HMS Hurworth (L28)

History

United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Hurworth
Ordered:	20 December 1939
Builder:	Vickers-Armstrongs, Wallsend, United Kingdom
Laid down:	10 April 1940
Launched:	16 April 1941
Commissioned:	5 October 1941
Identification:	Pennant number: L28
Honours and awards:	Atlantic 1941 Libya 1942 - Sirte 1942 Mediterranean 1942 Malta Convoys 1942 Sicily 1943 - Aegean 1943
Fate:	Sunk by a mine, 22 October 1943
General characteristics
Class and type:	Hunt-class destroyer
Displacement:	1,050 long tons (1,070 t) standard 1,430 long tons (1,450 t) full load
Length:	o/a 85.3 m (279 ft 10 in)
Beam:	9.6 m (31 ft 6 in)
Draught:	2.51 m (8 ft 3 in)
Propulsion:	Two Admiralty 3-drum boilers 2 shaft Parsons geared turbines, 19,000 shp
Speed:	27 knots (31 mph; 50 km/h) 25.5 kn (29.3 mph; 47.2 km/h) full
Range:	2,560 nmi (4,740 km) at 20 kn (37 km/h)
Complement:	168
Armament:	6 × QF 4 in Mark XVI on twin mounts Mk. XIX 4 × QF 2 pdr Mk. VIII on quad mount MK.VII 2 × 20 mm Oerlikons on single mounts P Mk. III 110 depth charges, two throwers, three racks

HMS Hurworth was a Second World War Type II Hunt-class escort destroyer of the British Royal Navy. She spent most of her career in the Mediterranean. She was lost to a mine in the Aegean Sea in 1943.

Hurworth was ordered with 15 others of the same type on 20 December 1939 as part of the War Emergency Programme. The ship was laid down by Vickers-Armstrongs on the River Tyne at Wallsend on 10 April 1940 in a yard big enough for two ships to be built at the same time. Her 'partner' was Middleton. Hurworth, as Admiralty Job No. J4207, was launched on 16 April 1941, and commissioned on 5 November. Hurworth's complement was found in Portsmouth; her skipper and 'Jimmy' (first lieutenant), were both experienced officers. The 'workup' period was intense, with both ship and crew being tested to the limit. She eventually left the Tyne for Scapa Flow, calling at Rosyth where she was commissioned; she arrived at the 'Flow' on the 8th.

Hurworth's first operation involved taking Crown Prince Olaf of Norway from Scapa Flow to Scrabster in northern mainland Scotland. She then escorted the troopship Rangitata, with her fellow destroyer Exmoor to Gibraltar, from the Clyde; arriving at the 'Rock' on 1 December 1941. Rangitata was shepherded to Freetown by Hurworth and two more destroyers, Vidette and Highlander. They were joined by another destroyer, Brilliant on 18 December and arrived in the West African port in time for Christmas.

Having carried out more escort work between Freetown and Cape Town in South Africa, Hurworth then sailed independently to Suez, becoming part of the 5th Destroyer Flotilla in Alexandria on 6 February 1942.

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