HMS Inconstant (H49)

Inconstant in 1941
History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Inconstant
Builder:	Vickers-Armstrongs
Laid down:	24 May 1939, as Muavenet
Launched:	24 February 1941
Commissioned:	24 January 1942
Decommissioned:	1946
Identification:	Pennant number: H49
Fate:	Returned to Turkey, 9 March 1946
Turkey
Name:	TCG Muavenet
Acquired:	9 March 1946
Fate:	Scrapped, 1960
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type:	I-class destroyer
Displacement:	1,370 long tons (1,390 t) (standard) 1,888 long tons (1,918 t) (deep load)
Length:	323 ft (98.5 m)
Beam:	33 ft (10.1 m)
Draught:	12 ft 5 in (3.8 m)
Installed power:	34,000 shp (25,000 kW) 3 Admiralty 3-drum boilers
Propulsion:	2 shafts, 2 geared steam turbines
Speed:	35.5 knots (65.7 km/h; 40.9 mph)
Range:	5,530 nmi (10,240 km; 6,360 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement:	145
Sensors and processing systems:	ASDIC
Armament:	4 × single QF 4.7-inch (120 mm) Mk IX guns 2 × quadruple 0.5-inch (12.7 mm) machine guns 2 × quadruple 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes 20 × depth charges, 1 rack and 2 throwers
Service record
Operations:	Operation Ironclad (1942)
Victories:	Sank U-409 and U-767

HMS Inconstant was an I-class destroyer laid down for the Turkish Navy, but was purchased by the Royal Navy in 1939.

Description

Inconstant displaced 1,370 long tons (1,390 t) at standard load and 1,918 long tons (1,949 t) at deep load. The ship had an overall length of 323 feet (98.5 m), a beam of 33 feet (10.1 m) and a draught of 12 feet 5 inches (3.8 m). She was powered by Parsons geared steam turbines, driving two shafts, which developed a total of 34,000 shaft horsepower (25,000 kW) and gave a maximum speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph). Steam for the turbines was provided by three Admiralty three-drum boilers. Inconstant carried a maximum of 470 long tons (480 t) of fuel oil that gave her a range of 5,530 nautical miles (10,240 km; 6,360 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). The ship's complement was 145 officers and men.^[1]

The ship mounted four 4.7-inch (120 mm) Mark IX guns in single mounts. For anti-aircraft (AA) defence, Inconstant had two quadruple Mark I mounts for the 0.5 inch Vickers Mark III machine gun. She was fitted with two above-water quintuple mounts for 21-inch (533 mm) torpedoes.^[1] The ship was fitted with two depth charge throwers and two racks for 16 depth charges.^[2]

Construction and career

Inconstant was laid down as TCG Muavenet for the Turkish Navy by Vickers Armstrong at their Barrow-in-Furness shipyard on 24 May 1939, purchased in September 1939 by the Royal Navy, launched on 24 February 1941 and commissioned on 24 January 1942. The ship participated in the assault on Madagascar in May 1942, and attacked and sank the German submarines U-409 in the Mediterranean north-east of Algiers on 12 July 1943 and U-767 while in company with the destroyers Fame and Havelock in the English Channel south-west of Guernsey on 18 June 1944. Inconstant was returned to Turkey on 9 March 1946 and renamed Muavenet. She was discarded in 1960.

Notes

1. Whitley, p. 111
2. Lenton, p. 161

References

• 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.

External links

• IWM Interview with John Eaden, who commanded HMS Inconstant in 1943