HMS Charity (R29)
{{Short description|C-class destroyer}}
{{other ships|HMS Charity}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2018}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=File:HMS Charity (R29).jpg |Ship caption=HMS Charity engaged in Operation Fishnet off North Korea, 16 September 1952. }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United Kingdom |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}} |Ship name=HMS Charity |Ship namesake= |Ship ordered= |Ship awarded= |Ship builder=John I. Thornycroft and Company and Company, Woolston, Southampton |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number= |Ship way number= |Ship laid down= 9 July 1943 |Ship launched= 30 November 1944 |Ship sponsor= |Ship christened= |Ship completed= |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned= 19 November 1945 |Ship recommissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service=16 June 1958 |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport= |Ship identification=Pennant number: R29, changed to D29 |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honours=Korean War |Ship captured= |Ship fate= Sold to US Navy for later sale to the Pakistan Navy |Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header=title |Ship country=Pakistan |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Pakistan|naval}} |Ship name=PNS Shah Jahan |Ship namesake= |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned=16 December 1958 |Ship recommissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship maiden voyage= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport= Karachi |Ship identification=Pennant number: DD-962 |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honours=Indo-Pakistan War of 1971 |Ship captured= |Ship fate=Damaged by SS-N-2 missile and scrapped |Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class={{sclass2|C|destroyer (1943)|0}} destroyer |Ship displacement=1,710 tons (standard) 2,520 tons (full) |Ship length={{convert|363|ft|m|abbr=on}} o/a |Ship beam={{convert|35.75|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship height= |Ship draught=*{{convert|10|ft|m|abbr=on}} light
|Ship power= |Ship propulsion=*2 Admiralty 3-drum boilers,
|Ship speed={{convert|37|kn|km/h}} |Ship range=615 tons oil, {{convert|1400|nmi|km}} at {{convert|32|kn|km/h}} |Ship endurance= |Ship complement=186 |Ship crew= |Ship time to activate= |Ship sensors= |Ship EW= |Ship armament=*4 × QF 4.5 inch Mk I - V naval gun Mark IV on mounts CP Mk.V
|Ship armour= |Ship aircraft= |Ship aircraft facilities= |Ship notes= }} |
HMS Charity was a {{sclass2|C|destroyer (1943)|0}} destroyer of the Royal Navy laid down by John I. Thornycroft and Company of Woolston, Southampton on 9 July 1943. She was launched on 30 November 1944 and commissioned on 19 November 1945. She was sold to the US Navy in 1958, for transfer to the Pakistan Navy as a part of the Military Aid Program.
Renamed Shah Jahan, the ship was badly damaged in a strike by Indian Navy missile boats during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971, and scrapped as a result.
History in the Royal Navy
Commissioned too late for service in the Second World War, Charity{{'}}s pennant number was soon changed to D29. She formed part of the 14th (later 1st) Destroyer Squadron for service in the Mediterranean.{{cite book|last=Marriott |first=Leo |title=Royal Navy Destroyers Since 1945 |publisher=Ian Allan Ltd |date=1989 |pages=63}} She saw service, along with other Royal Navy ships in preventing illegal immigration into Palestine in 1947.{{cite book|last=Stewart |first=Ninian |title=The Royal Navy and the Palestine Patrol |publisher=Routledge |date=2002}}
Following the outbreak of hostilities Charity served during the Korean War, where she joined the 8th Destroyer Flotilla. She steamed {{convert|126000|nmi}} during the war, and her actions included destroying a train.{{cite news|last=Keith|first=James|title=H.M.S. Charity|newspaper=Portsmouth Navy News|date=June 1954|page=19|issue=1|url=https://issuu.com/navynews/docs/195406}} The destroyer received a slight modernization, which involved the removal of one of her rear gun turrets ('X' mounting) which was replaced by mountings for two Squid anti-submarine launchers, which replaced her depth charges. She paid off into reserve in 1955.
History in the Pakistan Navy
{{other ships|PNS Shah Jahan}}
Charity was sold to the United States Navy on 16 June 1958, for further transfer to the Pakistan Navy. She was renamed Shah Jehan (DD-962).{{cite book|editor-last=Gardiner|editor-first=Robert|editor-last2=Friedman |editor-first2=Norman|title=Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1947-1982|year=1983|publisher=Naval Institute Press|isbn=0-87021-923-5}} She was modernized by J. Samuel White in Cowes, England under a US contract and transferred to the Pakistan Navy as part of the Military Assistance Program on 16 December 1958 where she served as Shah Jahan (literally, "Emperor of the World", after Shah Jahan).{{cite book|editor-last=Blackman |editor-first=Raymond V B |title=Jane's Fighting Ships 1963-4 |publisher=Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd |location=London |pages=194}}
=Indo-Pakistan War of 1971=
{{Main|Operation Trident (1971)}}
During the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971, Shah Jahan was escort to the cargo ship MV Venus Challenger carrying ammunition sent by the United States for the war effort from Saigon to Karachi.
On the night of 4 December 1971, the Indian Navy launched a fast naval strike called Operation Trident on the Pakistani Naval Headquarters of Karachi. The Operation Trident task force consisted of 3 {{sclass|Vidyut|missile boat}}s from the 25th "Killer" Missile Boat Squadron ({{INS|Nipat|K86|2}}, {{INS|Nirghat|K89|2}}, and {{INS|Veer|K82|2}}), escorted by two anti-submarine {{sclass|Arnala|corvette}}s, {{INS|Katchall|P81|2}} and {{INS|Kiltan|P79|2}},[http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/NAVY/History/1971War/44-Attacks-On-Karachi.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090926174134/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/NAVY/History/1971War/44-Attacks-On-Karachi.html|date=26 September 2009}} which approached Karachi.
The Indian missile boats evaded Pakistani reconnaissance aircraft and patrol vessels and converged at 2150 hours about {{convert|70|mi|km}} south of Karachi, and detected the Pakistani naval vessels on patrol. At 2300 hours, Nipat fired 2 SS-N-2 Styx missiles at Shah Jahan and Venus Challenger. The ammunition aboard Venus Challenger exploded when the ship was hit by the missile, and the vessel quickly sunk. Shah Jahan was also struck by the missile and was irreparably damaged. She was towed back to Karachi and scrapped.
The Pakistani destroyer Khaibar and minesweeper {{ship|PNS|Muhafiz||2}} were also sunk in the operation. The missile boats then hit the fuel storage tanks at Karachi harbour, setting them ablaze.{{cite web|first=John |last=Pike |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/indo-pak_1971.htm |title=Indo-Pakistan War of Independence |publisher=Globalsecurity.org |access-date=22 May 2015}}
References
{{Reflist}}
Publications
- {{Cite Colledge2006}}
- {{cite book|last=Marriott |first=Leo |title=Royal Navy Destroyers Since 1945 |publisher=Ian Allan Ltd |date=1989 |isbn=0-7110-1817-0}}
{{C class destroyer (1943)|others}}
{{1971 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Charity (R29)}}
Category:C-class destroyers (1943) of the Royal Navy
Category:Ships built in Southampton
Category:World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom
Category:Cold War destroyers of the United Kingdom
Category:Korean War destroyers of the United Kingdom
Category:C-class destroyers (1943) of the Pakistan Navy