 Eclipse, 1935 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Eclipse |
| Namesake | Eclipse |
| Ordered | 1 November 1932 |
| Builder | William Denny and Brothers,Dumbarton |
| Laid down | 22 March 1933 |
| Launched | 12 April 1934 |
| Completed | 29 November 1934 |
| Identification | Pennant number: H08 |
| Motto |
|
| Fate | Sunk by a mine, 24 October 1943 |
| Badge | On a Field Blue, the Earth Black over a sun Gold. |
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Class & type | E-class destroyer |
| Displacement | 1,405long tons (1,428 t) (standard) |
| Length | 329 ft (100.3 m)o/a |
| Beam | 33 ft 3 in (10.13 m) |
| Draught | 12 ft 6 in (3.81 m) (deep) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 2 × shafts; 2 × gearedsteam turbines |
| Speed | 35.5knots (65.7 km/h; 40.9 mph) |
| Range | 6,350 nmi (11,760 km; 7,310 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement | 145 |
| Sensors & processing systems | ASDIC |
| Armament |
|
HMSEclipse was anE-classdestroyer of theRoyal Navy that saw service in the Atlantic, Arctic, and Mediterranean theatres duringWorld War II, until sunk by amine in theAegean Sea on 24 October 1943.
The E-class ships were slightly improved versions of the precedingD class. They displaced 1,405 long tons (1,428 t) atstandard load and 1,940 long tons (1,970 t) atdeep load. The ships had anoverall length of 329 feet (100.3 m), abeam of 33 feet 3 inches (10.1 m) and adraught of 12 feet 6 inches (3.8 m). They were powered by twoParsons gearedsteam turbines, each driving onepropeller shaft using steam provided by threeAdmiralty three-drum boilers. The turbines developed a total of 36,000shaft horsepower (27,000 kW) and gave a maximum speed of 35.5knots (65.7 km/h; 40.9 mph).Eclipse carried a maximum of 470 long tons (480 t) offuel oil that gave her a range of 6,350nautical miles (11,760 km; 7,310 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). The ships' complement was 145 officers andratings.[1]
The ships mounted four 45-calibre4.7-inch (120 mm) Mark IX guns in single mounts. Foranti-aircraft (AA) defence, they had two quadruple Mark I mounts for the0.5 inch Vickers Mark IIImachine gun. The E class was fitted with two above-water quadruple torpedo tube mounts for21-inch (533 mm) torpedoes.[2] Onedepth charge rail and two throwers were fitted; 20 depth charges were originally carried, but this increased to 35 shortly after the war began.[3]
Eclipse, the eighth ship of that name to serve with the Royal Navy,[4] was ordered 1 November 1932, fromDenny under the 1931 Naval Programme. She waslaid down on 22 March 1933 at theirDumbarton dockyard, andlaunched on 12 April 1934. The ship wascommissioned on 29 November 1934, at a total cost of£246, 664, excluding government-furnished equipment like the armament.[5]
Assigned to the5th Destroyer Flotilla of theHome Fleet with hersister ships,Eclipse served around the British Isles for the next several months, departingPlymouth on 31 August 1935 for theMediterranean Fleet with most of the rest of the flotilla during theAbyssinia Crisis. The destroyer was based atHaifa from 8 September to 3 October,Alexandria from 4 October to 5 January 1936, and at several bases in the Eastern Mediterranean until her departure from the region in March. She was refitted from 20 March to 30 April atDevonport after returning to the British Isles.[6]
In autumn 1940,Eclipse was deployed as part of the protective screen for troopships sailing to West Africa in Operation Menace (for proposed landings at Dakar, later abandoned). She returned home to join the3rd Destroyer Flotilla after repairs—first at Freetown, Sierra Leone, and subsequently at Gibraltar. In this period, one member of her crew wasCharles Causley, the Cornish poet and broadcaster. He subsequently published two poems about the ship and this voyage: 'HMSEclipse Approaches Freetown'; and 'Immunity', which recounts an inoculation session, and then anticipates the ship's loss later in the war.
From 12 April 1941Eclipse was refitted atDevonport Dockyard, sailing in early June to rejoin the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla. On 25 June she was deployed to protect the ships of the 1st Minelaying Squadron during a minelay in the Northern Barrage, replacing the destroyerHMS Brighton, which had been damaged in a collision with the cruiserKenya. At the end of July she was part of the destroyer screen of Force P—the carriersFurious andVictorious, and the cruisersDevonshire andSuffolk—during theraid on Kirkenes and Petsamo (Operation EF).
In mid-AugustEclipse and five other destroyers were deployed as the screen for the cruisersAurora andNigeria, as they escorted the troopshipEmpress of Canada and the auxiliary tankerOligarch toSpitsbergen inOperation Gauntlet. Canadian troops landed to destroy mining equipment and two radio stations, while Norwegian and Russian civilians were evacuated.
Eclipse remained on screening duty from June to August, transferring to the8th Destroyer Flotilla in July. In September she was deployed with the destroyersHMS Amazon,Bulldog,Echo andVenomous as the screen for the cruisersHMS Cumberland andSheffield to establish a refuelling facility atLowe Sound, Spitsbergen, and re-supply the garrison there (Operation Gearbox).
She then refitted at a shipyard on theHumber before rejoining the Flotilla atScapa Flow on 20 November.
In April 1043Eclipse was one of the escorts ofConvoy HX 231, which was attacked by 11 U-boats from four flotillas.Eclipse rescued 16 survivors from theDutchcargo shipBlitar on 9 April, and landed them atReykjavík the next day.[7]
The ItalianfreighterGaetano Donizetti of 3,428 tons, had been seized by the Germans to bring arms toRhodes. The Germans stowed some 1,600 prisoners in the cargo hold andGaetano Donizetti set sail on 22 September 1943. The vessel sailed along the east coast of Rhodes, and headed south-west, passingLindos to the south. The Italian ship was escorted by the German torpedo boatTA10 underOberleutnant Jobst Hahndorff. This was the former French torpedo boatLa Pomone and later the ItalianFR 42.
Around 01:10 that night (on 23 September), the convoy was detected byEclipse under Commander E. Mack, who immediately opened fire.Gaetano Donizetti sank in seconds, taking with her the entire German crew, German guards and all the Italian prisoners of war.TA10 was heavily damaged and later towed back to Rhodes, where it was scuttled a few days later.
On 24 October 1943Eclipse hit a mine east offKalymnos in position37°01′N27°11′E / 37.017°N 27.183°E /37.017; 27.183. She broke in two and sank within five minutes with the loss of 119 of the ship's company and 134 soldiers (from A Company, 4th Battalion,Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment)).
| E class |
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| F class |
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Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in October 1943 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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