HMS ''Kashmir'' (F12) was a K-class destroyer built for 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 ...

during the 1930s, named after the princely state of Kashmir in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

Description

The K-class destroyers were repeats of the preceding J class, except that they were not fitted for

minesweeping Minesweeping is the practice of the removal of explosive naval mines, usually by a specially designed ship called a minesweeper using various measures to either capture or detonate the mines, but sometimes also with an aircraft made for that ...

gear. They displaced at

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

load and at

deep load The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...

. The ships had an

overall length The overall length (OAL) of an ammunition cartridge is a measurement from the base of the brass shell casing to the tip of the bullet, seated into the brass casing. Cartridge overall length, or "COL", is important to safe functioning of reloads i ...

of , a

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of and a draught of . They were powered by

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geared steam turbines, each driving one

propeller shaft A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power and torque and rotation, usually used to connect ...

, using steam provided by two Admiralty three-drum boilers. The turbines developed a total of and gave a maximum speed of . The ships carried a maximum of of fuel oil that gave them a range of at . The ship's complement was 183 officers and men.Lenton, p. 167 The ships were armed with six 4.7-inch (120 mm) Mark XII guns in twin mounts, two superfiring in front of the

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and one aft of the superstructure. For anti-aircraft (AA) defence, they had one quadruple mount for 2-pounder "pom-pom" guns and two quadruple mounts for the 0.5 inch Vickers Mark III

anti-aircraft machinegun Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

. The K-class ships were fitted with two above-water quintuple mounts for torpedoes.Whitley, p. 117 The ship was fitted with two depth charge throwers and one rack for 20 depth charges.

Construction and career

''Kashmir'' was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

Thornycroft Thornycroft was an English vehicle manufacturer which built coaches, buses, and trucks from 1896 until 1977. History In 1896, naval engineer John Isaac Thornycroft formed the Thornycroft Steam Carriage and Van Company which built its firs ...

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

in October 1937, launched on 4 April 1939 and commissioned on 26 October 1939. In company with the destroyers and , ''Kashmir'' attacked the in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

on 29 November 1939, forcing the U-boat to scuttle. ''Kashmir'' was bombed and sunk on 23 May 1941 by German Stuka dive bombers belonging to

StG 2 ''Sturzkampfgeschwader'' 2 (StG 2) ''Immelmann'' was a Luftwaffe dive bomber-wing of World War II. It was named after the World War I aviator Max Immelmann. It served until its dissolution in October 1943. The wing operated the Junkers Ju 87 ...

and led by

Hubertus Hitschhold Hubertus Hitschhold (7 July 1912 – 10 March 1966) was a German general and ground-attack pilot during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi Germany. Early life and career Hitschhold wa ...

, south of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

in position .

Notes

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kashmir (F12) J, K and N-class destroyers of the Royal Navy Ships built in Southampton 1939 ships World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea Maritime incidents in May 1941 Ships sunk by aircraft during the Battle of Crete Naval magazine explosions Ships sunk by German aircraft Ships built by John I. Thornycroft & Company Shipwrecks of Greece