HMS Active (H14)

Active in 1944
History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Active
Builder:	Hawthorn Leslie & Company, Hebburn
Laid down:	10 July 1928
Launched:	9 July 1929
Commissioned:	9 February 1930
Decommissioned:	1947
Identification:	Pennant number: H14
Fate:	Sold for scrap, 1947
General characteristics (as built)
Class & type:	A-class destroyer
Displacement:	1,350 long tons (1,370 t) (standard) 1,765 long tons (1,793 t) (deep load)
Length:	323 ft (98 m) (o/a)
Beam:	32 ft 3 in (9.83 m)
Draught:	12 ft 3 in (3.73 m)
Installed power:	34,000 shp (25,000 kW) 3 × Admiralty 3-drum boilers
Propulsion:	2 × shafts; 2 × geared steam turbines
Speed:	35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph)
Range:	4,080 nmi (7,560 km; 4,700 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement:	138
Armament:	4 × single QF 4.7-inch (120 mm) Mk IX guns 2 × single QF 2-pounder anti-aircraft guns 2 × quadruple 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes 6 × depth charges, 3 chutes

HMS Active, the tenth Active, launched in 1929, was an A-class destroyer. She served in the Second World War, taking part in the sinking of four submarines. She was broken up in 1947.

Construction and design

Active was ordered on 6 March 1928 as a part of the first class of destroyers for the Royal Navy to be built after the First World War.^[1] The ship was laid down on 10 July 1928 at Hawthorn Leslie in Hebburn, Newcastle upon Tyne, was launched on 9 July 1929 and commissioned on 9 February 1930 with the pennant number H14,^[2] being the first of the A class to be completed.^[3]

Like the rest of the A class, Active had a main gun armament of four 4.7 in (120 mm) guns on low angle (30 degree) mounts that were only suitable for anti-ship use, and an anti-aircraft armament of two 2-pounder (40 mm) "pom-poms". Eight 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes were carried on two quadruple mounts, with Mark V torpedoes carried.^[3][4] No sonar set was initially fitted, although provision was made to fit one later, while anti-submarine armament consisted of three depth charge chutes with six depth charges carried. High speed minesweeping equipment was also fitted.^[5]

The ship was powered by two Parsons geared steam turbines fed by three Admiralty 3-drum boilers. The machinery generated 34,000 shaft horsepower (25,000 kW), driving the ship to a design speed of 35.25 knots (65.28 km/h; 40.56 mph),^[2] although 36.73 knots (68.02 km/h; 42.27 mph) were reached during trials in December 1929.^[3]

History

Pre-war operations

Following commissioning, Active joined the Third Destroyer Flotilla as part of the Mediterranean Fleet, remaining in the Mediterranean other than for refits until 1939. On 4 April 1932, Active was involved in a collision with fellow A-class destroyer Achates off Saint-Tropez, although damage was limited. Active patrolled off the coast of Palestine in response to the Arab revolt in June 1936, and following the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, patrolled off Spain from September 1936 to January 1937.^[6]

On 16 February 1937, Active collided with the destroyer Worcester following failure of Active's steering gear at high speed. This time damage was more severe, and Active was under repair at Malta until June that year, when the ship joined the Second Destroyer Flotilla. Active served with the Second Flotilla until October 1938, when she went into reserve at Malta.^[6]

Second World War

At the beginning of the Second World War she joined the 13th Flotilla based in Gibraltar and later Force H. As such she took part in Operation Catapult against the French fleet in Mers El Kébir.

In May 1941 the ship participated in the hunt for the German battleship Bismarck.

In 1942 she participated in the Madagascar landings (Operation Ironclad) during which on 8 May she sank the Vichy French submarine Monge. Later while being based in Cape Town on 8 October she sank the German submarine U-179 en route to Penang.

During the rest of the war the ship served as escort mainly between Great Britain and Sierra Leone after receiving increased anti-aircraft and anti-submarine armament. On 23 May 1943 she sank the Italian submarine Leonardo da Vinci west of Cape Finisterre together with the frigate Ness and on 2 November 1943 sank U-340 close to Tangier.

In May 1947 Active was decommissioned and sold for scrap.

Citations

1. English 1993, p. 15.
2. Whitley 2000, p. 97.
3. Whitley 2000, p. 98.
4. Gardiner and Chesneau 1980, pp. 37–38.
5. Friedman 2009, pp. 197–198.
6. English 1993, p. 20.

References

• Blair, Clay (2000). Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunted, 1942–1945. New York: Modern Library. ISBN 0-679-64033-9.
• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475.
• English, John (1993). Amazon to Ivanhoe: British Standard Destroyers of the 1930s. Kendal, England: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-64-9.
• Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-081-8.
• Haarr, Geirr H. (2010). The Battle for Norway: April – June 1940. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-051-1.
• Haarr, Geirr H. (2009). The German Invasion of Norway, April 1940. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-310-9.
• Hodges, Peter; Friedman, Norman (1979). Destroyer Weapons of World War 2. Greenwich: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-137-3.
• Lenton, H. T. (1998). British & Empire Warships of the Second World War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-048-7.
• Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
• Whitley, M. J. (2000). Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. London: Cassell & Co. ISBN 1-85409-521-8.
• Winser, John de D. (1999). B.E.F. Ships Before, At and After Dunkirk. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-91-6.

External links

• HMS Active at naval-history