HMS ''Mahratta'' was an M-class destroyer 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 ...

which served during World War II. Begun as ''Marksman'', she was damaged while under construction, and dismantled to be rebuilt on a new slipway. She was launched as ''Mahratta'' in 1942, completed in 1943, and quickly pressed into service. After a short but busy career in the North Atlantic and Arctic, largely guarding merchant convoys, she was torpedoed and sunk on 25 February 1944.

History

''Mahratta'' was originally to have been named ''Marksman''. She was laid down on 21 January 1940 but the incomplete ship was blown off the slipway during an air raid in May 1941. ''Marksman'' was to have been the lead ship of the M-class destroyers, and the class was sometimes known as the ''Marksman'' class. Damage sustained by ''Marksman'' was so bad that she had to be dismantled and transferred to an alternative site. The new ship was laid down on 18 August 1941, but she was renamed ''Mahratta'' at her launch in July 1942, after the

Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian confederation that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of Shi ...

of India, as a recognition of the financial support given by India to the war effort. ''Mahratta'' was adopted by the people of

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

, who held a "

Warship Week Warship Weeks were British National savings campaigns during the Second World War, with the aim of a Royal Navy warship being adopted by a civil community. During the early parts of the war, the Royal Navy not only had lost many capital ships but ...

" from 7–14 February 1942, aiming to raise £700,000 – the cost of a warship. She was completed on 8 April 1943 and entered service on that date. During trials in May 1943 HMS ''Mahratta'' escorted RMS ''Queen Mary'' part way across the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

Operation FH

HMS ''Mahratta'' departed

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 ...

on 2 June 1943 with HMS ''Musketeer'' and HMS ''Onslaught'', arriving back at Scapa Flow the same day. On 4 June ''Mahratta'' left Seidisfjord,

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

bound for

Spitzbergen Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group range ...

, Norway as part of Operation FH, which was the relief of the garrison there.

Operation FJ

HMS ''Mahratta'' departed Scapa Flow on 8 June 1943 for

Kola Inlet Kola Bay (russian: Кольский залив) or Murmansk Fjord is a 57-km-long fjord of the Barents Sea that cuts into the northern part of the Kola Peninsula. It is up to 7 km wide and has a depth of 200 to 300 metres. The Tuloma River, T ...

In July 1943, HMS ''Mahratta'' and HMS ''Musketeer'' waited in Iceland for ice to clear before making a high speed run to

Murmansk Murmansk (Russian: ''Мурманск'' lit. "Norwegian coast"; Finnish: ''Murmansk'', sometimes ''Muurmanski'', previously ''Muurmanni''; Norwegian: ''Norskekysten;'' Northern Sámi: ''Murmánska;'' Kildin Sámi: ''Мурман ланнҍ'') i ...

. Amongst her valuable cargo was a bathtub for an admiral.

Operation Camera

Operation Camera was a

war game A wargame is a strategy game in which two or more players command opposing armed forces in a realistic simulation of an armed conflict. Wargaming may be played for recreation, to train military officers in the art of strategic thinking, or to s ...

off the coast of

to test the defences against an attempt by ''Tirpitz'' to break out from Kåfjord. The operation was based at Scapa Flow, departing on 7 July 1943. The other participants were HMS ''Duke of York'', USS ''Ellyson'', USS ''Emmons'', USS ''Fitch'', , HMS ''Glasgow'', USS ''Macomb'', HMS ''Meteor'', HMS ''Milne'', HMS ''Musketeer'', USS ''Rodman'', and USS ''South Dakota''.

Operation Governor

Operation Governor was an attempt to lure ''Tirpitz'' and other heavy battleships out of harbour by simulating a raid on southern Norway. Operation Governor departed Hvalfjord on 26 July 1943. HMS ''Mahratta'' was part of Force A, other participants of Force A were HMS'' Anson'', , USS ''Emmons'', USS ''Fitch'', , USS ''Macomb'', HMS ''Meteor'', HMS ''Milne'', HMS ''Musketeer'', and USS ''Rodman''.

Operation SF

Operation SF departed Scapa Flow on 30 July 1943. ''Mahratta'' was part of Group B. She sailed with HMS ''Milne'' and HMS ''Musketeer'' to join HMS ''Oribi'' and HMS ''Orwell'' escorting oil tanker SS ''Blue Ranger''.

Operation Lorry

Operation Lorry departed Skaalefjord on 26 August 1943. ''Mahratta'' was part of the 10th Cruiser Squadron. Operation Lorry enabled the passage of destroyers and stores to

Kola KOLA (99.9 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Redlands, California, and broadcasting to the Riverside-San Bernardino-Inland Empire radio market. It is owned by the Anaheim Broadcasting Corporation and it airs a classic hits radio form ...

in northern

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. ''Tirpitz'' left her base in Kåfjord with several destroyers to attack the convoy, but was a few hours too late. Operation Lorry delivered parts and crew that were to service the

Spitfires The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Griff ...

used for photo-reconnaissance in preparation for

Operation Source Operation Source was a series of attacks to neutralise the heavy German warships – ''Tirpitz'', ''Scharnhorst'' and ''Lützow'' – based in northern Norway, using X-class midget submarines. The attacks took place in September 1943 at Kaaf ...

Escort duties

In September 1943, ''Mahratta'' was sent to the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

with HMS ''Matchless'' to escort 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 ...

for repairs. ''Matchless'' broke down on the way back, and was taken in tow by ''Mahratta''. The chain later broke, and after this ''Mahratta'' rescued some survivors from a

Coastal Command RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was founded in 1936, when the RAF was restructured into Fighter, Bomber and Coastal Commands and played an important role during the Second World War. Maritime Aviation ...

Halifax aircraft that had been shot down by a German

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...

. They had spent eleven days in the water. ''Mahratta'' arrived in Plymouth on 11 October 1943 and later that month sailed north again to Scapa Flow and Seidisfjord to escort

Convoy JW 54A Convoy JW 54A was an Arctic convoys of World War II, Arctic convoy sent from United Kingdom, Great Britain by the Allies of World War II, Western Allies to aid the Soviet Union during World War II. It sailed in November 1943, reaching the Soviet n ...

as part of Operation FR.

Operation FR

Operation FR was the despatch of escort ships to northern Russia which were to act as escorts for the first of the winter 1943 season convoys, Convoy RA 54A. Other participants were HNoMS ''Eglantine'', HMS ''Harrier'', HMS ''Matchless'', HMS ''Milne'', HMS ''Musketeer'', , HMS ''Savage'', HMS ''Scorpion'', HMS ''Scourge'', HMS ''Seagull'', and HMS ''Westcott''. Cover was provided by USS ''Augusta'', HMS ''London'', and HMS ''Middleton''.

Convoy RA 54A

Convoy RA 54A, including the aircraft carrier ''Formidable'' and the battleship ''Anson'', sailed from Kola Inlet on 1 November 1943. The departure of the convoy was delayed by thick

fog Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus, and is heavily influ ...

, but allowed the convoy to reach

Loch Ewe Loch Ewe ( gd, Loch Iùbh) is a sea loch in the region of Wester Ross in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. The shores are inhabited by a traditionally Gàidhlig-speaking people living in or sustained by crofting villages, the most notab ...

without being attacked.

Convoy JW 54A

sailed on 22 November 1943, arriving at

Archangel Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the hierarchy of angels. The word ''archangel'' itself is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions, but beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of other relig ...

on 3 December. Again, the convoy managed to avoid being attacked.

Convoy RA 54B

Convoy RA 54B departed Archangel on 26 November 1943 bound for Loch Ewe. Passage was hampered by poor weather conditions, but the convoy did not come under attack.

Convoy JW 56B

Convoy JW 56B Convoy JW 56B was an Arctic convoy sent from Great Britain by the Western Allies to aid the Soviet Union during World War II. It sailed in late January 1944, reaching the Soviet northern ports at the beginning of February. All ships arrived safe ...

departed Loch Ewe on 22 January 1944 and arrived at Kola Inlet on 1 February. During the passage the convoy was attacked. HMS ''Hardy'' was hit by a

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

from the and HMS ''Venus'' later sank her.

Convoy RA 56

Convoy RA 56 departed Kola Inlet on 3 February 1944 and arrived at Loch Ewe on 11 February 1944.

Convoy JW 57

Convoy JW 57 sailed from Loch Ewe on 11 February 1944, arriving at Kola Inlet on 28 February. On 23 February a

Focke-Wulf Condor The Focke-Wulf Fw 200 ''Condor'', also known as ''Kurier'' to the Allies (English: Courier), was a German all-metal four-engined monoplane originally developed by Focke-Wulf as a long-range airliner. A Japanese request for a long-range maritime ...

aircraft was spotted.

Wildcats The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while the ...

were flown from HMS ''Chaser'' and it was thought that they had driven the Condor away, but it kept watch at a distance. Several U-boats were spotted by the Wildcats and

Swordfish Swordfish (''Xiphias gladius''), also known as broadbills in some countries, are large, highly migratory predatory fish characterized by a long, flat, pointed bill. They are a popular sport fish of the billfish category, though elusive. Swordfis ...

aircraft were sent to attack any U-boats they could find. HMS ''Kessel'' was successful in sinking with depth charges.

Loss

On 25 February 1944, a

Catalina Catalina may refer to: Arts and media * ''The Catalina'', a 2012 American reality television show * ''Catalina'' (novel), a 1948 novel by W. Somerset Maugham * Catalina (''My Name Is Earl''), character from the NBC sitcom ''My Name Is Earl'' ...

aircraft of 210 Squadron attacked and sank which was trailing the convoy. ''Mahratta'' was struck by two T5 Gnat torpedoes fired by off the coast of Norway. She sank at . Only 16 of the 236 crew survived. Although ''Mahratta'' was lost, the convoy was a success. It was the largest convoy ever sent to Russia.

Memorial

A memorial to those who lost their lives on the Arctic Convoys was unveiled at

in 1991, on the 50th anniversary of the first Arctic Convoy.

Notes

References

* * * * * * *

External links

Crew list of HMS ''Mahratta''
*
Wartime tale of Halifax aircrew shot down over Atlantic and saved by the ''Mahratta''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahratta (G99) L and M-class destroyers of the Royal Navy Ships built on the River Clyde 1942 ships World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II World War II shipwrecks in the Arctic Ocean Maritime incidents in February 1944