HMS Hardy (H87)
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HMS ''Hardy'' was the
flotilla leader A flotilla leader was a warship of late 19th century and early 20th century navies suitable for commanding a flotilla of destroyers or other small warships, typically a small cruiser or a large destroyer (known as a destroyer leader). The flotil ...
for the H-class destroyers, 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 ...
in the mid-1930s. During the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...
of 1936–1939 the ship spent considerable time in Spanish waters, enforcing the arms blockade imposed by Britain and France on both sides of the conflict. ''Hardy'' was transferred to
Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and po ...
,
Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...
, in October 1939 to hunt for German
commerce raider Commerce raiding (french: guerre de course, "war of the chase"; german: Handelskrieg, "trade war") is a form of naval warfare used to destroy or disrupt logistics of the enemy on the open sea by attacking its merchant shipping, rather than enga ...
s in the
South 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 ...
with Force K. After returning to the United Kingdom in early 1940, the ship became flagship of the
2nd Destroyer Flotilla The British 2nd Destroyer Flotilla (also styled as Second Destroyer Flotilla) was a naval formation of the Royal Navy from 1909 to 1943 and again from 1945 to 1946. History The 2nd Destroyer Flotilla originated in early 1907 as a part of a Home ...
assigned to the Home Fleet. During the Norwegian campaign of 1940, ''Hardy'' participated in the
First Battle of Narvik The Battles of Narvik were fought from 9 April to 8 June 1940, as a naval battle in the Ofotfjord and as a land battle in the mountains surrounding the north Norwegian town of Narvik, as part of the Norwegian Campaign of the Second World War. ...
where she sank one German destroyer. As the British ships were withdrawing, they were discovered by two other German destroyers that so badly damaged ''Hardy'' that she had to be run aground to stop her from sinking. The ship was lifted by a rising tide and eventually
capsized Capsizing or keeling over occurs when a boat or ship is rolled on its side or further by wave action, instability or wind force beyond the angle of positive static stability or it is upside down in the water. The act of recovering a vessel fro ...
.


Description

''Hardy'' 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 ship 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 beam of and a draught of . She was powered by
Parsons Parsons may refer to: Places In the United States: * Parsons, Kansas, a city * Parsons, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Parsons, Tennessee, a city * Parsons, West Virginia, a town * Camp Parsons, a Boy Scout camp in the state of Washingt ...
geared steam turbines, driving two shafts, which developed a total of and gave a maximum speed of . Steam for the turbines was provided by three Admiralty 3-drum
water-tube boiler A high pressure watertube boiler (also spelled water-tube and water tube) is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which boils water in the steam-gen ...
s. ''Hardy'' carried a maximum of of fuel oil that gave her a range of at . The ship's complement was 175 officers and men.Whitley, p. 107 The ship mounted five 45-
calibre In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the finished bore match ...
4.7-inch (120 mm) Mark IX guns in single mounts. For anti-aircraft (AA) defence, ''Hardy'' had two quadruple Mark I mounts for the 0.5 inch Vickers Mark III
machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) ar ...
. She was fitted with two above-water quadruple
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 ...
mounts for torpedoes. One depth charge rail and two throwers were fitted; 20 depth charges were carried originally, but this was increased to 35 shortly after the war began.


Service

''Hardy'' was laid down by
Cammell Laird and Company 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, ...
at
Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...
on 30 May 1935, launched on 7 April 1936 and commissioned on 11 December 1936. Excluding government-furnished equipment like the armament, the ship cost £278,482. The ship was assigned to the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla of the Mediterranean Fleet upon commissioning. ''Hardy'' patrolled Spanish waters from 1937 through 1939 during the Spanish Civil War enforcing the policies of the
Non-Intervention Committee During the Spanish Civil War, several countries followed a principle of non-intervention to avoid any potential escalation or possible expansion of the war to other states. That would result in the signing of the Non-Intervention Agreement in Au ...
. After the destroyer struck a mine off Almeria on 13 May 1937, ''Hardy'' stood by in case ''Hunter'' needed further assistance. ''Hardy'' was berthed in
Palma, Majorca Palma (; ; also known as ''Palma de Mallorca'', officially between 1983–88, 2006–08, and 2012–16) is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is situated on the south coast of Mallorca ...
, on 23 May 1937 when that port was bombed by the Spanish Republican Air Force, but was not damaged. After the end of the Spanish Civil War in 1939, she began a refit in Devonport Dockyard between 2 June and 29 July. The ship was in
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 ...
when World War II began in September.English, p. 103 In October ''Hardy'' (pennant no. H87) was transferred to
Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and po ...
,
Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...
, to hunt for German
commerce raider Commerce raiding (french: guerre de course, "war of the chase"; german: Handelskrieg, "trade war") is a form of naval warfare used to destroy or disrupt logistics of the enemy on the open sea by attacking its merchant shipping, rather than enga ...
s in the
South 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 ...
with Force K. The ship and her sister ship, half-sisters , , and rendezvoused with the battlecruiser , the aircraft carrier , and the
light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to th ...
on 17 December. They refuelled in
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...
, Brazil before proceeding to the estuary of the River Plate in case the damaged German
pocket battleship The ''Deutschland'' class was a series of three ''Panzerschiffe'' (armored ships), a form of heavily armed cruiser, built by the ''Reichsmarine'' officially in accordance with restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. The ships of the cl ...
attempted to escape from Montevideo, Uruguay, where she had taken refuge after losing the
Battle of the River Plate The Battle of the River Plate was fought in the South Atlantic on 13 December 1939 as the first naval battle of the Second World War. The Kriegsmarine heavy cruiser , commanded by Captain Hans Langsdorff, engaged a Royal Navy squadron, command ...
. She was given a brief overhaul at Devonport between 25 January and 12 February 1940 and was then transferred to Greenock, Scotland for convoy escort duties. The ship rejoined the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla of the Home Fleet in Scapa Flow on 9 March and became its flagship. On 6 April ''Hardy'' and the rest of the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla escorted the four destroyer
minelayer A minelayer is any warship, submarine or military aircraft deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for installing control ...
s of the 20th Destroyer Flotilla as they sailed to implement Operation Wilfred, an operation to lay mines in the
Vestfjord Vestfjord, meaning "West Fjord" in the Danish language, is a fjord in King Christian X Land, eastern Greenland. This fjord is part of the Scoresby Sound system in the area of Sermersooq municipality. Geography This tributary fjord extends between ...
to prevent the shipment of Swedish iron ore from Narvik to Germany. The mines were laid on the early morning of 8 April, before the Germans began their invasion, and the destroyers then joined the battlecruiser and her escorts. The
Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...
ordered Captain Warburton-Lee to attack German shipping in Narvik,
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
, on 9 April. The following morning ''Hardy'' led four of her half-sisters down
Ofotfjord Ofotfjord ( or ) is a fjord in Nordland county, Norway. It is an inlet of the Norwegian Sea, located about north of the Arctic Circle. The long Ofotfjord is Norway's 12th longest fjord and it is also the 18th deepest, with a maximum depth of . ...
in a surprise dawn attack on Narvik harbour during a blinding snowstorm. 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, s ...
from ''Hardy'' blew off the stern of the German flagship, , and killed the German flotilla commander, Commodore
Friedrich Bonte __NOTOC__ Friedrich Bonte (19 October 1896 – 10 April 1940) was the German naval officer commanding the destroyer flotilla that transported invasion troops to Narvik during the German invasion of Norway (Operation Weserübung) in April 1940. Bon ...
. ''Heidkamp'' sank the next day. Another torpedo hit a merchant ship in the stern. A second salvo of four torpedoes was fired at two other German destroyers, but missed and badly damaged the ore docks. After regrouping, Captain Warburton-Lee led another attack on the harbour later that morning, but inflicted little additional damage due to poor visibility. As the British destroyers completed their second attack, they were engaged by three more German destroyers. The British destroyers attempted to withdraw to the west, but were pursued by the German ships. Two additional German destroyers crossed the T of the British ships and quickly knocked out ''Hardy''s forward guns. More hits to the ship's
bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
and superstructure set her on fire, mortally wounded Captain Warburton-Lee and killed or wounded all of the other officers on the bridge except Paymaster Lieutenant G.H. Stanning, the Captain's Secretary. Although badly wounded, he took command and after several more hits disabled her boilers ordered her run aground at
Vidrek Vidrek is a small village in Narvik Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The village is located along the Ofotfjorden, just east of the Skjomen fjord. The population of the village is about 70. On 10 April 1940, in the First Naval Battle o ...
. The First Lieutenant, who had not been present on the bridge, assumed command and ordered the ship abandoned. Some of the crew delayed doing so until the last torpedo was fruitlessly fired at a German ship and No. 4 gun fired until it was out of ammunition.Haarr, p. 345 Captain Warburton-Lee was brought ashore but died after an hour from his head wounds. 139 other men managed to get ashore, although 26 were seriously wounded. Captain Warburton-Lee was posthumously awarded the
Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...
. ''Hardy'' was lifted off the beach at high tide and drifted to the head of
Skjomen or is a small fjord that branches off from the main Ofotfjorden in Narvik Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located in the Ofoten district in Northern Norway, just south of the town of Narvik. The European route E6 highway cros ...
fjord where she capsized in shallow waters. The wreck was still visible as late as 1963.English, p. 104


Notes


References

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External links


IWM Interview with survivor Cyril Cope

IWM Interview with survivor Stanley Robinson

IWM Interview with survivor William Pulford

IWM Interview with survivor Leslie Smale
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hardy (1936) G and H-class destroyers of the Royal Navy Ships built on the River Mersey 1936 ships World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom World War II shipwrecks in the Norwegian Sea Maritime incidents in April 1940