HMS Encounter (H10)
 Encounter in July 1938 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom
| |
| Name: | HMS Encounter |
| Ordered: | 1 November 1932 |
| Builder: | Hawthorn Leslie and Company, Hebburn |
| Cost: | £252,250 |
| Laid down: | 15 March 1933 |
| Launched: | 29 March 1934 |
| Completed: | 2 November 1934 |
| Identification: | Pennant number: H10 |
| Motto: |
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| Honours and awards: |
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| Fate: | Sunk in the Second Battle of the Java Sea, 1 March 1942 |
| Badge: | On a Field Green, two rapiers crossed Silver |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | E-class destroyer |
| Displacement: | |
| Length: | 329 ft (100.3 m) o/a |
| Beam: | 33 ft 3 in (10.13 m) |
| Draught: | 12 ft 6 in (3.81 m) (deep) |
| Installed power: |
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| Propulsion: | 2 × shafts; 2 × Parsons geared steam turbines |
| Speed: | 35.5 knots (65.7 km/h; 40.9 mph) |
| Range: | 6,350 nmi (11,760 km; 7,310 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement: | 145 |
| Sensors and processing systems: | ASDIC |
| Armament: |
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HMS Encounter was an E-class destroyer of the Royal Navy before and during World War II, serving in home waters and in the Norwegian Campaign, before joining the Mediterranean Fleet and serving on the Malta Convoys, and then in the Eastern Fleet until sunk by Japanese warships in the Second Battle of the Java Sea on 1 March 1942.[1]
Description
The E-class ships were slightly improved versions of the preceding D class. They displaced 1,405 long tons (1,428 t) at standard load and 1,940 long tons (1,970 t) at deep load. The ships had an overall length of 329 feet (100.3 m), a beam of 33 feet 3 inches (10.1 m) and a draught of 12 feet 6 inches (3.8 m). They were powered by two Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by three Admiralty three-drum boilers. The turbines developed a total of 36,000 shaft horsepower (27,000 kW) and gave a maximum speed of 35.5 knots (65.7 km/h; 40.9 mph). Encounter carried a maximum of 470 long tons (480 t) of fuel oil that gave her a range of 6,350 nautical miles (11,760 km; 7,310 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). The ships' complement was 145 officers and ratings.[2]
The ships mounted four 45-calibre 4.7-inch (120 mm) Mark IX guns in single mounts. For anti-aircraft (AA) defence, they had two quadruple Mark I mounts for the 0.5 inch Vickers Mark III machine gun. The E class was fitted with two above-water quadruple torpedo tube mounts for 21-inch (533 mm) torpedoes.[3] One depth charge rail and two throwers were fitted; 20 depth charges were originally carried, but this increased to 35 shortly after the war began.[4]
Service
On 30 July Encounter joined Force H, sailing on 31 July with six other destroyers as escort to the aircraft carrier Argus in Operation Hurry—the first "Club Run"—to deliver twelve Hurricane fighter aircraft to the besieged island of Malta.[1]
While serving with the Eastern Fleet in 1942, she and the destroyer USS Pope were attacked by four Japanese cruisers and four destroyers in the Second Battle of the Java Sea. Encounter suffered major damage and was scuttled by her crew. Eight of the ship's company were killed and the remaining 149 became prisoners of war, 38 of whom died in captivity.[5] Pope was later attacked and sunk by 12 dive-bombers after sustaining many direct hits.
The following day, the Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer Ikazuchi rescued 442 survivors from Encounter and Pope. The survivors had been adrift for some 20 hours, in rafts and lifejackets or clinging to floats, many coated in oil and unable to see. Among the rescued was Sir Sam Falle, later a British diplomat.[6] This humanitarian decision by Lieutenant Commander Shunsaku Kudō placed Ikazuchi at risk of submarine attack, and interfered with her fighting ability due to the sheer numbers of rescued sailors. The action was later the subject of a book[7][8] and a 2007 TV programme.[9][10][11]
Discovery of wreck
The wrecks of Exeter and Encounter were first located by divers off Java in February 2007, and their identities confirmed at that time.[5]
Notes
- ↑ Lenton, p. 156
- ↑ Whitley, p. 103
- ↑ English, p. 141
- 1 2 "World War II Royal Navy wrecks discovered in the Java Sea". webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk. 23 May 2008. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
- ↑ "Reunion for sailor saved by enemy". BBC (BBC). 13 June 2003. Retrieved 29 June 2008.
- ↑ Megumi, Ryuunosuke (5 July 2006). 敵兵を救助せよ!—英国兵422名を救助した駆逐艦「雷」工藤艦長 [Save the Enemies!] (in Japanese). Tokyo, Japan: Soshisha Publishing Company. ISBN 978-4-7942-1499-7.
- ↑ "Axis History Forum : Kudo Shunsaku and the Destroyer Ikazuchi". forum.axishistory.com. Retrieved 29 June 2008. This forum discussion contains a brief summary of the 2006 Megumi book's account of the HMS Encounter and USS Pope rescues.
- ↑ "The Untold story of Captain Kudo Shunsaku and the Destroyer Ikazuchi". japanprobe.com. 19 May 2007. Retrieved 29 June 2008.
- ↑ Gyokai (2007). 日本の武士道１ Japanese BUSHIDO saved lives (video). YouTube. Archived from the original on July 15, 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2008. (Japanese)
- ↑ 伊勢, 雅臣 (13 August 2006). "駆逐艦「雷」艦長・工藤俊作 (Destroyer "Ikazuchi", Kudo Shiyunsaku captain)" (in Japanese). Retrieved 29 June 2008. A summary of the 2007 television program.
Bibliography
- 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.
- 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. (1988). Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-326-1.
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