HMS ''Latona'' was an minelayer 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 served briefly 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 ...

, but was sunk less than six months after commissioning.

Construction and commissioning

''Latona'' was ordered on 23 December 1938 and was laid down at the yards of John I. Thornycroft & Company, of Woolston, Hampshire on 4 April 1939. She was launched on 20 August 1940 as a fast minelayer. She was commissioned on 4 May 1941 but never served in her intended primary role, instead being used in 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 ...

to deliver stores and supplies to the allied armies and garrisons at

Tobruk Tobruk or Tobruck (; grc, Ἀντίπυργος, ''Antipyrgos''; la, Antipyrgus; it, Tobruch; ar, طبرق, Tubruq ''Ṭubruq''; also transliterated as ''Tobruch'' and ''Tubruk'') is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near th ...

and

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

Wartime career

On being commissioned ''Latona'' sailed 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 ...

to embark stores and extra Oerlikon 20 mm cannons for defence against air attacks. Having completed loading, she sailed for the Mediterranean on 16 May, travelling via the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

and the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...

. She arrived at

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

on 21 June, joining her sister . The following day they sailed to support military operations in the eastern Mediterranean. ''Latona''’s first assignment was to carry RAF personnel to

to reinforce the garrison there. After successfully carrying this out, she returned to Alexandria on 25 July. She sailed again in August in company with ''Abdiel'', the Australian cruiser , and Australian destroyers and to support the garrison at

. They eventually carried some 6,300 troops to Tobruk and evacuated another 6,100. On 25 October the ships supporting Tobruk came under air attack north of Bardia. ''Latona'', carrying 1,000 Polish troops, was hit in the engine room by a bomb from a

Junkers Ju 87 The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka (from ''Sturzkampfflugzeug'', "dive bomber") was a German dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft. Designed by Hermann Pohlmann, it first flew in 1935. The Ju 87 made its combat debut in 1937 with the Luftwaffe's Con ...

of I./StG1. This started a fire which soon raged out of control. The destroyers and came alongside to assist and evacuated most of the troops and crew. ''Latona'' remained afloat for a further two hours, before the after magazine exploded, sinking the ship. Four officers, 16 crew members and 7 soldiers were killed.

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Career of HMS ''Latona''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Latona (M76) Abdiel-class minelayers Ships built in Southampton 1940 ships World War II minelayers of the United Kingdom Ships sunk by German aircraft Maritime incidents in October 1941 World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea Ships built by John I. Thornycroft & Company Naval magazine explosions