HMS ''Exmoor'' was a
destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort
larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
of the
Royal Navy. She was a member of the first subgroup of the class, and saw service in the
Second World War, before being sunk by German
E-boats in 1941.
Construction and commissioning
''Exmoor'' was ordered under the 1939 Naval Building Programme from Parsons Marine Steam Turbines Company, with the hull building being subcontracted to the
Vickers-Armstrongs yard,
Tyneside. She was laid down as Job No J4099 on 8 June 1939 and launched on 25 January 1940. She was commissioned into service on 18 October 1940, and after working up, was assigned to the
16th Destroyer Flotilla
16 (sixteen) is the natural number following 15 and preceding 17. 16 is a composite number, and a square number, being 42 = 4 × 4. It is the smallest number with exactly five divisors, its proper divisors being , , and .
In English speech, ...
at
Scapa Flow
Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern end in June 2009
Scapa Flow (; ) is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray,S. C. George, ''Jutland to Junkyard'', 1973. South Ronaldsay and ...
.
Career
''Exmoor'' arrived at the
Home Fleet
The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy that operated from the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967. In 1967, it was merged with the Mediterranean Fleet creating the new Western Fleet.
Before the First ...
at Scapa Flow in November, and on 6 November was detached in company with to escort the merchant ship SS ''Adda'' to the
Faeroe Islands. ''Exmoor'' returned on 11 November and resumed her working up period. In December she escorted the
armed merchant cruiser
An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in lo ...
s ''Chitral'' and ''Salopian'' on their way to begin patrols. ''Exmoor'' then sailed to
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
.
In January ''Exmoor'' was part of the escort for the battleship as she sailed from
Portsmouth to
Rosyth. ''Exmoor'' then sailed to
Harwich
Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-on- ...
to begin escorting coastal convoys through the
North Sea with the 16th Destroyer Flotilla. She carried out these duties into February, and on 23 February was deployed with to escort a convoy from the
Thames estuary to
Methil
Methil (Scottish Gaelic: Meadhchill) is an eastern coastal town in Scotland. It was first recorded as "Methkil" in 1207, and belonged to the Bishop of St Andrews. Two Bronze Age cemeteries have been discovered which date the settlement as ov ...
. The convoy was attacked by
E-boats as it passed off
Lowestoft
Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the most easterly UK settlement, it is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and sou ...
on 25 February. ''Exmoor'' suffered an explosion aft, suffering major structural damage and rupturing a fuel supply line. A fire soon broke out which spread rapidly. ''Exmoor'' capsized and sank in ten minutes. The survivors were picked up by ''Shearwater'' and the trawler ''Commander Evans'', and were taken to
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...
. ''Exmoor'' had either been hit by a torpedo fired by the E-Boat ''S30'' commanded by
Klaus Feldt
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (german: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) and its variants were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was award ...
, as the Germans claimed, or had struck a
mine as the Admiralty claimed. The wreck is designated as a ''protected place'' under the
Protection of Military Remains Act 1986. During a 2008-2011 marine biology survey of the area in which she was sunk, the
RV ''Cefas Endeavour'' discovered the wreck.
A later Hunt-class destroyer, previously planned as HMS ''Burton'', was renamed and launched as .
References
Further reading
*
External links
HMS Exmoor's wartime career
{{DEFAULTSORT:Exmoor (L61)
Hunt-class destroyers of the Royal Navy
Ships built on the River Tyne
1940 ships
World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom
World War II shipwrecks in the North Sea
Protected Wrecks of the United Kingdom
Maritime incidents in February 1941
Ships built by Vickers Armstrong