HMS Mohawk (F31)

HMS Mohawk
History
United Kingdom
Name:	Mohawk
Namesake:	Mohawk people
Builder:	John I. Thornycroft & Company, Woolston
Laid down:	16 July 1936
Launched:	15 October 1937
Commissioned:	7 September 1938
Identification:	Pennant number L31/F31/G31
Fate:	Sunk, 16 April 1941, by Italian destroyer Tarigo
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type:	Tribal-class destroyer
Displacement:	1,891 long tons (1,921 t) (standard) 2,519 long tons (2,559 t) (deep load)
Length:	377 ft (115 m) (o/a)
Beam:	36 ft 6 in (11.13 m)
Draught:	11 ft 3 in (3.43 m)
Installed power:	44,000 shp (33,000 kW) 3 × Admiralty 3-drum boilers
Propulsion:	2 × shafts; 2 × geared steam turbines
Speed:	36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph)
Range:	5,700 nmi (10,600 km; 6,600 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement:	190
Sensors and processing systems:	ASDIC
Armament:	4 × twin QF 4.7-inch (120 mm) Mk XII guns 1 × quadruple QF 2-pounder anti-aircraft guns 2 × quadruple QF .5-inch (12.7 mm) Mk III anti-aircraft machineguns 1 × quadruple 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes 20 × depth charges, 1 × rack, 2 × throwers

HMS Mohawk was one of 27 Tribal-class destroyers, of which 16 were built for the Royal Navy (RN) during the late 1930s.

Description

The Tribals were intended to counter the large destroyers being built abroad and to lend gun support to the existing destroyer flotillas and were thus significantly larger and more heavily armed than the preceding I class.^[1] The ships displaced 1,891 long tons (1,921 t) at standard load and 2,519 long tons (2,559 t) at deep load.^[2] They had an overall length of 377 feet (114.9 m), a beam of 36 feet 6 inches (11.1 m)^[3] and a draught of 11 feet 3 inches (3.4 m).^[4] The destroyers were powered by two Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by three Admiralty three-drum boilers. The turbines developed a total of 44,000 shaft horsepower (33,000 kW) and gave a maximum speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph).^[3] The ships carried a maximum of 521 long tons (529 t) of fuel oil which was intended to give them a range of 5,700 nautical miles (10,600 km; 6,600 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).^[4] The ships' complement consisted of 190 officers and ratings, although the flotilla leaders carried an extra 20 officers and men for the Captain (D) and his staff.^[5]

The primary armament of the Tribal-class destroyers was eight 4.7-inch (120 mm) Mark XII guns in four twin-gun mounts, designated 'A', 'B', 'X', and 'Y' from front to rear. For anti-aircraft (AA) defence, they carried a single quadruple mount for the 40-millimetre (1.6 in) QF two-pounder Mk II "pom-pom" AA gun and two quadruple mounts for the 0.5-inch (12.7 mm) Mark III machine gun.^[6] The ships were fitted with a single above-water quadruple mount for 21-inch (533 mm) torpedoes.^[5] The Tribals were not intended as anti-submarine ships, but they were provided with ASDIC, one depth charge rack and two throwers for self-defence, although the throwers were not mounted in all ships;^[7] 20 depth charges were the peacetime allotment, but this increased to 30 during wartime.^[8]

Wartime modifications

Heavy losses to German air attack during the Norwegian Campaign graphically demonstrated the ineffectiveness of the Tribals' anti-aircraft suite and the RN decided in May 1940 to replace 'X' mount with two QF 4-inch (102 mm) Mark XVI dual-purpose guns in a twin-gun mount. To better control the guns, the existing rangefinder/director was modified to accept a Type 285 gunnery radar as they became available. The number of depth charges was increased to 46 early in the war, and still more were added later.^[9] To increase the firing arcs of the AA guns, the rear funnel was shortened and the mainmast was reduced to a short pole mast.^[10]

Construction and career

Mohawk was laid down by John I. Thornycroft and Company at Woolston, Hampshire on 16 July 1936, launched on 5 October 1937 and commissioned on 7 September 1938. Mohawk served on convoy duties in the North Sea, and with the 14th Destroyer Flotilla in the Mediterranean where she participated in the Battle of Calabria in July 1940 and the Battle of Cape Matapan in March 1941. Mohawk was struck by two torpedoes fired by the Italian Navigatori-class destroyer Tarigo as she attacked an Italian convoy and sank off the Kerkennah Islands in eastern Tunisia on the early hours of 16 April 1941, with the loss of 43 of her crew.^[11]

Notes

1. Lenton, p. 164
2. English, p. 14
3. Lenton, p. 165
4. English, p. 12
5. Whitley, p. 99
6. Hodges, pp. 13–25
7. Hodges, pp. 30–31, 40
8. English, p. 15
9. Friedman, p. 34; Hodges, pp. 41–42
10. Whitley, p. 116
11. Royal Navy casualties - April 1941

References

• Brice, Martin H. (1971). The Tribals. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0245-2.
• English, John (2001). Afridi to Nizam: British Fleet Destroyers 1937–43. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-64-9.
• Friedman, Norman (2006). British Destroyers and Frigates, the Second World War and After. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-86176-137-6.
• Haarr, Geirr H. (2010). The Battle for Norway: April–June 1940. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-051-1.
• Haarr, Geirr H. (2009). The German Invasion of Norway, April 1940. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-310-9.
• Hodges, Peter (1971). Tribal Class Destroyers: Royal Navy and Commonwealth. London: Almark Publishing. ISBN 0-85524-047-4.
• 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. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-326-1.

External links

• IWM Interview with survivor William Lashmer
• IWM Interview with survivor Peter Blackwell

Coordinates: 34°56′0″N 11°42′0″E / 34.93333°N 11.70000°E