The name 'Lightning' has been a very popular one with the British Navy. The
first HMS Lightning was a 270 ton fireship launched in 1691. The ninth ship to bear the name belonged to the first class of Royal Navy destroyers. She was launched in 1897 and sunk after hitting a mine in 1915. Her successor was a 'Laforey' class destroyer laid down in 1938 and completed in 1941.
She had a displacement of 1920 tons and carried six 4.7 inch guns in fully enclosed mountings as well as eight 21 inch torpedo tubes.
Initially attached to the Home Fleet she was transferred to the Mediterranean later the same year. As part of Force H she acted as escort to a number of Malta Convoys before going off to participate in Operation Ironclad - the occupation of Diego Suarez, Madagascar following which she returned to the Malta run.
In January 1943 she, together with HMS Loyal, sunk a 3000 ton motor vessel. In March the same year she was hit by 2 torpedoes, fired by a German E-boat, when off the coast of Algeria and sunk.
Gibraltar Philatelic.
Gibraltar SG541