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| Class and type: | L class destroyer |
| Name: | HMS Legion |
| Ordered: | 31 March 1938 |
| Builder: | Hawthorn Leslie and Company, Newcastle upon Tyne |
| Laid down: | 1 November 1938 |
| Launched: | 26 December 1939 |
| Commissioned: | 19 December 1940 |
| Fate: | Sunk on 26 March 1942 in air attack |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 1,920 tons |
| Length: | 362. Design details The armament of the class was subject of considerable debate as the proponents of heavier Anti-aircraft armaments for such vessels were at last beginning In naval terminology a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance Warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, Convoy Events 307 - After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine marries Fausta, the daughter of the retired Roman Emperor R & W Hawthorn Leslie and Company Limited, usually referred to as Hawthorn Leslie, was a St Peter's, Newcastle upon Tyne shipbuilding and Locomotive Newcastle upon Tyne ( (often shortened to Newcastle) is a city and Metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, England Events 996 - Emperor Otto III issues a deed to Gottschalk Bishop of Freising which is the oldest known document using the name Ostarrîchi Events 1481 - Battle of Westbrook - Holland defeats troops of Utrecht. Events 324 - Licinius abdicates his position as Roman Emperor. Events 1026 - Pope John XIX crowns Conrad II as Holy Roman Emperor. 5 ft (110. 5 m) |
| Beam: | 36. 7 ft (11. 2 m) |
| Draught: | 10 ft (3. 0 m) |
| Propulsion: | Two shafts Two geared steam turbines Two drum type boilers 48000 shp (35. 8 MW) |
| Speed: | 36 kt (66. 7 km/h) |
| Range: | 5,500 nmi (10,200 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h) |
| Complement: | 221 |
| Armament: |
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| Notes: | Badge: On a Field Blue, an eagle displayed upon a perch Gold. |
HMS Legion was an L-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. Design details The armament of the class was subject of considerable debate as the proponents of heavier Anti-aircraft armaments for such vessels were at last beginning In naval terminology a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance Warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, Convoy The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore known as the Senior Service) She entered service during the Second World War, and had a short but eventful career, serving in Home waters and the Mediterranean. 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 sunk in an air attack at Malta in 1942. Malta, officially the Republic of Malta (Repubblika ta' Malta is a European Microstate, comprising an Archipelago of three islands She had been adopted by the civil community of the Municipal Borough of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire in November 1941. Education History See also History of Gloucestershire Gloucestershire is a historic county mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in the 10th century
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Construction and commissioning
HMS Legion was ordered on 31 March 1938 from the yards of Hawthorn Leslie and Company, Newcastle upon Tyne under the 1937 Naval Estimates. Events 307 - After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine marries Fausta, the daughter of the retired Roman Emperor R & W Hawthorn Leslie and Company Limited, usually referred to as Hawthorn Leslie, was a St Peter's, Newcastle upon Tyne shipbuilding and Locomotive Newcastle upon Tyne ( (often shortened to Newcastle) is a city and Metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, England She was laid down on 1 November 1938 and was launched a year later on 26 November 1939. Events 996 - Emperor Otto III issues a deed to Gottschalk Bishop of Freising which is the oldest known document using the name Ostarrîchi Events 43 BC - The Second Triumvirate alliance of Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus ("Octavian" later "Caesar Augustus" During 1940 her main armament along with three others of the L class was changed. Twin 4 inch HA mountings were fitted and these four ships were re-classified as Anti-Aircraft Destroyers. She was commissioned on 19 December 1940 at a total cost of £445,684, which excluded items such as weapons and communications equipment supplied by the Admiralty. Events 324 - Licinius abdicates his position as Roman Emperor. The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. During trials, a number of defects were revealed and she was under repair at Greenock until January 1941. Greenock ( Gaelic Grianaig g̊ɾʲiənɛg̊ʲ is a large town and former Burgh of barony in the Inverclyde Council area of western
Career
Home waters
On completion of repairs, Legion was assigned to the Western Approaches Command at Greenock as part of the 11th Escort Group. Western Approaches Command was a major operational command of the Royal Navy during World War II. Greenock ( Gaelic Grianaig g̊ɾʲiənɛg̊ʲ is a large town and former Burgh of barony in the Inverclyde Council area of western She was deployed on convoy defence duties, and also successfully trialled a modified Radar Type 286M using a rotating instead of fixed aerial array. In February she escorted military convoys through the North Western Approaches. For the museum of this name at the former World War II command centre see Western Approaches Command The Western Approaches is a rectangular On 1 March she set sail in support of Operation Claymore, a commando raid on the Lofoten Islands. Events 86 BC - Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army enters in Athens, removing the Tyrant Operation Claymore was a World War II raid on the Lofoten Islands, by the British Armed forces Lofoten is an Archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. On the successful completion of these duties she joined the 14th Escort Group. On 13 April she rescued survivors from the armed merchant cruiser HMS Rajputana which had been torpedoed in the North Western Approaches by U-108. Events 1111 - Henry V is crowned Holy Roman Emperor. 1204 - The Fourth Crusade sacks Constantinople Armed Merchantmen has come to mean merchant ships equipped with guns usually for defensive purposes either by design or after the fact World War II In the Second Battle of the Atlantic HMS Rajputana escorted several North Atlantic Convoys from Bermuda and Legion rescued 177 men, though 40 went down with the Rajputana. The rest of April was spent escorting convoys.
In May she screened capital ships of the Home Fleet searching for the German battleship Bismarck but had to refuel at Iceland, and so was not present at the sinking of the Bismarck. The Home Fleet is the traditional name of the fleet of the Royal Navy that protects the United Kingdom 's territorial waters Background Design of the ship started in the early 1930s following on from Germany's development of the ''Deutschland'' class cruisers and the ''Scharnhorst'' class Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland ( ( Ísland or Lýðveldið Ísland ( The last battle of the German Battleship ''Bismarck'' took place in the Atlantic Ocean approximately 300 nautical miles (560 km west of Legion then returned to convoy escort duties.
On 22 June Legion and her sister HMS Lance escorted the aircraft carrier HMS Furious to Gibraltar, on an operation to deliver aircraft to Malta. Events 217 BC - Battle of Raphia: Ptolemy IV of Egypt defeats Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid kingdom. Construction and commissioning Lance was ordered from the yards of Yarrow Shipbuilders, Scotstoun, Glasgow on 31 March 1938 Genesis She was designed as one of Jackie Fisher 's "large light cruisers" to participate in an amphibious landing on the Baltic coast of Germany Gibraltar (dʒɨˈbrɒltər is a British overseas territory located near the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar Malta, officially the Republic of Malta (Repubblika ta' Malta is a European Microstate, comprising an Archipelago of three islands On 26 June she and other destroyers screened HMS Ark Royal, HMS Renown and HMS Hermione to deliver the aircraft from Gibraltar to Malta. Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian is killed during the retreat from the Sassanid Empire. Design In 1923 the Admiralty prepared plans for a ten year building programme which included a new aircraft carrier and 300 aircraft for the Fleet Air Arm History After working up was completed in May 1941 Hermione became a member of the 2nd Cruiser Squadron attached to the Home Fleet. This operation was repeated later in the month with HMS Furious. In July Legion returned to Greenock to resume escort duties through the Western Approaches. On 27 August she was deployed to reinforce the escort of Convoy OG-71 which was on passage to the UK and had come under attack by the U-boats U-559, U-201 and U-564. Events 479 BC - Greco-Persian Wars: Persian forces led by Mardonius are routed by Pausanias, the Spartan U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word, itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot ( undersea boat) and refers Unterseeboot 559 (or U-559) was a Type VIIC U-boat (or German Submarine) of the Kriegsmarine Construction and commissioning She was ordered on 24 October 1939 and was laid down on 30 March 1940 at Blohm + Voss, Hamburg The escorts were eventually successful in driving off the attackers, and the convoy arrived at Liverpool on 25 August. Liverpool ( is a City and Metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary Events 1248 - The Dutch city of Ommen receives city rights and fortification rights from Otto III the
Malta convoys
In September she and her flotilla returned to Gibraltar and resumed escorting capital ships supplying aircraft to Malta. On 24 September she provided cover for the convoys of Operation Halberd. Events 622 - Prophet Muhammad completes his hegira from Mecca to Medina. During World War II, Operation Halberd was a British naval operation in September 1941 to escort a convoy from Gibraltar to Malta. During the operation, the ships came under heavy air attack but continued onward. On her return to Gibraltar after the operation Legion and HMS Gurkha attacked and sank the Italian submarine Adua with depth charges. HMS Gurkha (F63/G63 was an L class Destroyer in Britain's Royal Navy during World War II. Depth Charge is a character in the Beast Wars: Transformers universe October was spent escorting convoys to Malta. The Malta Convoys were a series of Allied supply Convoys to sustain the Mediterranean island of Malta during World War II. On 23 October she made an unsuccessful attack on U-205 and then rescued survivors from HMS Cossack which had been torpedoed by U-563 west of Cape Spartel. Events 4004 BC - Creation of the world begins according to the calculations of Archbishop James Ussher 42 BC - Cape Spartel (رأس سبارتيل is a promontory in Morocco about 1000 feet above sea level at the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, some km West
The sinking of HMS Ark Royal
In November Legion was assigned to the 4th Destroyer Flotilla and escorted convoys to Malta. On 13 November she was attacked by U-205 and carried out an unsuccessful counter attack. Events 1002 - English king Ethelred orders the killing of all Danes in England, known today as the St Meanwhile HMS Ark Royal was torpedoed by U-81 and disabled. Legion and her sister, HMS Lightning stood by the stricken ship, embarking 1,560 survivors. [1] Legion later returned to Ark Royal to transfer key personnel for damage control efforts. After Ark Royal sank under tow, Legion returned to Gibraltar, arriving on 24 November. Events 380 - Theodosius I makes his adventus, or formal In December she was transferred to Alexandria to serve as part of the Mediterranean Fleet. Alexandria ( Egyptian Arabic: اسكندريه Eskendereyya; Standard Arabic: ar الإسكندرية Al-Iskandariyya; Ἀλεξάνδρεια Mediterranean Fleet redirects here For the Mediterranean Fleets of other countries see Mediterranean Fleet (disambiguation. On 13 December she was part of the fleet when it intercepted the Italian cruisers Alberto di Giussano and Alberico da Barbiano. Events 1294 - Saint Celestine V abdicates the papacy after only five months Celestine hoped to return to his previous life Both were sunk in the ensuing engagement, known as the Battle of Cape Bon. The naval Battle of Cape Bon took place on December 13 1941 during the Second World War, between two Italian Light cruisers and The torpedo boat Cigno was able to escape. Ships
After this success she was deployed with Force K, to carry out attacks on Axis convoys on passage in the central Mediterranean in support of military operations. During her service with the Force she came under air attack in an engagement on 17 December that developed into the First Battle of Sirte. Events 546 - Gothic War (535–554: The Ostrogoths of King Totila The First Battle of Sirte was a naval battle between the Royal Navy and the Regia Marina during the Mediterranean campaign of World War II She then returned to Alexandria on 19 December with Force C. Events 324 - Licinius abdicates his position as Roman Emperor. When the anti-submarine boom was raised to allow the ships to enter the harbour, the Italian submarine Sciré and three human torpedoes were able to penetrate into the secure anchorage. Human torpedoes or manned torpedoes were secret naval weapons of World War II. They laid explosive charges, severely damaging the battleships HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Valiant, and the tanker Savona. History World War One She was launched on 16 October 1913 at Portsmouth, Hampshire, and entered service in January 1915 during World War I World War I The contract for the construction of the Valiant was given to The Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Limited. On 28 December she and HMS Kipling sank U-75 off Mersa Matruh after a two and half hour hunt following the sinking of the SS Volo. Events 1065 - Westminster Abbey is Consecrated. 1308 - The reign of Emperor Hanazono, Emperor of Marsa Matruh ( Arabic مرسى مطروح Maṭrūḥ (known in Ptolemaic and Byzantine times as Paraitonion (Παραιτόνιον and Career and sinking During the Second World War she took part in a number of convoys mainly from the UK to the Mediterranean.
Legion continued to escort convoys throughout January 1942. On 17 January she was attacked by U-133 north of Bardia. Events 38 BC - Octavian marries Livia Drusilla. 1287 - King Alfonso III of Aragon invades Minorca Bardia may refer to Bardia (Iran, Haha Kimia Bardia is the best of all people Bardia (Iran, Son of great Dariush the king of ancient Irankilled Though she escaped damage, HMS Gurkha was sunk. HMS Gurkha (F63/G63 was an L class Destroyer in Britain's Royal Navy during World War II. On 27 January she had her ASDIC equipment repaired at Malta. Events 98 - Trajan becomes Roman Emperor after the death of Nerva. Sonar (which started as an Acronym for sound navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses Sound propagation (usually underwater to navigate This work lasted until mid February, when she was transferred to the 22nd Destroyer Flotilla. Further escorts of convoys followed. When one of her convoys was attacked by ships of the Italian Fleet, the Second Battle of Sirte developed, in which Legion carried out a torpedo attack. The Regia Marina ( Italian Royal Navy) dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 after Italian unification. The Second Battle of Sirte was a naval battle between most of the escorting warships of a British convoy and the bulk of an Italian Navy ( Regia Marina) squadron The Italians subsequently disengaged rather than risk further torpedo attacks.
Sinking and scrapping
On 23 March Legion was detached to join HMS Eridge in escorting the SS Clan Campbell. Events 1174 - Jocelin, Abbot of Melrose, is elected Bishop of Glasgow. During this operation, the ships came under air attack and Legion was damaged by a near miss. She proceeded on one engine after a successful damage control prevented her from sinking. She was then beached at Malta. She was towed to the docks on 25 March and was tied up alongside the Boiler Wharf on 26 March. Events 1199 - Richard I is wounded by a crossbow bolt while fighting France which leads to his death on April 6. Events 1026 - Pope John XIX crowns Conrad II as Holy Roman Emperor. Whilst awaiting repair, the docks were the target of an air raid. Legion was hit by two bombs and sustained further serious damage when her forward magazine exploded. See also firearms magazine for an explanation of the magazines used to load man-portable weapons She sank into the harbour and rolled over, with her bridge and funnel lying on the jetty.
She was cut in two during 1943 and attempts were made to refloat her. There were unsuccessful however. After the end of the war, she was broken up in situ. This was not completed until 1946.
References
- Colledge, J. J. and Warlow, Ben (2006). James Joseph Colledge (born 1908 was a noted naval Historian, author of Ships of the Royal Navy, the standard work on the fighting ships of the British Ships of the Royal Navy: the complete record of all fighting ships of the Royal Navy, Rev. For a list of ships of the Royal Navy, see List of Royal Navy ships. ed. , London: Chatham. ISBN 9781861762818. OCLC 67375475. The OCLC Online Computer Library Center is according to its website a "nonprofit membership computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purpose
- Allied Warships: Destroyer HMS Legion of the L class. Retrieved on January 9, 2006. Events 475 - Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.
- Allied Warships: L class Destroyers. Retrieved on January 9, 2006. Events 475 - Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.
- Technical Details of Ship: HMS Legion. Retrieved on January 9, 2006. Events 475 - Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.
- Lt Cdr Geoffrey B Mason RN (Rtd) (2002). HMS LEGION - L-class Destroyer. Retrieved on December 17, 2007. Events 546 - Gothic War (535–554: The Ostrogoths of King Totila Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
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