 HMS Ashanti going out on patrol at Hvalfjörður, Iceland, on 6 February 1942. Hvalfjörður (Icelandic Whale - Fjord) is situated in the west of Iceland between Mosfellsbær and Akranes. Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland ( ( Ísland or Lýðveldið Ísland ( Events 46 BC - Julius Caesar defeats the combined army of Pompeian followers and Numidians under Metellus Scipio Year 1942 ( MCMXLII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. |
|
| Career (United Kingdom) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS Ashanti |
| Ordered: | June 1936 |
| Builder: | William Denny, Dumbarton |
| Laid down: | 23 November 1936 |
| Launched: | 5 November 1937 by Lady Shuckburgh |
| Commissioned: | 21 December 1938 |
| Fate: | Broken up in 1949 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 2,020 tons |
| Length: | 377 ft (115 m) |
| Beam: | 36 ft 6 in (11. Events in June Madaraka Day June 1 to commemorate when Kenya gained internal self-rule Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. William Denny and Brothers Limited, and often referred to simply as Denny, were a Scottish shipbuilding company founded in 1840 and based in Dumbarton Dumbarton ( Gaelic Dùn Breatainn d̪̊unˈb̊ɾʲɛhd̪̊ɪɲ is a Burgh in Scotland, lying on the north bank of the River Clyde Events 800 - Charlemagne arrives at Rome to investigate the alleged crimes of Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1499 - Publication of the Catholicon in Treguier ( Brittany) Year 1937 ( MCMXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 69 - The end of the Year of the four emperors: Following Galba, Otho and Vitellius, Vespasian Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1949 ( MCMXLIX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. 1 m) |
| Draught: | 13 ft (4. 0 m) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × 22,000 shp Pearson geared turbine engines |
| Speed: | 36 knots (67 km/h) |
| Complement: | 190 |
| Armament: | 8 × 4. 7-inch guns in four turrets 4 × 2 pdr pompom 4 × 21-inch torpedo tubes 2 × depth charge catapults |
| Motto: | Kum Apim "Kill a thousand, a thousand will come" Also: Wo kum apim a, apim bз ba |
| Honours and awards: | Norway (1940) Atlantic (1940) Malta Convoys (1942) North Africa (1942-44) Arctic (1942-43) English Channel (1942-43) Normandy (1944) Biscay (1944) |
| Badge: | On a Field barry wavy of six Blue and White a porcupine Gold. The 2-pounder gun, officially designated the QF 2-pounder ( QF denoting "quick firing" and universally known as the pom-pom, was a 1 Depth Charge is a character in the Beast Wars: Transformers universe |
HMS Ashanti was a Tribal-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. Design history From 1926 all Royal Navy destroyers had descended from a common lineage based upon the prototypes ''Amazon'' and ''Ambuscade''. The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore known as the Senior Service) Following the style of her sister ships she was named for an ethnic group, in this case the Ashanti people of the Gold Coast in West Africa. Ashanti, or Asante, are a major Ethnic group of Ashanti Region in Ghana. This article is about the British colony in west Africa 1821-1957 West Africa or Western Africa is the Westernmost Region of the African Continent. She served in the Second World War and was broken up in 1949. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including She was the first of two Royal Navy ships to bear the name Ashanti.
Contents |
Pennant Numbers
She carried three pennant numbers:
- L51 August 1938 - December 1938
- F51 January 1939 - Autumn 1940
- G51 Autumn 1940 - April 1949
Career
Pre-war
Although it was initially intended for all Tribal-class destroyers to visit the land of the people after whom they were named, HMS Ashanti was one of the few to actually do this. In the modern Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth, ships are identified by pennant numbers (sometimes referred to as pendant She sailed to Takoradi, Gold Coast, on 27 February 1939. Sekondi-Takoradi, population 335000 (2005 is the capital of the Western Region of Ghana. Events 1560 - The Treaty of Berwick, which would expel the French from Scotland, is signed by England and the Congregation Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. During the visit, the ship's company was presented with a silver bell and a gold shield by the Asantehene, the ceremonial leader of the Ashanti, then the Chief Osei Tutu Agyeman Prempeh II. Rulers of the Akan state of Asanteman (Empire of Ashanti Territory comprised part of present-day southern Ghana and portions of present-day eastern The ship also accepted visitors from the tribe, many of whom presented good-luck charms and symbols of valour and survival to the ship.
In May 1939, the ship went to France on a good-will visit. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. It was in preparation for the looming Second World War and for British seamen to make friends with their future allies of the French Navy. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale ( National Navy) and often called La Royale ( The Royal Navy) is the maritime arm
The following month, Ashanti, as part of the 6th Destroyer Flotilla, attempted to rescue the stricken submarine HMS Thetis. HMS Thetis Thetis was built by Cammell Laird in Birkenhead, England and launched on 29 June 1938 Although the submarine was found still afloat, salvage attempts failed and only four men were saved when the ship sank with the remaining 99 trapped within.
Second World War
Ashanti and the 6th Flotilla started the war by working with the French Navy, but as the war dragged on, they saw less and less of each other. By 1940, her main rôle was anti-submarine patrols, escort duties and supporting capital ships. An anti-submarine weapon is any one of a range of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew to destroy (sink the vessel or to destroy or reduce its capability The capital ships of a Navy are its "important" warships the ones with the heaviest Firepower and Armor. She was forced back to port in March 1940 after seawater leaked in and mixed with the boiler feedwater. Boiler feedwater is Water used to supply ("feed" a Boiler to generate Steam or hot water
In April, after repairs were completed, she was deployed in the North Sea to support operations in Norway. The North Sea is a marginal, Epeiric sea of the Atlantic Ocean on the European Continental shelf. Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional She achieved little in this capacity, apart from being the target for numerous air attacks by German planes. One attack knocked out her main turbo-generator and the ship's power failed. She managed to zigzag her way out of the fjord and escape the attackers, and by June she was again in her rôle of escort and anti-submarine duties. A fjord or fiord (fjɔːd|fiːɔːd or fiːɔːd is a long narrow Inlet with steep sides created in a valley carved by glacial activity.
When the new battleship HMS King George V was completed, Ashanti formed part of her escort to Scapa Flow. A battleship is a large heavily armored Warship with a main battery consisting of the largest Calibre of Guns Battleships were Construction Following the tradition of naming the first battleship constructed in the reign of a new monarch after the current Monarch, she was planned to be named Scapa Flow ( Old Norse: Skalpaflói) is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands The main threat was mines, and Ashanti, together with four other destroyers, took the lead in a secret, suicidal attempt to detonate any mines that may be in the area. In the darkness, HMS Fame ran aground while at high speed in a murky drizzle. HMS Fame was an F class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was launched by Vickers-Armstrong in 1934 HMS Ashanti was right behind her and, although only doing six knots, struck her damaging fuel lines on both ships. HMS Fame subsequently caught fire. The tribal-class destroyer HMS Maori also ran aground, destroying her ASDIC dome. Sonar (which started as an Acronym for sound navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses Sound propagation (usually underwater to navigate Feelings were running high on board as no-one knew the objective of the operation. Matters were compounded as the tide was receding, and the destroyers were left beached waiting for high-tide. When high-tide came, the destroyers were swung round onto rocks and damaged yet further, Ashanti was so damaged by the rocks, that Vickers-Armstrongs sent out a repair crew to the site of the incident. Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in Only after two weeks was Ashanti successfully re-floated and taken to Sunderland for extensive repairs and hull stiffening. Sunderland (, or /ˈsʌn(dlən/ is a City in Tyne and Wear, England. It was almost a year before the ship was ready for action again.
Her next major deployment was with other Tribal-class destroyers in Operation Archery in the Lofoten Islands in Norway in December 1941. Operation Archery was a British Combined Operations raid during World War II against German positions on Vågsøy Lofoten is an Archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional They cleared out the German presence in Vågsøy and used the islands as a base from which they attacked the German shipping presence. Vågsøy is a municipality in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. Shore targets were hit and small German boats were damaged, but the operation was abandoned on 28 December after German air attacks on the island's harbour increased. Events 1065 - Westminster Abbey is Consecrated. 1308 - The reign of Emperor Hanazono, Emperor of After the raid, Hitler was convinced that the British were preparing an invasion of Norway, and diverted many precious resources there in preparation for an attack. Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently vandalized and vandalism is reverted immediately
The Tribal-classes was still together and after escorting Arctic convoys to Murmansk, they were sent to be part of a huge relief effort to Malta. The Arctic Convoys of World War II travelled from the United Kingdom and the United States to the northern ports of the Soviet Murmansk Oblast (Му́рманская о́бласть Murmanskaya oblast) is a federal subject of Russia (an Oblast) located in the Malta, officially the Republic of Malta (Repubblika ta' Malta is a European Microstate, comprising an Archipelago of three islands They were then sent back to the Arctic to escort more Russian convoys. She, along with the other Tribal-class destroyers, were later re-equipped for this rôle, with insulation around vital areas to prevent temperature related damage.
HMS Ashanti was an escort for the Arctic convoy PQ-18 to the Soviet Union was attacked by numerous U-boats and German aircraft. Convoy PQ-18 was one of the Arctic convoys sent from Great Britain to aid the Soviet Union in the war against Nazi Germany. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 42 Luftwaffe Heinkel He-111 torpedo bombers and 35 Junkers Ju-88 dive bombers simultaneously attacked the convoy, swamping the defenders. ( German 'luftvafe is a generic German term for an Air force. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout U-Boats began shadowing the convoy and some were sunk; U-88 was sunk by HMS Faulknor, U-457 by HMS Impulsive and U-589 by HMS Onslow and aircraft from HMS Avenger. Service Her most notable action was at the Battle of the Barents Sea in 1942 while escorting Convoy JW 51B to Russia HMS Avenger (D14 was an Escort aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy during World War II. Eight ships were sunk on 12 September, on 13 September, the Germans lost five Heinkels to Hurricane fighters. Events 1213 - Albigensian Crusade: Simon de Montfort 5th Earl of Leicester, defeats Peter II of Aragon at the Events 509 BC - The Temple of Jupiter on Rome 's Capitoline Hill is dedicated on the ides of September WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The tanker SS Atheltemplar was another casualty, being torpedoed on 14 September and abandoned. Early wartime career Atheltemplar ’s first recorded voyage during the Second World War was to Abadan on the Persian Shatt al-Arab; she Events 81 - Domitian becomes Emperor of the Roman Empire upon the death of his brother Titus. Later attacks were beaten off at the cost to the Germans of 20 more planes shot down. Two more merchantmen were sunk by air attack in Murmansk harbour. Murmansk (Му́рманск Murmanska Muurman is a city and Seaport in the extreme northwest part of Russia, on the Kola Bay, 12 km In total, 13 merchants were lost from the convoy.
The return convoy QP-14 was not spared German attack either, it came under attack by U-703. Ashanti and Somali worked together in hunting the U-boat, an operation which was hindered by lack of fuel. HMS Somali ( Pennant number L33 later F33 was a Tribal-class Destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word, itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot ( undersea boat) and refers Somali, just after replacing Ashanti's position, was torpedoed by the submarine and severely damaged. Most of her crew were evacuated, but of the 80 who stayed behind to save the ship, most were lost when it eventually sank. Five other ships were sunk in the same day, four by U-435, including the minesweeper HMS Leda. A minesweeper is a Naval Warship designed to counter the threat posed by Naval mines The dedicated purpose-built minesweeper first appeared during
Her next deployment was for Operation Torch, in which she escorted the capital ships in preparation for the invasion of North Africa. Operation Torch (initially called Operation Gymnast) was the British - American invasion of French North Africa in World War II North Africa or Northern Africa is the Northernmost Region of the African Continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan Once the invasions had started on 8 November, she was deployed to prevent any interference from enemy ships in the Mediterranean. Events 1519 - Hernán Cortés enters Tenochtitlán and Aztec ruler Moctezuma welcomes him with great a Celebration She remained in the Mediterranean Sea until June 1943, when more problems with her feedwater tanks required a major re-fit in the Thames commercial shipyard in the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located
After the re-fit, she operated out of Scapa Flow escorting Arctic convoys through the long Arctic nights of late 1943. Scapa Flow ( Old Norse: Skalpaflói) is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands From 1944, she patrolled the English Channel in preparation for the Normandy Landings. The Normandy Landings were the first operations of the Allied Invasion of Normandy, also known as Operation Neptune and Operation Overlord, during In this capacity, she closely co-operated with Tribal-class destroyers HMCS Haida and HMCS Huron. Construction Haida was among the first batch of Tribal class destroyers ordered by the RCN in 1940-1941 See also List of ships of the Canadian Navy For the invasion itself, she patrolled the channel and guarded against German surface ships in the Southwest Approaches and the Bay of Biscay area. The Southwest Approaches is the name given to the offshore waters to the southwest of Great Britain Cantabrian Sea redirects here Not to be confused with Biscay Bay Newfoundland and Labrador or Biscayne Bay. On 9 June, a German destroyer group was found off Brittany and engaged by HMS Ashanti, HMCS Huron, HMCS Haida, as well as HMS Eskimo, HMS Javelin, ORP Piorun and ORP Błyskawica. Events 53 - Roman Emperor Nero marries Claudia Octavia 62 - Claudia Octavia commits Brittany (Breizh bʁejs Bretagne; Gallo: Bertaèyn) is a former independent Celtic kingdom and Duchy, now incorporated into HMS Eskimo (L-75/F-75/G-75 was a Tribal-class Destroyer, laid down by the High Walker Yard of Vickers Armstrong at Newcastle -on-Tyne on HMS Javelin (F61 was a J-class Destroyer of the Royal Navy laid down by John Brown and Company, Limited at Clydebank ORP Piorun was an N-class Destroyer used by the Polish Navy during the Second World War. Operational history Two days before the war on 30 August 1939, the Błyskawica withdrew along with Grom and Burza The Kriegsmarine ship Z-32 was driven ashore and wrecked, Z-24 was severely damaged and the ex-Dutch destroyer Tjerk Hiddes was sunk. The Kriegsmarine (English "War navy" was the name of the German Navy between 1935 and 1945 during the Nazi regime superseding the
Her last action in the war was prevention of the evacuation of German personnel from France. On 5 August 1944, she engaged a German convoy off the Île d'Yeu and sank two escort minesweepers and a Patrol Vessel. Events 642 - Battle of Maserfield - Penda of Mercia defeats and kills Oswald of Bernicia. The Île d'Yeu is an Island just off the Vendée coast of western France. HMCS Haida was damaged in the engagement.
HMS Ashanti was then taken in for an extensive and expensive re-fit and played no further part in the fighting. Other Royal Navy Tribal-class destroyers were sent to Asia to fight against the Empire of Japan. The Empire of Japan ( {{unicode|Kyūjitai}}: ja 大日本帝國 Shinjitai: ja 大日本帝国 pronounced Dai Nippon Teikoku
Post-war
Ashanti had survived North Atlantic gales, technical trouble, the Norwegian Campaign, running aground, Arctic convoys, the invasion of North Africa, U-boat attacks, aircraft attacks, and some of the toughest destroyer fighting of the Second World War. Yet by the end of the war it was clear that she had out-lived her usefulness. She was paid-off and went into Reserve after VJ Day. Victory over Japan Day ( V-J Day, also known as Victory in the Pacific Day, or V-P Day) is a name chosen for the day on which the Surrender of In 1947, she was put on the disposal list and used for ship target trials. On 12 April 1948 she arrived at West of Scotland Shipbreakers for demolition. Events 467 - Anthemius is elevated to Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
References
See Also
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic