 August 1936 |
| Launched: | 24 August 1937 |
| Commissioned: | 12 December 1938 |
| Fate: | lost 20 September 1942, torpedoed by U-703, sank under while under tow in Arctic Ocean |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 1,870 tons |
| Length: | 364 ft 8 in (111.15 m) |
| Beam: | 36 ft 6 in (11.13 m) |
| Draught: | 13 ft (4.0 m) |
| Propulsion: | 3 Admiralty 3-Drum Boilers at 300 lb/sq.in, all with 2 shaft Parsons geared turbines |
| Complement: | 190[1] |
| Armament: | 8 x 4.7 in twin turrets 1 x quadruple 2 pdrs anti-aircraft guns 2 × quadruple 0.5 cal machine guns 1 x quadruple torpedo tubes (21 Mk IX Torpeoes) 2 x Depth charge throwers 1 x Depth charge rail |
HMS Somali (pennant number F33, later G33) was a Tribal-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in World War II.
Contents |
She was built by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear. She was laid down on 26 August 1936, launched on 24 August 1937, and commissioned on 12 December 1938.
On 3 September 1939, Somali intercepted the German freighter Hannah Böge, 350 miles south of Iceland, and took her as a prize. This was the first enemy mercantile to be captured during the war.[2]
HMS Somali was the leader of the British 6th Destroyer Flotilla and spent most of the winter of 1940/41 screening Home Fleet sweeps.
In May 1941, Somali boarded the German weather ship München. Prior to being boarded, the crew of the München threw overboard the ship's enigma machine in a weighted bag. However, documents on the operation of the enigma machine were left onboard, as were vital codebooks providing a breakthrough for Allied codebreakers.
On 13 August 1942, Somali rescued all 105 crew of the America cargo ship Almeria Lykes, which had been torpedoed by E boats while taking part in Operation Pedestal. The rescued crew were landed at Gibraltar.[3] On 20 September 1942, Somali was torpedoed by U-703, hitting her engine room, while covering Convoy PQ-18 during the Russian convoys. Although taken under tow by HMS Tartar, she sank 4 days later, on 25 September, after heavy weather broke her back.
Somali was the last Royal Navy Tribal-class destroyer to be sunk during the war.
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