HMS Legion (G74)

HMS Legion at anchor
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Legion
Ordered	31 March 1938
Builder	Hawthorn Leslie and Company, Newcastle upon Tyne
Laid down	1 November 1938
Launched	26 December 1939
Commissioned	19 December 1940
Identification	Pennant number: G74
Fate	Sunk on 26 March 1942 in air attack
Badge	On a Field Blue, an eagle displayed upon a perch Gold.
General characteristics
Class and type	L-class destroyer
Displacement	1,920 tons
Length	362.5 ft (110.5 m)
Beam	36.7 ft (11.2 m)
Draught	10 ft (3.0 m)
Propulsion	Two shafts Two geared steam turbines Two drum type boilers 48,000 shp (35.8 MW)
Speed	36 kt (66.7 km/h)
Range	5,500 nmi (10,200 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h)
Complement	221
Armament	8[1] x QF 4-inch (100 mm) Mk.XVI guns, twin mount HA/LA Mk.XIX 4 × QF 2 pdr Mk.VIII L/39 (40 mm), quad mount Mk.VII 8 × QF 0.5 in Mk.III Vickers (12.7 mm), quad mounts Mk.III 8 (2x4) tubes for 21 inch (533 mm) torpedoes Mk.IX

HMS Legion was an L-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She entered service during the Second World War, and had a short but eventful career, serving in Home waters and the Mediterranean. She was sunk in an air attack on Malta in 1942. The ship had been adopted by the British civil community of the Municipal Borough of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire in November 1941.