HMS ''Heythrop'' (L85) 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 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 ...

She was ordered as part of the 1939 War Emergency programme. She was launched in 1940 and served during the

Second World War 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 named after the Heythrop Hunt.

Service history

On completion ''Heythorp'' proceeded to the Mediterranean where she was employed on escort tasks until her loss. On 20 March 1942 she was northeast of Bardia when she was hit by a torpedo fired by . She was severely damaged and was taken under tow however when her pumps could not cope she was abandoned and the crew transferred by boat to . She sank later that day.

References

Publications

* * English, John (1987). The Hunts: a history of the design, development and careers of the 86 destroyers of this class built for the Royal and Allied Navies during World War II. England: World Ship Society. . Hunt-class destroyers of the Royal Navy Ships built by Swan Hunter Ships built on the River Tyne 1940 ships World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom Maritime incidents in March 1942 Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II {{UK-destroyer-stub