HMS Dulverton (L63)

HMS Dulverton was a Type II Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. Launched in 1941, she saw service during the Second World War until being damaged by German aircraft in 1943 during the Battle of Leros, and was scuttled.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Dulverton.

History
United Kingdom
Name: HMS Dulverton
Ordered: 4 September 1939
Builder: Alexander Stephen and Sons, Govan
Laid down: 16 July 1940
Launched: 1 April 1941
Honours and
awards:
Fate: Damaged and scuttled on 13 November 1943
Badge: On a Field barry wavy of six White and Blue within an annulet per fess Red and Green, a Griffin's claw erased Red grasping a riding whip and an axe in saltire Gold.
General characteristics
Class and type: Type II Hunt-class destroyer
Displacement:
  • 1,050 tons standard;
  • 1,490 tons full load
Length: 85.34 m
Beam: 9.62 m
Draught: 2.51 m (8 ft 3 in)
Propulsion: 2 shaft Parsons geared turbines; 19,000 shp
Speed: 25.5 knots (25½ kn full)
Range: 3,600 nmi (6,670 km) at 14 knots (26 km/h)
Complement: 164
Armament:

Dulverton was ordered from Alexander Stephen and Sons of Govan on the outbreak of war in 1939. She was laid down on 16 July 1940, and launched 1 April 1941. She was completed by September 1941.

Service history

Dulverton participated in many operations, including escorting troop convoys bound for Suez Canal and the convoys to Malta including the first one to lift the siege there, supporting the British Eighth Army in North Africa, the Tobruk Raid, and the destruction of the German submarine U-559 with other destroyers and the Royal Air Force.

In October 1943 Dulverton was involved in the Dodecanese Campaign, as part of a force that was trying to capture the Greek islands of Kos and Leros on 20 October and again on 4 November. On 12 November, Dulverton returned to support the garrison on Leros which had just been invaded by the Germans. On 13 November, whilst five miles off the coast of Kos, she was attacked by German Do 217 E-5 aircraft from KG 100 using Hs 293 glider bombs, one of which struck Dulverton abreast of the bridge.[1] Six officers and 114 ratings were evacuated from the ship before she was scuttled by HMS Belvoir, but three officers including the Captain of the 5th Destroyer Flotilla and 75 ratings were lost.[2]

References
  1. Ford, Roger (2013). Germany's Secret Weapons of World War II. London, United Kingdom: Amber Books. p. 224. ISBN 978-1-909160-56-9.
  2. HMS Dulverton (L 63) Escort destroyer of the Hunt (Type II) class

Publications

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