HMS Dunkirk (D09)

HMS Dunkirk (D09) was a later or 1943 Battle-class fleet destroyer of the British Royal Navy (RN). Though there were other ships of the Navy that had been named Dunkirk, as far back as the 1650s, it held added meaning after the evacuation from Dunkirk between late May and early June 1940, in which over 300,000 British, as well as French troops, were rescued by a ragtag fleet of ships.

History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Dunkirk
Ordered:	1943
Builder:	Alexander Stephen and Sons
Laid down:	19 July 1944
Launched:	27 August 1945
Commissioned:	27 November 1946
Decommissioned:	1963
Fate:	Broken up 1965
General characteristics
Class and type:	Battle-class destroyer
Displacement:	2,480 tons standard
Length:	379 ft (116 m)
Beam:	40 ft 6 in (12.34 m)
Draught:	12 ft 8 in (3.86 m) mean 17 ft 6 in (5.33 m) maximum
Propulsion:	Oil fired, two three-drum boilers, Parsons geared turbines, twin propellers, 50,000 hp (37,000 kW)
Speed:	35.75 knots (66.21 km/h)
Complement:	268
Armament:	5 × 4.5 in (114 mm) gun 8 × Bofors 40 mm guns 10 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes 2 × Squid mortar
Service record
Part of:	4th Destroyer Flotilla 7th Destroyer Squadron

Dunkirk was built by Alexander Stephen and Sons of Govan. She was launched on 27 August 1945 and commissioned on 27 November 1946.

Service

In the year of her commissioning, Dunkirk joined the 4th Destroyer Flotilla of the Home Fleet.[1] In 1950, Dunkirk was placed in Reserve, as were many of her sister ships in the 1950s. She subsequently performed a variety of duties and in 1958, while in the Mediterranean, Dunkirk, in broad daylight, collided with her sister ship HMS Jutland during naval manoeuvres off Malta, causing minor damage.

In 1961, Dunkirk, along with the cruiser HMS Lion and the frigate HMS Leopard, undertook a tour of the South American continent. Instead of returning home to the UK from the deployment's culmination Dunkirk deployed to the Mediterranean to take up the duties of HMS Broadsword, a Weapon-class destroyer of the 7th Destroyer Squadron, based in the Mediterranean, which had experienced some engine problems and therefore had to be replaced. Dunkirk finally returned home in 1963.

Decommissioning and disposal

In 1965 Dunkirk was listed as 'reserve' and later that year was scrapped at Faslane.

References

1. Critchley, Mike, "British Warships Since 1945: Part 3: Destroyers", Maritime Books: Liskeard, UK, 1982. ISBN 0-9506323-9-2, page 115-16

Publications

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
• Hodges, Peter (1971). Battle Class Destroyers. London: Almark Publishing. ISBN 0-85524-012-1.