HMAS Waterhen (D22)

For other ships with the same name, see HMAS Waterhen.

HMAS Waterhen, with HMAS Stuart in background
History
United Kingdom
NameWaterhen
NamesakeWaterhen
BuilderPalmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company
Laid down3 July 1917
Launched26 March 1918
Completed17 July 1918
CommissionedJuly 1918
DecommissionedOctober 1933
FateTransferred to Royal Australian Navy
Australia
NameWaterhen
Commissioned11 October 1933
Decommissioned9 October 1934
Recommissioned14 April 1936
Decommissioned1 June 1938
Recommissioned1 September 1939
Nickname(s)The Chook[1]
Honours and
awards
  • Battle honours:
  • Libya 1940–41
  • Greece 1941
  • Crete 1941
FateSunk by dive bombers, 30 June 1941
General characteristics
Class and typeW-class destroyer
Displacement1,100 tons standard
Length
Beam29 ft 6 in (9.0 m)
Draught13 ft 11 in (4.2 m)
Propulsion3 × White=Forster boilers, 2 × Brown-Curtis turbines, 27,000 shp (20,000 kW), two shafts
Speed34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph)
Range3,560 nautical miles (6,590 km; 4,100 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement6 officers, 113 sailors
Armament

HMAS Waterhen (D22/I22) was a W-class destroyer that served in the Royal Navy (as HMS Waterhen (G28/D22)) and the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Built during World War I, the destroyer was completed in mid-1918, and commissioned into the Royal Navy. In 1933, Waterhen and four other British ships were transferred to the RAN. The ship's early RAN career was uneventful, with periods spent decommissioned in reserve, but she was reactivated in September 1939, and deployed to the Mediterranean as part of the Australian destroyer force: the Scrap Iron Flotilla. During her time in the Mediterranean, Waterhen was involved in escort and patrol duties, performed shore bombardments, and participated in Allied evacuations from Greece and Crete. On 29 June 1941, while operating with the Tobruk Ferry Service, Waterhen was heavily damaged by two Italian Regia Aeronautica's aircraft, dive bombers Ju 87 Stuka (renamed Picchiatello) of 239 squadriglia, flown by pilots Serg.mag. Ennio Tarantola e Serg. Lastrucci.[2] Attempts to tow the ship to port were unsuccessful, and she sank on 30 June 1941, the first RAN ship lost to combat in World War II.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference MacDougall217 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Sgarlato, Nico (2022). Duelli aerei ad Alamein (in Italian). Italy: Delta editrice. pp. 60–61.