HMAS Nizam (G38)

HMAS Nizam in May 1945
History
Australia
Namesake:	Sir Osman Ali Khan, The Last Nizam of Hyderabad
Builder:	John Brown and Company, Limited
Laid down:	27 July 1939
Launched:	4 July 1940
Commissioned:	19 December 1940
Decommissioned:	17 October 1945
Honours and awards:	Battle honours: Malta Convoys 1941–42 Crete 1941 Libya 1941 Mediterranean 1941 Indian Ocean 1942–44 Pacific 1943 Okinawa 1945
Fate:	Returned to RN, not returned to service, scrapped in 1956
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type:	N-class destroyer
Displacement:	1,773 long tons (1,801 t) (standard) 2,384 long tons (2,422 t) (deep load)
Length:	356 ft 6 in (108.7 m) (o/a)
Beam:	35 ft 9 in (10.9 m)
Draught:	12 ft 6 in (3.8 m)
Installed power:	40,000 shp (30,000 kW) 2 × Admiralty 3-drum boilers
Propulsion:	2 Shafts; 2 steam turbines
Speed:	36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph)
Range:	5,500 nmi (10,200 km; 6,300 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement:	183
Sensors and processing systems:	ASDIC Type 285 gunnery radar Type 286 radar surface-search radar
Armament:	3 × twin QF 4.7-inch (120 mm) Mk XII guns 1 × single QF 4-inch Mk V (102 mm) AA gun 4 × single 20 mm (0.8 in) Oerlikon AA guns 2 × twin QF 0.5-inch (12.7 mm) Mk III machineguns 1 × quintuple 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes 45 × depth charges, 1 × rack, 2 × throwers

HMAS Nizam (G38/D15) was an N class destroyer of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The destroyer, named after Osman Ali Khan, the last Nizam of Hyderabad, was commissioned into the RAN in 1940, although the ship remained the property of the Royal Navy for her entire career.

Nizam spent the early part of her service in the Atlantic, then was reassigned to the Mediterranean, where she was involved in the Crete and Syria-Lebanon Campaigns, the Tobruk Ferry Service, and the Malta Convoys. During 1942, the destroyer was involved in Operation Vigorous and the Madagascar Campaign. The next year saw the ship involved in patrols of the Indian and South Atlantic oceans, searching for German ships and submarines, and rescuing the survivors of U-boat attacks. After returning to Australia for a refit at the end of 1944, ten sailors were washed overboard in February 1945, with none ever seen again. The rest of World War II was spent operating in the Philippines and New Guinea regions.

After returning to Australia in late 1945, Nizam was decommissioned and returned to the Royal Navy. The ship was not returned to active service, and was broken up for scrap in 1956.

The N class destroyer had a displacement of 1,773 tons at standard load, and 2,554 tons at full load.Nizam was 356 feet 6 inches (108.66 m) long overall and 229 feet 6 inches (69.95 m) long between perpendiculars, had a beam of 35 feet 8 inches (10.87 m), and a maximum draught of 16 feet 4 inches (4.98 m). Propulsion was provided by Admiralty 3-drum boilers connected to Parsons geared steam turbines, which provided 40,000 shaft horsepower to the ship's two propellers.Nizam was capable of reaching 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph). The ship's company consisted of 226 officers and sailors.