Tribal class destroyer (1936) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Tribal class, or Afridi class, were a class

Ship class

A ship class is a group of ships of a similar design. This is distinct from a ship-type, which might reflect a similarity of tonnage or intended use. For example, the is a nuclear aircraft carrier of the Nimitz class....

of destroyer

Destroyer

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

s built for the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

, Royal Canadian Navy

Royal Canadian Navy

The history of the Royal Canadian Navy goes back to 1910, when the naval force was created as the Naval Service of Canada and renamed a year later by King George V. The Royal Canadian Navy is one of the three environmental commands of the Canadian Forces...

and Royal Australian Navy

Royal Australian Navy

The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...

that saw service in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Originally conceived as a failed design for a light fleet cruiser, the Tribals evolved into fast, powerful destroyers, with greater emphasis on guns over torpedoes than previous destroyers, in response to new designs by Japan, Italy, and Germany. The Tribals were well admired by their crews and the public when they were in service due to their power, often becoming symbols of prestige while in service.

As some of the Royal Navy's most modern and powerful escort ships, the Tribal class served with distinction in nearly all theatres of World War II. Only a handful of Royal Navy Tribals survived the war, all of which were subsequently scrapped from hard use, while Commonwealth

Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...

Tribals continued to serve into the Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

, serving with distinction in the Korean War

Korean War

The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

. Only one Tribal survives to this day: , which is now a museum ship

Museum ship

A museum ship, or sometimes memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public, for educational or memorial purposes...

in Hamilton Harbour, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada.

Design history

From 1926, all Royal Navy destroyers had descended from a common lineage based upon the prototypes and . During the interwar period, advances in armament and machinery meant that by the mid-1930s, these "interwar standard" destroyers were being eclipsed by foreign designs, particularly from Japan

Japanese World War II destroyers

Japanese World War II destroyers included some of the most formidable of their day. This came as a nasty surprise to the Allies, who had generally under-estimated Japanese technical capabilities. The Japanese had reassessed their naval needs in the mid-1920s and, placing an emphasis on ship and...

, Italy

Italian World War II destroyers

At the start of World War II, Italian destroyers were a mix of warships dating from old, World War I designs up to some of the most modern of their type in the world...

, and Germany

German World War II destroyers

At the outbreak of the Second World War, the German Navy, the Kriegsmarine, had 21 destroyers . These had all been built in the 1930s, making them modern vessels...

. To counteract this trend, the Admiralty decided on a new destroyer type, with an emphasis on gunnery over torpedo warfare. The destroyer was based on 'Design V', a failed design for a small fleet cruiser (another variant of this design evolved into the Dido class cruiser

Dido class cruiser

The Dido class was a class of sixteen light cruisers built for the Royal Navy. The design was influenced by the Arethusa class light cruisers. The first group of three ships was commissioned in 1940, the second group and third group were commissioned in 1941–1942...

). This design envisioned a 1,850-ton ship with a speed of 36.25 knots (19.7 m/s), an endurance of 5500 nautical miles (10,186 km), and five twin 4.7 inch guns as main armament.

Although the design was rejected for the fleet cruiser role, by August 1935, after no less than eight design proposals, it had evolved to present a destroyer with eight 4.7 inch Quick Firing Mark XII guns, in four twin mountings, with a maximum elevation of 40°, controlled by a low-angle (LA) director and high-angle / low-angle (HA/LA) rangefinder director on the bridge. To provide close in anti-aircraft protection, the design was fitted with a quadruple Mark VII QF 2 pdr "pom pom"

QF 2 pounder naval gun

The 2-pounder gun, officially designated the QF 2-pounder and universally known as the pom-pom, was a 1.575 inch British autocannon, used famously as an anti-aircraft gun by the Royal Navy. The name came from the sound that the original models make when firing...

mounting, and two quadruple Vickers .50 inch machine guns

Vickers machine gun

Not to be confused with the Vickers light machine gunThe Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a name primarily used to refer to the water-cooled .303 inch machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army...

. These ships introduced the Fuze Keeping Clock

Fuze Keeping Clock

The Fuze Keeping Clock was a simplified version of the Royal Navy's High Angle Control System analogue fire control computer. It first appeared as the FKC Mk1 in destroyers of the 1938 Tribal class, while later variants were used on sloops, frigates, destroyers, aircraft carriers and several...

High Angle Fire Control Computer, which was used on all subsequent British wartime destroyers. The ships were also armed with a quadruple bank of torpedo tubes. They were considered to be handsome ships, with a clipper bow that provided excellent seakeeping and two raked funnels and masts. They are remembered with great affection to this day.

The Tribals were so much larger and differed so much from other British destroyers in service that the resurrection of the corvette

Corvette

A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role...

classification was considered for them. This did not go ahead, and by 1939, the Tribals were classified as destroyers, with the corvette designation going to mass-produced anti-submarine escorts such as the Flower class

Flower class corvette

The Flower-class corvette was a class of 267 corvettes used during World War II, specifically with the Allied navies as anti-submarine convoy escorts during the Battle of the Atlantic...

Construction

The Royal Navy placed an order for seven Tribals on 10 March 1936, with a second group of nine Tribals ordered on 9 June for two flotillas' worth of ships. The Royal Australian Navy

Royal Australian Navy

and Royal Canadian Navy

Royal Canadian Navy

both ordered a flotilla of Tribals. The eight Australian ships were to be built in Australian shipyards. Three were completed, two in 1942 and one in 1945, but the rest were cancelled. The Canadian order was for four ships from British yards in 1940 (completed in 1942 and 1943) and another four from Canadian yards at Halifax in 1942. The latter were not completed until after the war.

Between 1937 and 1945, twenty-seven Tribals were built. Estimated cost per ship was around £340,000 excluding weaponry, and £520,000 overall.

Modifications

Wartime modifications

The Royal Navy equipped the Tribal class with a comparatively heavy anti-aircraft armament; all eight 4.7in guns could engage aircraft with predicted fire using the FKC computer, and thus provide a powerful augmentation to the battle-fleet's AA defence. The close range AA armament of a quad 2pdr and two quad Vickers machine guns was a marked advance over previous destroyer classes and heavier than most other nation's close range destroyer armament in 1939. However, prewar, the RN assumed that destroyers would be acting mainly as escorts for the battle-fleet, and would not be the primary focus of aerial attack. Events soon showed that destroyers often functioned independently and so became the main target of Luftwaffe attack, especially by dive bombers. After the loss of Afridi and Gurkha, the remaining ships were taken in hand to improve the situation. Each ship's 'X' turret, which held a 4.7 inches (119.4 mm) mounting, was removed and replaced by a twin 4 inches (101.6 mm) gun QF Mark XVI on the mounting HA/LA Mark XIX. The mainmast was cut down and the rear funnel was lowered to improve the arcs of fire for the anti-aircraft weapons. As they became available, the more effective 20 mm Oerlikon guns

Oerlikon 20 mm cannon

The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original design by Reinhold Becker of Germany, very early in World War I, and widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others...

were added, at first adding to and eventually replacing the 0.5 in (12.7 mm) machine guns. Depth charge storage was also increased, from 30 to 46 charges. Furthermore, the class initially had problems with leaks in feedwater tanks; this was traced to issues with the turbine blades caused by structural stress when steaming at high speed in rough weather.

By 1944, the four surviving British Tribals were given a tall lattice foremast to carry Radar Type 293 target indication and Type 291 air warning, with Type 285 radar added to the rangefinder-director. The last four Canadian Tribals built were equipped with eight QF 4 inch Mk XVI naval gun

QF 4 inch Mk XVI naval gun

The QF 4 inch Mk XVI gun was the standard British Commonwealth naval anti-aircraft and dual-purpose gun of World War II.-Service:The Mk XVI superseded the earlier QF 4 inch Mk V naval gun on many Royal Naval ships during the late 1930s and early 1940s...

s and four to six Bofors 40 mm gun

Bofors 40 mm gun

The Bofors 40 mm gun is an anti-aircraft autocannon designed by the Swedish defence firm of Bofors Defence...

s as standard.

Post-war modifications

Post war, survivors of the class met different fates: Royal Navy Tribals were retired by the 1950s, while Tribals in service with the Australian and Canadian navies continued in service, with many refitted as anti-submarine destroyers. The British-built Canadian Tribals landed their 4.7 inches (119.4 mm) guns, and received a pair of QF 4 inch Mk XVI naval gun

QF 4 inch Mk XVI naval gun

s in twin mounts in the 'A' and 'B' positions instead, improving anti-aircraft capabilities, a pair of Squid mortars

Squid (weapon)

Squid was a British World War II ship-mounted anti-submarine weapon. It consisted of a three-barrelled mortar which launched depth charges. It replaced the Hedgehog system, and was in turn replaced by the Limbo system....

for anti-submarine warfare, and a twin 3 inch/50 Mark 33 gun on the 'X' position as an anti-aircraft weapon. Sensors were also upgraded for their new roles, and as refitted, Canadian Tribals continued to serve until the 1960s.

Two of the Australian Tribals, Arunta and Warramunga, were modernised during the early 1950s. The aft-most 4.7 inches (119.4 mm) gun mounting was removed, with the space modified to accommodate a Squid anti-submarine mortar

Squid (weapon)

. New sonar and radar units were fitted, the latter requiring the replacement of the tripod radar mast with a stronger lattice structure. Although the modernisation was intended to take less than six months per ship, it took two years for each ship to be refitted, by which time their modifications had already become obsolete. Financial restrictions meant that the third Australian Tribal, Bataan, was not modernised, and a combination of manpower shortages and rapid obsolescence saw all three ships decommissioned by the end of the 1950s.

Service

As some of the Royal Navy's most modern and powerful escorts, they were widely deployed in World War II, and served with great distinction in nearly all theatres of war. The Tribals were often selected for special tasks and as a result, losses were heavy, with 12 of the 16 Royal Navy Tribals sunk, as well as one Canadian ship. Gurkha has the rare and unfortunate distinction of being the name of two ships that were sunk in World War II: the L class destroyer

L and M class destroyer

The L and M class was a class of sixteen destroyers which served in the British Royal Navy during World War II. The ships of the class were launched between 1939 and 1942.-Design details:...

Larne

HMS Gurkha (G63)

HMS Gurkha was an L class destroyer in Britain's Royal Navy during World War II. She was originally to be named Larne in line with her class letter...

was renamed to honour the lost Tribal class ship, and was herself lost in 1942.

1940

Cossack earned fame early on in the war, when on 6 February 1940, commanded by Captain Philip Vian

Philip Vian

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Philip Louis Vian, GCB, KBE, DSO & Two Bars was a British naval officer who served in both World Wars....

, she pursued and then boarded the German tanker Altmark

German tanker Altmark

Altmark was a German oil tanker and supply vessel, one of five of a class built between 1937 and 1939. She is best known for her support of the German commerce raider, the "pocket battleship" and her subsequent involvement in the "Altmark Incident"....

in neutral Norwegian waters in a daring attack to rescue around 300 British prisoners of war onboard. Referred to as the Altmark Incident

Altmark Incident

The Altmark Incident was a naval skirmish of World War II between the United Kingdom and Nazi Germany, which happened on 16 February 1940. It took place in what were, at that time, neutral Norwegian waters...

, this was the last true naval boarding action for the Royal Navy. Gurkha was an early loss, being sunk by German bombers off Stavanger. Afridi was lost soon afterwards to dive bombers while evacuating troops from Namsos. Bedouin, Punjabi, Eskimo and Cossack took part in the Second Battle of Narvik, where Eskimo had her bows blown off.

1941

In May 1941, Somali, Bedouin, and Eskimo, along with the N-class destroyer , and Royal Navy cruisers , , and boarded the German weather ship München, retrieving vital Enigma cypher codebooks. In the same month, Zulu, Sikh, Cossack, and Maori were in action against the German battleship Bismarck

German battleship Bismarck

Bismarck was the first of two s built for the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. Named after Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, the primary force behind the German unification in 1871, the ship was laid down at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg in July 1936 and launched nearly three years later...

, with Mashona being sunk by German aircraft during these operations. In the Mediterranean, Mohawk was lost as part of "Force K

Force K

Force K was the designation for three British Royal Navy task forces during World War II. The first Force K operated from West Africa in 1939. The second and third Force Ks operated from Malta in 1941-1943.-First Force K:...

", torpedoed by the Italian destroyer Tarigo in April, while Cossack, Sikh, Zulu, and Maori took part in Operation Substance

Operation Substance

Operation Substance was a British naval operation in July 1941 during the Second World War to escort a convoy from Gibraltar to Malta.The convoy was escorted by six destroyers and covered by aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, the battlecruiser HMS Renown and the battleship HMS Nelson along with...

, a relief convoy heading to Malta. Cossack was torpedoed by U-563 in October while escorting convoy HG74 in the Atlantic, west of Gibraltar, sinking later under tow. Maori and Sikh were amongst the victors at the Battle of Cape Bon in December. Bedouin took part in Operation Archery

Operation Archery

Operation Archery, also known as the Vaagso Raid, was a British Combined Operations raid during World War II against German positions on Vaagso Island , Norway, on 27 December 1941....

, a British combined operations raid which diverted German resources to Norway for the rest of the war.

1942

In 1942, Matabele was torpedoed and sunk by U-454 in the Barents Sea

Barents Sea

The Barents Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located north of Norway and Russia. Known in the Middle Ages as the Murman Sea, the sea takes its current name from the Dutch navigator Willem Barents...

and Maori was hit in the engine room by a bomb whilst lying in Grand Harbour

Grand Harbour

Grand Harbour is a natural harbour on the island of Malta. It has been used as a harbour since at least Phoenician times...

, Valetta, in February, catching fire and later blowing up where she lay. Punjabi was rammed and sunk by the battleship in May, whilst performing close escort in thick weather. In June, Bedouin was disabled in action with Regia Marina

Regia Marina

The Regia Marina dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 after Italian unification...

's cruisers Montecuccoli

Italian cruiser Raimondo Montecuccoli

Raimondo Montecuccoli was a Condottieri class light cruiser serving with the Italian Regia Marina during World War II. She survived the war and served in the post-war Marina Militare until 1964.-Design:...

and Eugenio Di Savoia

Italian cruiser Eugenio di Savoia

Eugenio di Savoia was a Condottieri class light cruiser, which served in the Regia Marina during World War II. She survived the war but was given as a war reparation to the Hellenic Navy in 1947...

during Operation Harpoon

Operation Harpoon (1942)

Not to be confused with Operation Harpoon Operation Harpoon was one of two simultaneous Allied convoys sent to supply Malta in the Axis-dominated Mediterranean Sea in mid-June 1942, during the Second World War. One convoy, Operation Vigorous, left Alexandria. The other, Operation Harpoon, travelled...

. Although later taken in tow by HMS Partridge the tow had to be cast when the Italian cruisers reappeared and, dead in the water, Bedouin was sunk by aircraft attack. In September, the final two Tribals lost in the Battle of the Mediterranean

Battle of the Mediterranean

The Battle of the Mediterranean was the name given to the naval campaign fought in the Mediterranean Sea during World War II, from 10 June 1940-2 May 1945....

were sunk; Sikh and Zulu during a disastrous raid on Tobruk. Also that month, Somali was torpedoed by U-703 while covering the returning Russian Convoy QP14. Although taken under tow by Ashanti, she sank four days later after heavy weather broke her back. This was the last Royal Navy Tribal lost during the war.

1943

In 1943, the four remaining British Tribals (Ashanti, Eskimo, Tartar, and Nubian) participated in Operation Retribution

Operation Retribution

During the Second World War, Operation Retribution was the air and naval blockade designed to prevent the seaborne evacuation of Axis forces from Tunisia to Sicily...

to prevent the Afrika Korps

Afrika Korps

The German Africa Corps , or the Afrika Korps as it was popularly called, was the German expeditionary force in Libya and Tunisia during the North African Campaign of World War II...

from being evacuated to Italy. Tartar, Nubian and Eskimo then covered the Allied invasion of Sicily

Allied invasion of Sicily

The Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, was a major World War II campaign, in which the Allies took Sicily from the Axis . It was a large scale amphibious and airborne operation, followed by six weeks of land combat. It launched the Italian Campaign.Husky began on the night of...

. After the invasion of Sicily, the four remaining British Tribals then covered the Allied invasion of Italy

Allied invasion of Italy

The Allied invasion of Italy was the Allied landing on mainland Italy on September 3, 1943, by General Harold Alexander's 15th Army Group during the Second World War. The operation followed the successful invasion of Sicily during the Italian Campaign...

at Salerno

Salerno

Salerno is a city and comune in Campania and is the capital of the province of the same name. It is located on the Gulf of Salerno on the Tyrrhenian Sea....

. Ashanti, and Athabaskan then covered Arctic convoy RA 55A, which was involved in the Battle of North Cape

Battle of North Cape

The Battle of the North Cape was a Second World War naval battle which occurred on 26 December 1943, as part of the Arctic Campaign. The German battlecruiser , on an operation to attack Arctic Convoys of war materiel from the Western Allies to the USSR, was brought to battle and sunk by superior...

where the German battleship Scharnhorst was sunk.

At the same time, the two active Australian Tribals, Arunta and Warramunga, were attached to the joint Australian-American Task Force 74

Task Force 74

The US Task Force 74 was a US Navy task force of the United States Seventh Fleet that was deployed to the Bay of Bengal by Nixon administration in December 1971, at the height of the 1971 Indo-Pak War...

and supported a series of landings in New Britain

New Britain

New Britain, or Niu Briten, is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from the island of New Guinea by the Dampier and Vitiaz Straits and from New Ireland by St. George's Channel...

, and deployed to support a series of landings in Operation Cartwheel

Operation Cartwheel

Operation Cartwheel was a major military strategy for the Allies in the Pacific theater of World War II. Cartwheel was a twin-axis of advance operation, aimed at militarily neutralizing the major Japanese base at Rabaul...

The Canadian Tribals were also heavily engaged; Athabaskan was hit by German glide bombs while conducting operations in the Bay of Biscay and was put out of action for almost three months, while Haida and Huron escorted the various Arctic convoys.

1944

Eskimo, Ashanti, Athabaskan, Haida, Huron, Nubian, Tartar and later Iroquois saw extensive action in the English Channel

English Channel

The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...

before and after Operation Overlord

Operation Overlord

Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...

, sinking or damaging a variety of enemy ships.

In April, and engaged two Elbing class torpedo boat

Elbing class torpedo boat

The Elbing class torpedo boats were a class of 15 small warships that served in the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. Although classed as Flottentorpedoboot by the Germans, in most respects—displacement, weaponry, usage—they were comparable to contemporary medium-size destroyers...

s in the Channel. Athabaskan was sunk by a torpedo from T24, while Haida pursued and forced aground T27. Afterward, Haida returned and managed to rescue 42 personnel from Athabaskan. One of the under-construction Canadian Tribals was then renamed Athabaskan as a tribute to the lost ship. During the Normandy invasion, Eskimo, Tatar, Ashanti, Haida, and Huron sank, damaged, or drove ashore the Elbing class torpedo boat T24, the Narvik class destroyer

Narvik class destroyer

The Zerstörer 1936A-class destroyers, or Narvik-class destroyers as they were known to the Allies, were a class of German destroyers of the Second World War...

s Z24 and Z32, and the ex-Dutch destroyer Gerard Callenburgh in a series of battles

Battle of Ushant (1944)

The Battle of Ushant, also known as the Battle of Brittany, occurred on the early morning of 9 June 1944 and was an engagement between a German destroyer flotilla, and an Allied destroyer flotilla off the coast of Brittany. The action came shortly after the initial Allied landings in Normandy...

. Furthermore, Haida and Eskimo also sank the German U-boat U-971 with depth charges and close in gunfire, rescuing 53 survivors. Afterward, Eskimo was involved in a collision with the destroyer HMS Javelin, which kept Eskimo out of action for 5 months.

After the Normandy invasion, Nubian was sent to screen Royal Navy Home Fleet units engaged in the protection of the Russian Convoy JW 59, and carrier-based aerial attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz

German battleship Tirpitz

Tirpitz was the second of two s built for the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. Named after Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, the architect of the Imperial Navy, the ship was laid down at the Kriegsmarinewerft in Wilhelmshaven in November 1936 and launched two and a half years later in April...

and elsewhere in Norway. Iroquois and Haida met up with the Free French cruiser Jeanne d'Arc

French cruiser Jeanne d'Arc (1930)

The Jeanne d'Arc was a school cruiser of the French Navy, the second ship to bear the name.She was built in Saint-Nazaire in only two years, on plans by engineer Antoine. She was designed both as a school ship, and a fully capable warship....

which was sailing from Algiers to Cherbourg carrying members of the French Provisional Government. Iroquois then escorted the liner RMS Queen Mary

RMS Queen Mary

RMS Queen Mary is a retired ocean liner that sailed primarily in the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard Line...

which was carrying the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...

to the Second Quebec Conference

Second Quebec Conference

The Second Quebec Conference was a high level military conference held during World War II between the British, Canadian and American governments. The conference was held in Quebec City, September 12, 1944 - September 16, 1944, and was the second conference to be held in Quebec, after "QUADRANT"...

1945

Eskimo, Nubian, and Tartar were given some minor tropicalisation refits and were sent east to join the British Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean as the Atlantic war wound down. There, Eskimo, Nubian, and Tartar engaged in escort of the Royal Navy major surface units and shore bombardment. Afterward, Nubian, and Tartar were waiting as backup for Battle of the Malacca Strait, where the Japanese cruiser Haguro

Japanese cruiser Haguro

|-External reference links: -External links:**...

was sunk. Eskimo and Nubian were then engaged in anti-shipping patrols, sinking a Japanese merchant ship and a submarine chaser near Sumatra. This was the last Royal Navy surface action against shipping in World War II. In July, Nubian and Tatar prepared for Operation Zipper

Operation Zipper

During the Second World War, Operation Zipper was a British plan to capture either Port Swettenham or Port Dickson, Malaya as staging areas for the recapture of Singapore. However, due to the end of the war in the Pacific, it was never fully executed. Some of the proposed landings on Penang went...

, the planned British landings in Malaya.

During this period, the Canadian Tribals continued to be engaged; Haida, Huron and Iroquois escorted Russian convoys until May 1945 when Germany surrendered. The Canadian Tribals then engaged in the escort of British warships liberating Norway following the German surrender. Iroquois then joined the British cruisers , , and destroyer Savage at Copenhagen and headed to Wilhemshaven, as escort for the surrendered German cruisers Prinz Eugen

German cruiser Prinz Eugen

Prinz Eugen was an Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruiser, the third member of the class of five vessels. She served with the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. The ship was laid down in April 1936 and launched August 1938; Prinz Eugen entered service after the outbreak of war, in August 1940...

and Nürnberg

German cruiser Nürnberg

The Nürnberg, was a German light cruiser of the Leipzig class named after the city of Nuremberg. Some sources consider the Leipzig and Nürnberg to be of separate, single ship, classes...

. Following this, the Canadian Tribals then returned to Halifax harbour for tropicalisation refits, which were suspended when the Japanese surrendered, and were sent into reserve.

Post-war

Twenty-three Tribal class destroyers were constructed before and during World War II; sixteen for the Royal Navy, four for the Royal Canadian Navy, and three for the Royal Australian Navy. Thirteen were lost during the war; six British Tribals to aircraft attack, four British and one Canadian Tribal to torpedo attacks, one British Tribal to shore batteries off Tobruk, and one British Tribal in a collision with a British battleship.

The surviving four British destroyers were paid off and sold for scrap during 1948 and 1949, while the Australian and Canadian Tribals were refitted and modernized for post-war service. Four destroyers still under construction in Canada when World War II ended were completed and then modernized, while five ships under construction in Australia were cancelled.

The Australian and Canadian ships, with the exception of Micmac, served during the Korean War

Korean War

, with Bataan at one point escorting a United States aircraft carrier with the same name

USS Bataan (CVL-29)

USS Bataan , originally planned as USS Buffalo and also classified as CV-29, was an 11,000 ton Independence class light aircraft carrier which was commissioned in the United States Navy during World War II....

. The Australian and Canadian Tribals continued in service until the late 1950s and early 1960s, when they were gradually decommissioned and sold for scrapping.

Only one ship of the class has been preserved. was restored and is docked in Hamilton Harbour, Ontario

Ontario

, Canada as a museum ship

Museum ship

A museum ship, or sometimes memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public, for educational or memorial purposes...

. The bow of , sunk on 12 February 1942 by German aircraft, rests 13 m (42.7 ft) below sea level in Valetta's Marsamxett Harbour

Marsamxett Harbour

Marsamxett Harbour, also referred as Marsamuscetto in many ancient documents, is the northern of Valletta's two natural harbours on the island of Malta, separated from the southern one by the Valletta peninsula. To the north it is bounded by Gżira and Sliema as far as Dragut Point and extends...

, Malta, and is a popular scuba diving

Scuba diving

Scuba diving is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater....

site.

Royal Navy

Name	Pennant	Builder	Laid Down	Launched	Commissioned	Fate
Afridi HMS Afridi (F07) HMS Afridi was a Tribal-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She served in the Second World War and was an early casualty, being sunk in an air attack off Norway in May 1940.- Construction :...	F07	Vickers Armstrongs, Walker Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne Walker is a residential suburb and electoral ward just east of the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Walker's name is a hybrid of Old English and Viking Norse, "Wall-kjerr", where "kjerr" is Norse for "marshy woodland"...	9 June 1936	8 June 1937	3 May 1938	lost 3 May 1940 to aircraft attack off Namsos Namsos is a town and municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Namsos. Other villages in the municipality include Bangsund, Klinga, Ramsvika, Skomsvoll, and Spillum.... , Norway
Ashanti HMS Ashanti (F51) HMS Ashanti was a Tribal-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. Following the style of her sister ships she was named for an ethnic group, in this case the Ashanti people of the Gold Coast in West Africa. She served in the Second World War and was broken up in 1949...	F51	William Denny & Brothers, Dumbarton	23 November 1936	5 November 1937	21 December 1938	Sold for scrapping, 12 April 1949
Bedouin HMS Bedouin (F67) HMS Bedouin was a Tribal-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in World War II. She was launched on 21 December 1937 by William Denny and Brothers....	F67	Denny	January 1937	21 December 1937	15 March 1939	lost 15 June 1942 to aircraft attack after being disabled by Italian cruisers Montecuccoli Italian cruiser Raimondo Montecuccoli Raimondo Montecuccoli was a Condottieri class light cruiser serving with the Italian Regia Marina during World War II. She survived the war and served in the post-war Marina Militare until 1964.-Design:... and Eugenio di Savoia Italian cruiser Eugenio di Savoia Eugenio di Savoia was a Condottieri class light cruiser, which served in the Regia Marina during World War II. She survived the war but was given as a war reparation to the Hellenic Navy in 1947... south of Pantellaria, Mediterranean Sea Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
Cossack HMS Cossack (F03) HMS Cossack was a Tribal-class destroyer which became famous for the boarding of the German supply ship Altmark in Norwegian waters, and the associated rescue of sailors originally captured by the Admiral Graf Spee....	F03	Vickers Armstrongs	9 June 1936	8 June 1937	7 June 1938	lost 24 October 1941, torpedoed by U-563 west of Gibraltar Gibraltar Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
Eskimo HMS Eskimo (F75) HMS Eskimo was a Tribal-class destroyer, laid down by the High Walker Yard of Vickers Armstrong at Newcastle-on-Tyne on 5 August 1936...	F75	Vickers Armstrongs	5 August 1936	3 September 1937	30 December 1938	Sold for scrapping, 27 June 1949
Gurkha HMS Gurkha (F20) HMS Gurkha was a Tribal class destroyer that saw active service in the Norway Campaign in 1940, where she was sunk.Gurkha served with the 4th Destroyer Flotilla in the Mediterranean where she was involved in exercises and port visits until the outbreak of war...	F20	Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Govan Govan Govan is a district and former burgh now part of southwest City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south bank of the River Clyde, opposite the mouth of the River Kelvin and the district of Partick....	6 July 1936	7 July 1937	21 October 1938	lost 9 April 1940, to aircraft attack off Stavanger Stavanger Stavanger is a city and municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway.Stavanger municipality has a population of 126,469. There are 197,852 people living in the Stavanger conurbation, making Stavanger the fourth largest city, but the third largest urban area, in Norway... , Norway
Maori HMS Maori (F24) HMS Maori was a Tribal-class destroyer laid down by the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Limited, at Govan in Scotland on 6 June 1936, launched on 2 September 1937 by Mrs. W. J. Jordan and commissioned on 2 January 1939...	F24	Fairfield	6 July 1936	2 September 1937	2 January 1939	lost 12 February 1942 to aircraft in Grand Harbour, Valetta Valletta Valletta is the capital of Malta, colloquially known as Il-Belt in Maltese. It is located in the central-eastern portion of the island of Malta, and the historical city has a population of 6,098. The name "Valletta" is traditionally reserved for the historic walled citadel that serves as Malta's... , Malta Malta Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
Mashona HMS Mashona (F59) HMS Mashona was a Tribal-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that saw service in the Second World War.She was built by Vickers Armstrong, with her machinery supplied by Parsons. She was authorised in the program year 1936...	F59	Vickers Armstrongs	5 August 1936	3 September 1937	28 March 1939	lost 28 May 1941 to aircraft attack, southwest of Ireland during the Bismark chase
Matabele HMS Matabele (F26) HMS Matabele was a Tribal-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that saw service in World War II, being sunk by a U-boat on 17 January, 1942. She has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name Matabele, which in common with the other ships of the Tribal class, was named after an ethnic...	F26	Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Greenock Greenock Greenock is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in United Kingdom, and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland...	1 October 1936	6 October 1937	25 January 1939	lost 17 January 1942, torpedoed by U-454 in Barents Sea Barents Sea The Barents Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located north of Norway and Russia. Known in the Middle Ages as the Murman Sea, the sea takes its current name from the Dutch navigator Willem Barents...
Mohawk HMS Mohawk (F31) HMS Mohawk was a Tribal-class destroyer 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...	F31	John I. Thornycroft & Company John I. Thornycroft & Company John I. Thornycroft & Company Limited, usually known simply as Thornycroft was a British shipbuilding firm started by John Isaac Thornycroft in the 19th century.-History:... , Woolston	16 July 1936	15 October 1937	7 September 1938	lost 16 April 1941, torpedoed by Italian destroyer Tarigo Navigatori class destroyer The Navigatori class were a group of Italian destroyers built in 1928-29. These ships were named after Italian explorers. They fought in World War II. Just one unit, the Nicoloso Da Recco, survived the conflict.-Design:...
Nubian HMS Nubian (F36) HMS Nubian was a Tribal-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw much distinguished service in World War II.She won 13 battle honours, a record only exceeded by one other ship, and matched by two others....	F36	Thornycroft	10 August 1936	21 December 1937	6 December 1938	Sold for scrapping, 11 June 1949
Punjabi HMS Punjabi (F21) HMS Punjabi was a Tribal-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that saw service in the Second World War, being sunk in a collision with the battleship . She has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name "Punjabi" which — in common with the other ships of the Tribal-class — was named after...	F21	Scotts	1 October 1936	18 December 1937	29 March 1939	lost 1 May 1942, rammed by King George V HMS King George V (41) HMS King George V was the lead ship of the five British King George V-class battleships of the Royal Navy. Laid down in 1937 and commissioned in 1940, King George V operated during the Second World War as part of the British Home and Pacific Fleets... in Atlantic
Sikh HMS Sikh (F82) HMS Sikh was a Tribal-class destroyer of the 4th Destroyer Flotilla of the Royal Navy. She was built by Alexander Stephen and Sons in Glasgow and commissioned in 1938. In 1941, while under the command of Commander Stokes, she took part in the sinking of the German battleship in 1941...	F82	Alexander Stephen & Sons, Linthouse Linthouse Linthouse is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated south of the River Clyde. It is immediately west of Govan, and although it is often referred to locally as 'Govan' due to its closeness, it is in fact a distinct area .Linthouse was home to the shipbuilder...	24 September 1936	17 December 1937	12 October 1938	lost 14 September 1942 to shore batteries off Tobruk Tobruk Tobruk or Tubruq is a city, seaport, and peninsula on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District and has a population of 120,000 ....
Somali HMS Somali (F33) HMS Somali was a Tribal-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in World War II.-History:She was built by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear....	F33	Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Wallsend Wallsend Wallsend is an area in North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. Wallsend derives its name as the location of the end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 42,842.-Romans:...	26 August 1936	24 August 1937	12 December 1938	lost 20 September 1942, torpedoed by U-703, sank under while under tow in Arctic Ocean
Tartar HMS Tartar (F43) HMS Tartar was a Tribal-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that saw service in most of the naval theatres of World War II. She had an eventful career, eventually receiving the nickname 'Lucky Tartar' due to her numerous escapes from dangerous situations...	F43	Swan Hunter	26 August 1936	21 October 1937	10 March 1939	Sold for scrapping, 6 January 1948
Zulu HMS Zulu (F18) The second HMS Zulu was a Tribal-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was built in Glasgow by Alexander Stephen and Sons. Her keel was laid down on 10 August 1936. She was launched on 23 September 1937 and commissioned on 7 September 1938...	F82	Stephen	10 August 1936	23 September 1937	7 September 1938	lost 14 September 1942 to aircraft off Tobruk Tobruk Tobruk or Tubruq is a city, seaport, and peninsula on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District and has a population of 120,000 ....

Royal Canadian Navy

Name	Pennant	Builder	Laid Down	Launched	Commissioned	Fate
Iroquois HMCS Iroquois (G89) -External links:** at Haze Gray and Underway*... (ex-Athabaskan)	G89/217	Vickers Armstrongs	19 September 1940	23 September 1941	10 December 1942	sold for scrapping, 1966
Athabaskan (i) HMCS Athabaskan (G07) HMCS Athabaskan was the first of three destroyers of the Royal Canadian Navy to bear this name. It was a destroyer of the Tribal-class, built in 1940-1941 in the United Kingdom by Vickers Armstrong of Newcastle upon Tyne with Parsons engine works.... (ex-Iroquois)	G07	Vickers Armstrongs	31 October 1940	18 November 1941	3 February 1943	lost 29 April 1944, torpedoed by German torpedo boat T.24 Elbing class torpedo boat The Elbing class torpedo boats were a class of 15 small warships that served in the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. Although classed as Flottentorpedoboot by the Germans, in most respects—displacement, weaponry, usage—they were comparable to contemporary medium-size destroyers... north of Ile de Bas
Huron HMCS Huron (G24) HMCS Huron G24/216 was a Tribal class destroyer built by Vickers-Armstrongs on the River Tyne in England, and served in the Royal Canadian Navy. It was the first ship to bear this name...	G24/216	Vickers Armstrongs	15 July 1941	25 June 1942	28 July 1943	sold for scrapping, 1965
Haida HMCS Haida (G63) HMCS Haida is a Tribal-class destroyer that served in the Royal Canadian Navy from 1943-1963.Haida sank more enemy surface tonnage than any other Canadian warship...	G63/215	Vickers Armstrongs	29 September 1941	25 August 1942	18 September 1943	Preserved as museum ship, Hamilton Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe... , 1964
Micmac HMCS Micmac (R10) HMCS Micmac, pennants R10 and 214, was one of 27 Tribal class destroyers completed for the Royal Navy , the Royal Australian Navy , and the Royal Canadian Navy laid down before and during the Second World War. Constructed by Halifax Shipyards, she was the first of four built in Canada and one of...	R10/214	Halifax Shipyards, Halifax City of Halifax Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...	20 May 1942	18 September 1943	14 September 1945	sold for scrapping, 1964
Nootka (ii) HMCS Nootka (R96) HMCS Nootka was a Tribal-class destroyer that served in the Royal Canadian Navy from 1946-1964.She received the unit name Nootka while still under construction in Halifax after the RCN renamed the Fundy-class minesweeper to in 1943....	R96/213	Halifax Shipyards	20 May 1942	26 April 1944	9 August 1946	sold for scrapping, 1964
Cayuga HMCS Cayuga (R04) HMCS Cayuga R04/218 was a Tribal class destroyer built in the Halifax Shipyards, Halifax, Nova Scotia and served in the Royal Canadian Navy.-History:...	R04/218	Halifax Shipyards	7 October 1943	28 July 1945	20 October 1947	sold for scrapping, 1964
Athabaskan (ii) HMCS Athabaskan (R79) HMCS Athabaskan was the second destroyer of the Royal Canadian Navy to bear the name Athabaskan, after the many tribes throughout western Canada that speak Athabaskan family languages. Its pennant was later changed to DDE219...	R79/219	Halifax Shipyards	15 May 1944	4 May 1945	12 January 1947	sold for scrapping, 1969

Royal Australian Navy

Name	Pennant	Builder	Laid Down	Launched	Commissioned	Fate
Arunta HMAS Arunta (I30) HMAS Arunta was a Tribal class destroyer of the Royal Australian Navy . Named for the Arrernte Aborigines, the destroyer was laid down in 1939 and commissioned into the RAN in 1942....	I30	Cockatoo Dockyard Cockatoo Island, New South Wales Cockatoo Island is the largest island in Sydney Harbour in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located at the junction of the Parramatta and Lane Cove rivers, Cockatoo Island is a former imperial prison, industrial school, reformatory and gaol. It was also the site of one of Australia's biggest... , Sydney	15 November 1939	30 November 1940	30 April 1942	Sold for scrapping 1969, foundered en route to breakers
Warramunga HMAS Warramunga (I44) HMAS Warramunga was a Tribal class destroyer of the Royal Australian Navy . Built during World War II, the destroyer entered service in late 1942...	I44	Cockatoo	10 February 1940	2 February 1942	23 November 1942	Sold for scrapping 1963
Bataan HMAS Bataan (I91) HMAS Bataan was a Tribal class destroyer of the Royal Australian Navy . Laid down in 1942 and commissioned in 1945, the destroyer was originally to be named Chingilli or Kurnai but was renamed prior to launch in honour of the US stand during the Battle of Bataan.Although not completed in time to... (ex-Kurnai)	I91	Cockatoo	18 February 1942	15 January 1944	25 May 1945	Sold for scrapping 1958

External links

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Design history

Construction

Modifications

Wartime modifications

Post-war modifications

Service

1940

1941

1942

1943

1944

1945

Post-war

Royal Navy

Royal Canadian Navy

Royal Australian Navy

Further reading

External links