HMS Hyperion (H97)

Hyperion displaced 1,350 long tons (1,370 t) at standard load and 1,883 long tons (1,913 t) at deep load. The ship had an overall length of 323 feet (98.5 m), a beam of 33 feet (10.1 m), and a draught of 12 feet 5 inches (3.8 m).

She was powered by Parsons geared steam turbines driving two shafts, which developed a total of 34,000 shaft horsepower (25,000 kW) and gave a maximum speed of 36 knots (67 km/h). Unlike other G- and H-class destroyers, which were fitted with three Admiralty 3-drum water-tube boilers, Hyperion uniquely used a Johnson boiler in the aft position as a trial.{{sfnp|Rippon|1998|pages= 245–246 }}{{Cite web

|title = G- and H-class Destroyers

|website = Grey Funnel Line

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|archive-date = 25 April 2016

|df = dmy-all

}} This O-type boiler, with a single lower water drum and curved tubes, differed from the typical triangular arrangement with two drums. The initial design suffered from poor circulation, leading to the addition of external cold downcomers, which made the reworked boiler 10% heavier. However, it was well regarded in service, as it reduced reliance on the refractory firebrick commonly used at the base of the furnace.{{sfnp|Rippon|1998|pages= 245–246 }}

Hyperion carried a maximum of 470 long tons (480 t) of fuel oil, giving her a range of 5,530 nautical miles (10,240 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h). The ship's complement was 137 officers and men in peacetime,Whitley, p. 109 increasing to 146 in wartime.English, pp. 89, 102

She was armed with four 45-calibre 4.7-inch Mk IX guns in single mounts. For anti-aircraft defence, Hyperion had two quadruple Mark I mounts for 0.5 inch Vickers Mk III machine gun. She was also fitted with two above-water quadruple torpedo tube mounts for British 21 inch torpedo torpedoes.One depth charge rail and two throwers were installed; the original load of 20 depth charges was increased to 35 shortly after the war began.The ship’s anti-aircraft armament was later augmented by replacing the rear set of torpedo tubes with a 12-pounder 12 cwt"cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 12 cwt referring to the weight of the gun. AA gun, although the exact timing of this modification is unclear.Whitley, p. 110

Ordered on 13 December 1934, Hyperion was laid down by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson at Wallsend-on-Tyne, England, on 27 March 1935. She was launched on 8 April 1936 and completed on 3 December 1936. Excluding government-furnished equipment like the armament, the ship cost £251,466.English, pp. 102–03Adjusted for inflation to 20{{CURRENTYEARYY}} pounds, £{{formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|251466|1935}}}}. She was assigned to the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla of the Mediterranean Fleet upon commissioning. Hyperion patrolled Spanish waters during the Spanish Civil War enforcing the policies of the Non-Intervention Committee. The ship received an overhaul at Malta between 30 September and 30 October 1937 and resumed patrolling Spanish waters for the rest of the war. Hyperion was sent to Portsmouth for another refit in August 1939 that lasted from 16 to 27 August.English, p. 113

When World War II began on 3 September, the ship was en route to Freetown, Sierra Leone, to search for German commerce raiders. Hyperion was transferred to the North America and West Indies Station in late October where he blockaded various German merchant ships in American and Mexican harbours. She intercepted the German ocean liner {{SS|Columbus|1924|2}} off Cape Hatteras on 19 December, but Columbus scuttled herself before she could be captured. Hyperion was transferred to the British Isles in mid-January 1940 and began a refit at Portsmouth that lasted from 25 January to 6 March. The ship rejoined the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla of the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow.

On 5 April Hyperion escorted the battlecruiser {{HMS|Renown|1916|2}} as she covered the minelayers preparing to implement Operation Wilfred, an operation to lay mines in the Vestfjord to prevent the transport of Swedish iron ore from Narvik to Germany. The ship and her sister {{HMS|Hero|H99|2}} pretended to lay a minefield off Bud, Norway on 8 April and reported its location to the Norwegians.Haar 2009, pp. 65–66, 88–89 Hyperion escorted the aircraft carriers {{HMS|Glorious||2}} and {{HMS|Ark Royal|91|2}} from 21 April as their aircraft attacked German targets in Norway. She remained with Ark Royal when Glorious returned to Scapa Flow to refuel on 27 April.Haarr 2010, pp. 143, 150 In early May the ship escorted the light cruiser {{HMS|Birmingham|C19|2}} on an unsuccessful sweep of the North Sea looking for German ships.Rohwer, p. 23

Hyperion evacuated British personnel from the Hook of Holland from 8 to 12 May and was then ordered to reinforce the Mediterranean Fleet at Malta on 16 May. On 9 July she participated in the Battle of Calabria as an escort for the heavy ships of Force C and unsuccessfully engaged Italian destroyers and suffered no damage. During the Battle of Cape Spada on 19 July, the ship escorted Australian light cruiser {{HMAS|Sydney|D48|6}} and rescued some of the 525 survivors from the {{ship|Italian cruiser|Bartolomeo Colleoni}} together with the other escorting destroyers. Together with her sister {{HMS|Hereward|H93|2}} and two other destroyers, she bombarded Italian positions around Sidi Barrani on 25 September. Hyperion escorted the carrier {{HMS|Illustrious|87|2}} during the Battle of Taranto on the night of 11/12 November.Rohwer, pp. 32–33, 41, 47 With Hereward, she sank the Italian submarine Naiade on 14 December 1940 near Bardia.

Hyperion struck a mine on 22 December 1940 off Pantelleria as she escorted the battleship {{HMS|Malaya||6}} on passage from Alexandria to Gibraltar while covering a convoy to Malta. The destroyer {{HMS|Ilex|D61|2}} attempted to tow Hyperion, but the tow cable broke twice and the destroyer {{HMS|Janus|F53|2}} was ordered to sink her after Ilex took off the crew. Only two members of the crew were not rescued and were presumed killed in the explosion.

{{Reflist|group=Note}}

{{Reflist|colwidth=35em}}

• {{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 German Invasion of Norway, April 1940|year=2009|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|isbn=978-1-59114-310-9|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/germaninvasionof00geir}}
• {{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

|title=The evolution of engineering in the Royal Navy

|volume=1: 1827-1939

|last=Rippon |first=Commander P.M., RN

|year=1998

|publisher=Spellmount

|isbn=0-946771-55-3

}}

• {{cite book|last=Rohwer|first=Jürgen|title=Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=2005|edition=Third Revised|isbn=1-59114-119-2}}
• {{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}}

{{G and H class destroyer}}

{{December 1940 shipwrecks}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hyperion (H97)}}

Category:G and H-class destroyers of the Royal Navy

Category:Ships built by Swan Hunter

Category:Ships built on the River Tyne

Category:1936 ships

Category:World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom

Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea

Category:Maritime incidents in December 1940

Category:Ships sunk by mines