HMAS Waterhen (D22)

HMAS Waterhen, with HMAS Stuart in background
History
United Kingdom
Name:	Waterhen
Builder:	Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company
Laid down:	3 July 1917
Launched:	26 March 1918
Completed:	17 July 1918
Commissioned:	July 1918
Decommissioned:	October 1933
Fate:	Transferred to Royal Australian Navy
Australia
Name:	Waterhen
Commissioned:	11 October 1933
Decommissioned:	9 October 1934
Recommissioned:	14 April 1936
Decommissioned:	1 June 1938
Recommissioned:	1 September 1939
Nickname(s):	The Chook
Honours and awards:	Battle honours: Libya 1940–41 Greece 1941 Crete 1941
Fate:	Sunk by dive bombers, 30 June 1941
General characteristics
Class and type:	W-class destroyer
Displacement:	1,100 tons standard
Length:	312 ft (95.1 m) length overall 300 ft (91.4 m) between perpendiculars
Beam:	29 ft 6 in (9.0 m)
Draught:	13 ft 11 in (4.2 m)
Propulsion:	3 × White=Forster boilers, 2 × Brown-Curtis turbines, 27,000 shp (20,000 kW), two shafts
Speed:	34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph)
Range:	3,560 nautical miles (6,590 km; 4,100 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement:	6 officers, 113 sailors
Armament:	4 × QF 4-inch (102 mm) Mk V guns 1 × QF 2-pounder (40 mm) AA gun (later increased to 2) 5 × .303-inch (7.7 mm) machine guns 2 × 3-tube 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo sets (replaced by 2 × 4-tube sets) Depth charge chutes and throwers

HMAS Waterhen (D22/I22) was a W-class destroyer that served in the Royal Navy (as HMS Waterhen (G28/D22)) and the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Built during World War I, the destroyer was completed in mid 1918, and commissioned into the Royal Navy. In 1933, Waterhen and four other British ships were transferred to the RAN. The ship's early RAN career was uneventful, with periods spent decommissioned in reserve, but she was reactivated in September 1939, and deployed to the Mediterranean as part of the Australian destroyer force: the Scrap Iron Flotilla. During her time in the Mediterranean, Waterhen was involved in escort and patrol duties, performed shore bombardments, and participated in Allied evacuations from Greece and Crete. On 29 June 1941, while operating with the Tobruk Ferry Service, Waterhen was heavily damaged by Axis aircraft. Attempts to tow the ship to port were unsuccessful, and she sank on 30 June; the first RAN ship lost to combat in World War II.

Waterhen was a W-class destroyer constructed for the Royal Navy during World War I. The ship had a displacement of 1,100 tons at standard load, was 312 feet 1.25 inches (95.1294 m) in length overall and 300 feet (91 m) long between perpendiculars, had a beam of 29 feet 6.5 inches (9.004 m), and a maximum draught of 13 feet 11.125 inches (4.24498 m). Propulsion machinery consisted of three Yarrow boilers feeding two Brown-Curtis turbines, which provided 27,000 shaft horsepower (20,000 kW) to the two propeller shafts. Maximum designed speed was 34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph).Waterhen had a range of 3,560 nautical miles (6,590 km; 4,100 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph). The ship's company consisted of 6 officers and 113 sailors.