Warship Profile 20 - HMS Hesperus.pdf

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ex-Brazilian 'H'-class destroyer
Peter Dickens, DSO, MBE, DSC, RN
FRONT COVER:
Commander Donald G. F. W. Macintyre DSO** DSC,
Senior Officer Escort Group B-Two and Commanding
Officer I-/MS
Hesperus,
on his bridge in May 1943 (/WM)
Hesperus's
presumed score at the end of May 1943-U
93,
U357, U191, U223, U186. U223
was not, in fact, sunk
but
Hesperus
did complete her five with
U242
in 1945.
(/ WM)
A Mark Vll Depth-charge exploding at 50ft (/WM)
Entering Gladstone Dock, Liverpool, after ramming
U357
(/ WM)
Havant,
the first of the
c/ass, as
originally completed in December 1939 with tall funnels, three boats and minesweeping
gearaft. Like
Hesperus
, she lacked herDCT but was fitted with eight depth-charge throwers and three traps (MOD)
HMS Hesperus
by Captain Peter Dickens DSO, MBE, DSC
FOREWORD by Captain Donald G. F. W.
Macintyre DSO** DSC
,
Royal Navy who
commanded
'
HMS HESPERUS
'
from 15.1.40-
13.3.41 and from 28
.
8.42-22.3.44.
When the torpedoing and sinking of the liner
Athenia
without warning by a German U-boat on
the first day of World War II led to the immediate
institution of a convoy system, the Admiralty became
a victim of its own lack of foresight as well as the
nation's parsimony in the provision of money for
defence and found itself woefully short of ships
suitable for escort duties. Covetous eyes were
turned on the six destroyers similar to the British
'H' Class which were being built, two of each by
Thornycroft, Samuel White and Vickers, for the
Brazilian Navy. They were quickly requisitioned and
completed with equipment limited to what was
essential for anti-submarine warfare.
One of these, launched by Thornycroft on 1 August
1939, was given the name
Hearty.
The phonetic
risk of confusion with the flotilla leader
Hardy,
already in commission, caused this to be changed to
Hesperus
soon after commissioning under my
command in January 1940.
Her debut was far from auspicious. Hurried to sea at
Winston Churchill's insistence, her upper deck had
been incompletely caulked and she leaked like a
sieve in a seaway and had to be taken in hand for
this to be remedied. She had no gun-director nor any
form of gun-control. Her only anti-aircraft weapons
were two four-barrelled 0.5 inch machine guns. Her
gyro compass was a Brown's, designed for the
gentle motion and absense of shock to be expected
in a passenger liner; only in the calmest weather did
it function under the rough treatment provided by a
destroyer.
Nevertheless, as Captain Peter Dickens' narrative
shows, the
Hesperus
was to be a credit to her
builders, give great good service to the Royal Navy
and follow a splendidly successful career throughout
the Battle of the Atlantic.
THE SHIP AND HER VITAL ROLE
The Battle of the Atlantic was as critical for us as the
Battle of Britain. On our ability to keep our merchant
ships and their cargoes at sea depended our very
survival and, having assured that, our ability to wage
war.
The Flag-Officer U-boats, Admiral Doenitz, knew
this perhaps better than we did ourselves; and he
went even further by stating clearly that the
only
way Germany, despite her massive armies, could
hope to defeat Britain was by cutting her sea
lifelines. The drive, courage and persistence behind
the U-boats' attack reflected this single-minded
conviction and it very nearly succeeded.
Only
Hesperus
and her small, rust-streaked, storm-
battered, much-modified and perhaps not
very
beautiful sisters, together with the aircraft of Coastal
Command and the Fleet Air Arm, held the enemy at
the eleventh hour and then routed him. It is
important to recognize this stark, simple truth so as
not to fall into the common error of assessing these
ships as ancillary to the mighty battleships and
carriers. They were the front line itself against the
only menace that really frightened Winston Churchill.
Hesperus
is particularly interesting as representing
in microcosm every stage of the Battle from initial
unpreparedness, through frantic improvisation, to
fully-specialised Anti-Submarine (A/S) Escort. She
was always in action at the key phases and used
every weapon and equipment with deadly effect.
The Launching
Senhora Heitor Galliez launched the Brazilian
destroyer
Juruena
at Thornycroft's Yard on
1 73
Hurricane
as completed in the summer of 1940. She
her OCT (MOD
Right:
Asdic. showing dome, oscillator and hous
arrangements
A typical range recorder trace of an attack on a submarine
with an ahead-throwing weapon.
The iodised paper slowly descends. A 'stylus' at the top
starts from the left simultaneously with each transmission
and moves
across,
marking the paper with any signal
detected by the receiving circuit. The transmission itself is
not recorded as it would be too loud, but then are seen
the sea-reverberations gradually diminishing in intensity
until the echo stands out clearly.
The echo marks are firm when the oscillator points
directly at the submarine but the operator deliberately
steps
across it to ensure that he always knows the centre
bearing and is not misled into losing contact if the target's
bearing changes rapidly. There are therefore faint echoes
between the firm ones; on two occasions he has stepped
off the submarine on to its wake, but the trace has perhaps
helped him to see his error.
The slope of the line of echoes gives the rate of approach
and the bar, adjusted for own ships speed, estimated
depth and weapon data, is aligned with it. When the
moving paper brings the two together the weapon is fired.
(MOD)
1 August 1939 but by 9 September her owners h
submitted gracefully to the inevitable and s
became one of His Majesty's Ships. The nam
Hesperus,
the Greek's Evening Star, was the firs
the name in the Royal Navy and unquestiona
attractive; that it was also well-known as the Wre
of Longfellow's poem seems to have been ove
looked by the Ships' Names Committee, usually
anxious not to upset the sailors' morale, in its sea
for anything beginning with 'H', but no harm w
done for she was happy, lucky and very successfu
Built to the plans of the well-tried British 'H' Cla
with insignificant alterations she and her siste
Havelock, Havant, Hurricane, Highlander
a
Harvester,
were Fleet Destroyers designed
adjuncts to the battlefleet in attack and defen
against a surface enemy. Four low-angle 4.7in gu
and eight torpedoes were to be their main armam
and although they would have asdic and a fe
depth-charges they had virtually no defence agai
aircraft. Except for their sturdy hulls and high spe
they were thus thoroughly ill-adapted to mode
war.
However, the first important improvement w
ordered before completion. This was a massi
depth-charge armament in place of 'Y' gun whi
was unique to the class and set it firmly on th
A/S road. More innovations followed until the shi
were fully equipped for the climax of the Battle in th
spring of 1943 and it is important therefore to kno
what the modifications all were.
Asdic
This means of detecting a submerged submarine b
emitting a sound beam into the water and hearing th
echo was already generally fitted in small ships at th
outbreak of war; much credit is due to the small ba
of dedicated scientists and naval officers wh
developed it with little official encouragemen
The component parts were:
The Oscillator,
a quartz crystal disc suspende
beneath the ship which converted an electric
impulse into sound and, if an echo was returne
vice versa. The instrument could also hear oth
under-water noises which was most useful but
would be drowned by the rush of water past one
own ship were it not for:
174
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