HMS Active (H14)

HMS ''Active'', the tenth ''Active'', launched in 1929, was an destroyer. She served in the Second World War, taking part in the sinking of four submarines. She was broken up in 1947.

Construction and design

''Active'' was ordered on 6 March 1928 as a part of the first class of destroyers for the Royal Navy to be built after the First World War.English 1993, p. 15. The ship was laid down on 10 July 1928 at Hawthorn Leslie in Hebburn, Newcastle upon Tyne, was launched on 9 July 1929 and commissioned on 9 February 1930 with the pennant number H14,Whitley 2000, p. 97. being the first of the A class to be completed.Whitley 2000, p. 98.

Like the rest of the A class, ''Active'' had a main gun armament of four guns on low angle (30 degree) mounts that were only suitable for anti-ship use, and an anti-aircraft armament of two 2-pounder (40 mm) "pom-poms". Eight torpedo tubes were carried on two quadruple mounts, with Mark V torpedoes carried.Gardiner and Chesneau 1980, pp. 37–38. No sonar set was initially fitted, although provision was made to fit one later, while anti-submarine armament consisted of three depth charge chutes with six depth charges carried. High speed minesweeping equipment was also fitted.Friedman 2009, pp. 197–198.

The ship was powered by two Parsons geared steam turbines fed by three Admiralty 3-drum boilers. The machinery generated , driving the ship to a design speed of , although were reached during trials in December 1929.

History

Pre-war operations

Following commissioning, ''Active'' joined the Third Destroyer Flotilla as part of the Mediterranean Fleet, remaining in the Mediterranean other than for refits until 1939. On 4 April 1932, ''Active'' was involved in a collision with fellow A-class destroyer off Saint-Tropez, although damage was limited. ''Active'' patrolled off the coast of Palestine in response to the Arab revolt in June 1936, and following the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, patrolled off Spain from September 1936 to January 1937.English 1993, p. 20.

On 16 February 1937, ''Active'' collided with the destroyer following failure of ''Active''s steering gear at high speed. This time damage was more severe, and ''Active'' was under repair at Malta until June that year, when the ship joined the Second Destroyer Flotilla. ''Active'' served with the Second Flotilla until October 1938, when she went into reserve at Malta. ''Active'' recommissioned as a tender to , the receiving ship at Gibraltar.

Second World War

At the beginning of the Second World War she joined the 13th Destroyer Flotilla based in Gibraltar and in June 1940 joined Force H. As such she took part in Operation Catapult against the French fleet in Mers El Kébir. On 31 July ''Active'' set out from Gibraltar as part of Force H for Operation Hurry in which the aircraft carrier 's aircraft attacked Cagliari in Italy as a diversion while the carrier ferried 12 Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft to Malta. In August 1940, she returned to British waters, joining the 12th Destroyer Flotilla for operations in the Western Approaches and with the Home Fleet. From November 1940 to March 1941 ''Active'' was refitted at Liverpool.

After completing this refit, ''Active'' joined the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla of the Home Fleet, and in May 1941 the ship participated in the hunt for the German battleship .Rohwer and Hümmelchen 1992, p. 63.

In 1942 she participated in the Madagascar landings (Operation Ironclad) during which on 8 May she sank the Vichy French submarine .

Later while being based in Cape Town on 8 October she sank the German submarine ''en route'' to Penang.

During the rest of the war the ship served as escort mainly between Great Britain and Sierra Leone after receiving increased anti-aircraft and anti-submarine armament. On 23 May 1943 she sank the Italian submarine west of Cape Finisterre together with the frigate and on 2 November 1943 sank close to Tangier.

In May 1947 ''Active'' was decommissioned and sold for scrap.

Citations

References

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External links

HMS Active at naval-history

{{DEFAULTSORT:Active (H14)
A- and B-class destroyers
Ships built on the River Tyne
1929 ships
World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom