:HMS Grafton (H89)
{{Short description|British G-class destroyer}}
{{other ships|HMS Grafton}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2016}}
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{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=Hmsgrafton.jpg |Ship caption=Grafton }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United Kingdom |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}} |Ship name=Grafton |Ship ordered=5 March 1934 |Ship awarded= |Ship builder=John I. Thornycroft & Company, Woolston |Ship laid down=30 August 1934 |Ship launched=18 September 1935 |Ship christened= |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned=20 March 1936 |Ship recommissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship refit= |Ship struck= |Ship fate=*Torpedoed by {{Ship|German submarine|U-62|1939|2}}, 29 May 1940
|Ship identification=Pennant number: H89 |Ship motto=Decus pretutis pretium: 'Glory is the reward of valour' |Ship nickname= |Ship honours= |Ship badge=On a Field Green, a Lion's mask Gold, crowned Silver, with collar red and silver 80px |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption=(as built) |Ship displacement=*{{convert|1350|LT|t|lk=on}} (standard)
|Ship length={{convert|323|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|33|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} |Ship draught={{convert|12|ft|5|in|m|1|abbr=on}} |Ship power=*3 Admiralty 3-drum boilers
|Ship propulsion=2 shafts, 2 geared steam turbines |Ship speed={{convert|36|kn|lk=in}} |Ship range={{convert|5530|nmi|lk=in|abbr=on}} at {{convert|15|kn}} |Ship complement=137 (peacetime), 146 (wartime) |Ship armament=*4 × single 4.7 in (120 mm) guns
|Ship notes= }} |
HMS Grafton (H89) was a G-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy during the mid-1930s. During the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 the ship spent considerable time in Spanish waters, enforcing the non-intervention measures agreed by Britain and France. After the beginning of World War II she was transferred from the Mediterranean Fleet to Great Britain for escort and contraband inspection duties. Grafton was refitting when the Norwegian Campaign began in April 1940, but the ship escorted convoys to Norway once her refit was completed. She evacuated British troops from the Dunkirk bridgehead in May, but was sunk by a German submarine after she stopped to rescue survivors from another British destroyer.
Description
Grafton displaced {{convert|1350|LT|t|lk=on}} at standard load and {{convert|1883|LT|t}} at deep load. The ship had an overall length of {{convert|323|ft|m|1}}, a beam of {{convert|33|ft|m|1}} and a draught of {{convert|12|ft|5|in|m|1}}. She was powered by Parsons geared steam turbines, driving two shafts which developed a total of {{convert|34000|shp|lk=on}} and gave a maximum speed of {{convert|36|kn|lk=in}}. Steam for the turbines was provided by three Admiralty 3-drum boilers. Grafton carried a maximum of {{convert|470|LT|t}} of fuel oil that gave her a range of {{convert|5530|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|15|kn}}. The ship's complement was 137 officers and ratings in peacetime,Whitley, pp. 107–108 but in increased to 146 in wartime.English, p. 89
The ship mounted four 45-calibre 4.7-inch (120 mm) Mark IX guns in single mounts. For anti-aircraft defence Grafton had two quadruple Mark I mounts for the 0.5 inch (12.7 mm) Vickers Mark III machine gun. She was fitted with two above-water quadruple torpedo tube mounts for British 21 inch torpedo torpedoes. One depth charge rail and two throwers were fitted; 20 depth charges were originally carried, but this increased to 35 shortly after the war began.English, p. 141
Service
Grafton was laid down by John I. Thornycroft & Company, at Woolston, Hampshire on 30 August 1934, launched on 18 September 1935 and completed on 20 March 1936. Excluding government-furnished equipment like the armament, the ship cost £248,485.English, pp. 89–90Adjusted for inflation to 20{{CURRENTYEARYY}} pounds, £{{formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|248485|1934}}}}. Aside from a brief period when she was assigned to the 20th Destroyer Flotilla after her commissioning, Grafton spent the prewar period assigned to the 1st Destroyer Flotilla with the Mediterranean Fleet. Between 10 August and 9 September 1936, together with {{HMS|Glowworm|H92|2}}, she escorted the yacht Nahlin as King Edward VIII cruised the eastern Mediterranean.{{cite news |title=The King's Holiday |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000540/19360806/301/0008 |access-date=21 May 2023 |work=The Scotsman |issue=29077 |date=6 August 1936 |location=Edinburgh |page=8 |via=British Newspaper Archive}} Afterwards Grafton patrolled Spanish waters during the Spanish Civil War enforcing the policies of the Non-Intervention Committee. The ship was refitting in Malta when World War II began in September 1939.
Grafton and three of her sisters were transferred to the Western Approaches Command at Plymouth in October. The following month, however, the ship was reassigned at the end of the month to the 22nd Destroyer Flotilla in Harwich of the Nore Command for patrol and escort duties. On 10 January 1940, she was transferred to the reconstituted 1st Destroyer Flotilla, also based at Harwich, where Grafton inspected ships travelling between German and Dutch ports for contraband. Between 26 March and 14 April the ship was given a brief overhaul in Hull in the shipyard of Brigham and Cowan. As the Norwegian Campaign had begun while Grafton was refitting, she was reassigned to the Home FleetEnglish, pp. 97–98 where she escorted convoys to NorwayHaarr, p. 254 until 11 May.English, p. 98
=Operation Dynamo=
During the Siege of Calais, Grafton escorted the light cruisers {{HMS|Arethusa|26|2}} and {{HMS|Galatea|71|2}} as they provided naval gunfire support for the 30th Motor Brigade on 26 May. The following day she evacuated over 1,600 troops from the beaches of La Panne and Bray, northeast of Dunkirk. On the morning of 29 May, she stopped to rescue survivors from the destroyer {{HMS|Wakeful|H88|2}}, which had been torpedoed and sunk earlier that morning by the German E-boat S-30. While rescuing survivors from Wakeful off Nieuwpoort, Belgium, Grafton was struck in the stern by a torpedo from the German submarine {{Ship|German submarine|U-62|1939|2}}. This seriously damaged the ship, and also triggered a secondary explosion which damaged the bridge, killing the captain and another officer. Thirteen ratings and the canteen manager were also killed. The ship's back was broken, but she remained afloat long enough for all survivors to be rescued by the destroyer {{HMS|Ivanhoe|D16|2}} and the transport Malines. Ivanhoe sank Grafton with naval gunfire, as she was too badly damaged to be towed to safety.
Notes
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Footnotes
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References
- {{cite book|last=English|first=John|title=Amazon to Ivanhoe: British Standard Destroyers of the 1930s|year=1993|publisher=World Ship Society|location=Kendal, England|isbn=0-905617-64-9}}
- {{cite book|last=Haarr|first=Geirr H.|title=The Battle for Norway: April–June 1940|year=2010|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, MD|isbn=978-1-59114-051-1}}
- {{cite book|last=Whitley|first=M. J.|title=Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia|publisher=Naval Institute Press|year=1988|isbn=0-87021-326-1|location=Annapolis, Maryland}}
- {{cite book|last=Winser|first=John de D.|title=B.E.F. Ships Before, At and After Dunkirk|publisher=World Ship Society|location=Gravesend, Kent|date=1999|isbn=0-905617-91-6}}
External links
- [http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/328.html HMS Grafton at uboat.net]
- [http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-10DD-25G-Grafton.htm HMS Grafton at naval-history.net]
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{{G and H class destroyer}}
{{May 1940 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grafton (H89)}}
Category:G and H-class destroyers of the Royal Navy
Category:Ships built in Southampton
Category:World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom
Category:Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II
Category:World War II shipwrecks in the North Sea