Quentin HMS 1941

The full index of our ship stamp archive
Post Reply
john sefton
Posts: 1816
Joined: Sun Mar 22, 2009 1:59 pm

Quentin HMS 1941

Post by john sefton » Fri Sep 21, 2012 4:31 pm

Name: HMS QUENTIN (G78)
Builder: J. Samuel White and Company, Laid down: 25 September 1940, Launched: 5 November 1941, Commissioned: 15 April 1942, Fate: Torpedoed, 2 December 1942, General characteristics Q class, Type: Q and R destroyer, Displacement: 1,692 tons (1,720 tonnes), 2,411 tons (2,449 tonnes) full load, Length: 358.25 ft (109.2 m) o/a, Beam: 35.75 ft (10.9 m), Draught: 9.5 ft (2.9 m), Propulsion: 2 x Admiralty 3-drum water-tube boilers, Parsons geared steam turbines, 40,000 shp (30,000 kW) on 2 shafts, Speed: 36 kn (67 km/h), Range: 4,675 nmi (8,658 km) at 20 knots (37 km/h), Complement: 176 (225 as flotilla leader), Sensors and processing systems: Radar Type 290 air warning, Radar Type 285 ranging & bearing, Armament: 4 x QF 4.7-inch (120-mm) Mk.IX guns, single mounts CP Mk.XVIII, 4 x QF 2 pdr Mk.VIII (40 mm L/39), quad mount Mk.VII, 6 x QF 20 mm Oerlikon, single mount P Mk.III, 8 (2x4) tubes for 21-inch (530 mm) torpedoes Mk.IX, up to 3 x throwers & 3 x racks, to 45 depth charges
HMS QUENTIN (G78) was a Q class destroyer laid down by J. Samuel White and Company, Limited, at Cowes on the Isle of Wight on 25 September 1940, launched on 5 November 1941 and commissioned on 15 April 1942. QUENTIN attacked and sank the enemy German submarine U-162 while in company with the destroyers VIMY and PATHFINDER in the Caribbean near Trinidad on 3 September 1942.
At 1705 hours of 1 December 1942 HMS QUENTIN left Bone harbor with 4 other units of Force "Q", the British light cruisers HMS AURORA, HMS ARGONAUT and HMS SIRIUS and QUENTIN's sistership the Australian destroyer HMAS QUIBERON).
The purpose of the sortie was intercepting an Italian/German convoy in the Sicilian Narrows. This convoy, designated "H", had sailed from Palermo and was heading towards Bizerte, consisted of Italian freighters AVENTINO (3794 tgr), PUCCINI (2422 tgr), ASPROMONTE (976 tgr) and the German KT 1 (850 tgr), and it was escorted by Italian destroyers NICOLOSO DA RECCO , CAMICIA NERA, FOLGORE and the Italian torpedo boats PROCIONE and CLIO.
Force Q, proceeding at high speed, attacked the convoy on the night of 2 December, destroying it completely. All 4 freighters and the FOLGORE were sunk, while NICOLOSO DA RECCO and PROCIONE sustained severe damage. The British suffered no damage, demonstrating once more their mastery of night attacks.
The following morning, while returning to Bone, the ships of Force Q were 50 nautical miles bearing 048° from Cap de Guarde (Algeria) when they came under attack, first from German torpedo bombers of KG.26, then by a formation of 13 Ju-88s belonging to II FK.
At 0636 hours, in the uncertain predawn light conditions, HMS QUENTIN was hit in the side by a 500-kg bomb, which made the British believe they had been torpedoed. Her conditions appeared immediately to be desperate, the crew was removed by HMAS QUIBERON under attack by the planes, which damaged her with near-misses. QUENTIN sank within 4 minutes (at 0640 hrs) in position 37º32'N, 08º32'E. There were 20 dead.
Now we shall describe some of the events relating to the daily activities of Axis air forces against Force Q, extracted from the reports made to OBS).
As soon as the attack on the Italian/German convoy became known, II FK received the order to take off. Therefore, in the early morning hours, at 0315 hours, from Sardinian airports left 12 He.111 torpedo bombers of I/KG.26 and 4 Ju-88s torpedo bombers of III/KG.26. These were followed shortly by aircraft from Sicily who, between 0437-0447 hours could put in the air 13 Ju-88 bombers of KG.54 in 3 groups, of 3, 4 and 6 planes respectively.
The first to attack the British ships were the torpedo bombers but, due to poor weather, they reported attacking a convoy of La Galite island. In the official bulletin #371 of 4 December 1942 is stated 'sunk an escort vessel, PC-74 and attacked a cruiser with unseen effect due to fog. The majority of the aircraft failed to find the target due to inclement weather'.
From what said above, it is unlikely the ship identified as PC-74 was QUENTIN. This destroyer was then attacked by 3 Ju-88s of I.KG.54 and the crews reported obtaining one 500-kg bomb hit in the side of a destroyer, leaving her dead in the water. The second wave, consisting of 4 more Ju-88s, dropped their bombs on QUENTIN, which already had the stern underwater, while the 3rd wave, with 6 Ju-88s of III/KG.54, bombed QUIBERON which was seen to stop and trailing a large oil slick. The aircraft then proceeded to Bone to attack harbour targets.
At 0855 hours, well over 2 hours after HMS QUENTIN had been hit by the Ju-88s of I.KG.54, on orders of the Air Force Command, Sardinia, 8 S.79 torpedo bombers took off from Elmas airfield to search for, and attack, Force Q. 5 planes belonged to the 283th Squadriglia and 3 to the 280th Squadriglia . Once in the air, Major Melley's plane had engine trouble & aborted the mission, while the remaining 7 planes carried on in single formation. While approaching the British ships, they were attacked by Spitfires, covering their return. North of Bizerte POs Hamblin and Lindsay, of 242 Sqn, attacked first, followed by Wing Cdr Hugo, CO of 322 Wing. Between them, they shot down 4 of the torpedo bombers. The remaining 3 dropped their torpedoes, reported overly optimistically to have hit a cruiser and a freighter. PO Hamblin was shot down by the defensive armament of the torpedo bombers, he parachuted out but was not recovered.
Sources: Wikipedia. http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono ... uentin.htm. http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4502.html.
Information Mr P Crichton.
Attachments
Quentin.jpg

Post Reply