HMS Dainty (H53)

History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Dainty
Ordered	2 February 1931
Builder	Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan, Scotstoun
Cost	£229,378
Laid down	20 April 1931
Launched	3 May 1932
Completed	22 December 1932
Identification	Pennant number H53
Motto	Dulce quod utile: 'It is pleasant if it is useful'.
Fate	Sunk by air attack, 24 February 1941
Badge	On a Field Blue, a Fan White and Gold.
General characteristics
Class and type	D-class destroyer
Displacement	1,375 long tons (1,397 t) (standard) 1,890 long tons (1,920 t) (deep)
Length	329 ft (100.3 m) o/a
Beam	33 ft (10.1 m)
Draught	12 ft 6 in (3.8 m)
Installed power	36,000 shp (27,000 kW)
Propulsion	2 × shafts, 2 × Parsons geared steam turbines 3 × Admiralty 3-drum boilers
Speed	36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph)
Range	5,870 nmi (10,870 km; 6,760 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	145
Sensors and processing systems	ASDIC
Armament	4 × QF 4.7-inch Mark IX guns 1 × 12-pounder (3 in (76.2 mm)) anti-aircraft (AA) gun 2 × 4 – QF .5-inch Vickers Mark III AA machine guns 2 × 4 – 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes 20 × depth charges, 1 rail and 2 throwers

HMS Dainty was a D-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s. The ship was initially assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet before she was transferred to the China Station in early 1935. She was temporarily deployed in the Red Sea during late 1935 during the Abyssinia Crisis, before returning to her assigned station where she remained until mid-1939. Dainty was transferred back to the Mediterranean Fleet just before World War II began in September 1939. She briefly was assigned to West Africa for convoy escort duties in 1940 before returning to the Mediterranean. The ship participated in the Battle of Calabria in July 1940 and was assigned to convoy escort and patrol duties until she was sunk by German bombers off Tobruk on 24 February 1941.