HMS ''Gurkha'' was an L-class

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 ...

in Britain's

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. She was originally to be named ''Larne'' in line with her class letter. However, after the was sunk in April 1940 the officers and men of the

Gurkha The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with endonym Gorkhali ), are soldiers native to the Indian Subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of Northeast India. The Gurkha units are composed of Nepalis and Indian Gorkhas and are recruit ...

regiments each subscribed one day's pay to replace her and ''Larne'' was renamed before launching. Her only commanding officer (

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

Charles Nugent Lentaigne Charles Nugent Lentaigne (26 April 1901 - 6 November 1981) DSO was a Royal Navy officer who commanded HMS ''Gurkha'' (F63/G63) during the Second World War. References Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found i ...

) was brother of

Joe Lentaigne Lieutenant General Walter David Alexander Lentaigne, (15 July 1899 – 24 June 1955), also known as Joe Lentaigne, was a senior officer in the British Indian Army. Early life Lentaigne was born the elder son of Justice Benjamin Plunkett Lentaig ...

who was an officer in the 4th (Prince of Wales' Own) Gurkhas.

Construction and design

On 31 March 1938 an order was placed with

Cammell Laird Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...

for ''Larne'', one of eight L-class destroyers ordered that day and was laid down on 18 October 1938, the first of her class.English 2001, p. 100. In April 1940, the Tribal-class destroyer was sunk off Norway, and in June it was decided to rename ''Larne'' as ''Gurkha'' to continue the relationship between the ship and the Gurkha Regiment. She was launched on 8 July 1940 by

Mary Churchill Mary Soames, Baroness Soames, (; 15 September 1922 31 May 2014) was an English author. The youngest of the five children of Winston Churchill and his wife, Clementine, she worked for public organisations including the Red Cross and the Women's ...

, the youngest child of the Prime Minister and his wife

Clementine A clementine (''Citrus × clementina'') is a tangor, a citrus fruit hybrid between a willowleaf mandarin orange ( ''C.'' × ''deliciosa'') and a sweet orange (''C. × sinensis''), named in honor of Clément Rodier, a French missionary who fir ...

. Only 17 years old at the time, she later recalled the "emotion and excitement" of the launch, describing the occasion as "thrilling":

"It was a beautiful day and I waved the new vessel away most proudly. It was at that time customary for the shipbuilders to give the sponsor of a ship a present: my 'prize' was a lovely Victorian diamond necklace."

Her parents were not present at the launch, but Soames says that when she got home they were ". . . knocked endways by my diamonds." Even near the end of her life, she remembered the launch as being like a "fairy-tale." The L class was intended to have a main gun armament of six

QF 4.7 inch Mark XI gun The 4.7 inch QF Mark XIMark XI = Mark 11. Britain used Roman numerals to denote Marks (i.e. models) of ordnance until after World War II. Hence this article covers the eleventh model of British QF 4.7-inch gun. was a 50-calibre, naval gun ...

s in three enclosed twin Mark XX mounts, but delays in production of the new gun mount resulted in the July 1940 decision to complete four of the class, including ''Gurkha'', with a revised main gun armament of eight QF Mk XVI naval guns in four twin mounts.Whitley 2000, p. 122. Close-in anti-aircraft armament consisted of a single quadruple 2-pounder (40 mm) "pom-pom", two single 20 mm cannon and two quadruple

Vickers .50 machine gun The Vickers .50 machine gun, also known as the 'Vickers .50' was similar to the Vickers machine gun but enlarged to use a larger-calibre round. It saw some use in tanks and other fighting vehicles but was more commonly used as a close-in anti- ...

mounts. Eight

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s were carried in two quadruple mounts.Lenton 1970, pp. 128–129. 110

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive Shock factor, hydraulic shock. Most depth ...

s were carried.Gardiner and Chesneau 1980, p. 41. ''Gurkha'' reached a speed of on

sea trials A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and i ...

and was completed on 18 February 1941.English 2001, pp. 100–101.

Service history

On commissioning, ''Gurkha'' joined the 11th Escort Group.English 2001, p. 104. On 25 March 1941, the steamer ''Beaverbrae'' was sunk by German bombers and ''Gurkha'', together with the destroyer rescued ''Beaverbrae''s crew. While returning to

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 ...

the next day, ''Gurkha'' collided with a wooden

drifter A drifter is a vagrant who moves from place to place without a fixed home or employment. Drifter(s) or The Drifter(s) may also refer to: Films and television Films * ''The Drifter'' (1917 film), an American film directed by Fred Kelsey * ''Th ...

, sinking the fishing boat and sustaining serious damage. She was under repair at

Rosyth Rosyth ( gd, Ros Fhìobh, "headland of Fife") is a town on the Firth of Forth, south of the centre of Dunfermline. According to the census of 2011, the town has a population of 13,440. The new town was founded as a Garden city-style suburb ...

until June 1941. HMS Gurkha, Rescueing survivers by Hr

Following repair, ''Gurkha'' was deployed on convoy escort duties in the

Western Approaches The Western Approaches is an approximately rectangular area of the Atlantic Ocean lying immediately to the west of Ireland and parts of Great Britain. Its north and south boundaries are defined by the corresponding extremities of Britain. The c ...

. She guarded

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

Convoys (1941), destroyed the Italian

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

, and guarded

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

convoys. She was torpedoed by off

Sidi Barrani Sidi Barrani ( ar, سيدي براني ) is a town in Egypt, near the Mediterranean Sea, about east of the Egypt–Libya border, and around from Tobruk, Libya. Named after Sidi es-Saadi el Barrani, a Senussi sheikh who was a head of i ...

on 17 January 1942 and sank after 90 minutes. The surviving crew members were saved by the Dutch destroyer .

Citations

References

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gurkha (G63) L and M-class destroyers of the Royal Navy Ships built on the River Mersey 1940 ships World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea Maritime incidents in January 1942