HMS Havock (H43)

History
United Kingdom
NameHavock
BuilderWilliam Denny & Brothers, Dumbarton
Laid down15 May 1935
LaunchedJuly 1936
Completed16 January 1937
IdentificationPennant number: H43
FateRan aground and wrecked, 6 April 1942
General characteristics as built
Class and typeH-class destroyer
Displacement
Length323 ft (98.5 m)
Beam33 ft (10.1 m)
Draught12 ft 5 in (3.8 m)
Installed power
Propulsion2 shafts, 2 geared steam turbines
Speed36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph)
Range5,530 nmi (10,240 km; 6,360 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement137 (peacetime), 146 (wartime)
Sensors and
processing systems
ASDIC
Armament

HMS Havock was an H-class destroyer built for the British Royal Navy in the mid-1930s. During the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939, the ship enforced the arms blockade imposed by Britain and France on both sides as part of the Mediterranean Fleet. During the first few months of the Second World War, Havock searched for German commerce raiders in the Atlantic Ocean and participated in the First Battle of Narvik during the Norwegian Campaign of April–June 1940 before she was transferred back to the Mediterranean Fleet in May where she escorted a number of convoys to Malta. The ship took part in the Battle of Cape Spada in July 1940, the Battle of Cape Matapan in March 1941 and the evacuation of Greece in April 1941. She was damaged during the Battle of Crete the following month, but participated in the Syria–Lebanon Campaign in June.

Havock began escorting supply convoys in June to Tobruk, Libya until the ship was damaged in October. She was repaired in time to escort a convoy to Malta during the First Battle of Sirte in December and was badly damaged by the Italian battleship Littorio whilst protecting another convoy during the Second Battle of Sirte in March 1942. Repairs were attempted in Malta, but the ship was further damaged in an air raid in early April. The Admiralty decided that further attempts to repair her at Malta were pointless and ordered her to Gibraltar for permanent repairs. On 6 April, while on passage to Gibraltar, Havock ran aground near Cape Bon, Tunisia, and her crew was interned by the Vichy French at Laghouat in the Sahara.