View source for HMS Eskimo (F75)

{{other ships|HMS Eskimo}}
{{short description|Tribal-class destroyer launched 1937}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2017}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=HMS Eskimo 1941 IWM FL 10008.jpg
|Ship caption=''Eskimo'' in April 1944
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
|Ship name=''Eskimo''
|Ship ordered=19 June 1936
|Ship namesake=[[Eskimo]]
|Ship builder=[[Vickers-Armstrongs]], [[Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne]]
|Ship laid down=5 August 1936
|Ship launched=3 September 1937
|Ship christened=
|Ship completed=30 December 1938
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship original cost=[[pound sterling|£]]342,108
|Ship reclassified=
|Ship refit=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship identification=[[Pennant number]]s: L75, F75 & G75
|Ship fate=Sold for [[ship breaking|scrap]], 27 June 1949
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honours=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=(as built)
|Ship class={{sclass2|Tribal|destroyer|||1936}}
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|1891|LT|t|lk=on}} ([[Standard displacement|standard]])
*{{convert|2519|LT|t}} ([[deep load]])
|Ship length={{convert|377|ft|m|abbr=on|1}} ([[Length overall|o/a]])
|Ship beam={{convert|36|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught={{convert|11|ft|3|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship power=*3 × [[Admiralty 3-drum boiler]]s
*{{cvt|44000|shp|kW|lk=on}}
|Ship propulsion=2 × shafts; 2 × geared [[steam turbine]]s
|Ship speed={{convert|36|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range={{convert|5700|nmi|lk=in|abbr=on}} at {{convert|15|kn}}
|Ship sensors=[[ASDIC]]
|Ship complement=190
|Ship armament=*4 × twin [[4.7 inch QF Mark IX|4.7 in (120&nbsp;mm) guns]]
*1 × quadruple [[QF 2 pounder naval gun|2-pdr ({{cvt|40|mm}})]] [[AA gun]]s
*2 × quadruple [[Vickers .50 machine gun|0.5 in (12.7&nbsp;mm)]] [[anti-aircraft machinegun]]s
*1 × quadruple [[British 21-inch torpedo|21 in (533&nbsp;mm)]] [[torpedo tubes]]
*20 × [[depth charge]]s, 1 × rack, 2 × throwers
}}
|}
'''HMS ''Eskimo''''' was a {{sclass2|Tribal|destroyer (1936)|0}} [[destroyer]], ''Eskimo'' served throughout the [[Second World War]], seeing action in Norway, the Mediterranean, the English Channel and in Burma. After the war ''Eskimo'' was used as an accommodation and headquarters ship, finally being used as a practice target before being scrapped in 1949.

==Description==
The Tribals were intended to counter the large destroyers being built abroad and to improve the firepower of the existing destroyer [[flotilla]]s and were thus significantly larger and more heavily armed than the preceding {{sclass2|I|destroyer|4}}.<ref>Lenton, p. 164</ref> The ships displaced {{convert|1891|LT|t|lk=on}} at [[Displacement (ship)|standard]] load and {{convert|2519|LT|t}} at [[deep load]].<ref>English, p. 14</ref> They had an [[length overall|overall length]] of {{convert|377|ft|m|1}}, a [[beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{convert|36|ft|6|in|m}}<ref name=l65>Lenton, p. 165</ref> and a [[draft (hull)|draught]] of {{convert|11|ft|3|in|m}}.<ref name=e12>English, p. 12</ref> The destroyers were powered by two [[Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company|Parsons]] geared [[steam turbine]]s, each driving one [[propeller shaft]] using steam provided by three [[Admiralty three-drum boiler]]s. The turbines developed a total of {{convert|44000|shp|lk=on}} and gave a maximum speed of {{convert|36|kn|lk=in}}.<ref name=l65/> During her [[sea trial]]s ''Eskimo'' made {{convert|36.3|kn}} from {{cvt|45450|shp|kW}} at a displacement of {{convert|1987|LT|t}}.<ref>March, p. 323</ref> The ships carried enough [[fuel oil]] to give them a range of {{convert|5700|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|15|kn}}.<ref name=e12/> The ships' complement consisted of 190 officers and [[naval rating|ratings]], although the [[flotilla leader]]s carried an extra 20 officers and men consisting of the [[Captain (D)]] and his staff.<ref name=w99>Whitley, p. 99</ref>

The primary armament of the Tribal-class destroyers was eight [[List of British ordnance terms#QF|quick-firing (QF)]] [[4.7 inch QF Mark XII|4.7-inch (120&nbsp;mm) Mark XII guns]] in four [[superfiring]] twin-gun mounts, one pair each fore and aft of the [[superstructure]], designated 'A', 'B', 'X', and 'Y' from front to rear. The mounts had a maximum [[elevation (ballistics)|elevation]] of 40°. For [[Anti-aircraft warfare|anti-aircraft (AA)]] defence, they carried a single quadruple mount for the {{convert|40|mm|adj=on|1}} [[QF 2 pounder naval gun|QF two-pounder Mk II]] "pom-pom" gun and two quadruple mounts for the [[Vickers .50 machine gun|0.5-inch (12.7&nbsp;mm) Mark III]] [[machine gun]].<ref>Hodges, pp. 13–25</ref> Low-angle fire for the main guns was controlled by the [[Director (military)|director-control tower (DCT)]] on the [[bridge (nautical)|bridge]] roof that fed data acquired by it and the {{convert|12|ft|adj=on|1}} [[Rangefinding telemeter|rangefinder]] on the Mk II Rangefinder/Director directly aft of the DCT to an analogue [[mechanical computer]], the Mk I [[Admiralty Fire Control Clock]]. Anti-aircraft fire for the main guns was controlled by the Rangefinder/Director which sent data to the mechanical [[Fuze Keeping Clock]].<ref>Friedman, p. 32</ref>

The ships were fitted with a single above-water quadruple mount for [[British 21-inch torpedo|{{convert|21|in|adj=on|0}}]] torpedoes.<ref name=w99/> The Tribals were not intended as anti-submarine ships, but they were provided with [[ASDIC]], one [[depth charge]] rack and two throwers for self-defence, although the throwers were not mounted in all ships;<ref>Hodges, pp. 30–31, 40</ref> Twenty depth charges was the peacetime allotment, but this increased to 30 during wartime.<ref>English, p. 15</ref>

===Wartime modifications===
Heavy losses to German air attack during the [[Norwegian Campaign]]  demonstrated the ineffectiveness of the Tribals' anti-aircraft suite and the RN decided in May 1940 to replace 'X' mount with a pair of [[QF 4 inch Mk XVI naval gun|QF {{convert|4|in|mm|adj=on|0}} Mark XVI]] [[dual-purpose gun]]s in a twin-gun mount. To better control the guns, the existing rangefinder/director was modified to accept a [[Type 285 radar|Type 285]] [[fire-control radar|gunnery radar]] as they became available. The number of depth charges was increased to 46 early in the war, and still more were added later.<ref>Friedman, p. 34; Hodges, pp. 41–42</ref> To increase the firing arcs of the AA guns, the rear [[funnel (ship)|funnel]] was shortened and the [[mainmast]] was reduced to a short pole mast.<ref>Whitley, p. 116</ref>

== Construction and career ==
Authorized as one of nine Tribal-class destroyers under the 1936 Naval Estimates,<ref>Brice, p. 11</ref> ''Eskimo'' was the second ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy.<ref>Colledge & Warlow, p. 116</ref> The ship was ordered on 19 June 1936 from [[Vickers-Armstrong]] and was [[laid down]] on 5 August at the company's High [[Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne]], [[shipyard]]. [[Ceremonial ship launching|Launched]] on 3 September 1937, ''Eskimo'' was [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 30 December 1938 at a cost of [[pound sterling|£]]342,108 which excluded weapons and communications outfits furnished by the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]].<ref>English, pp. 13, 16</ref>

[[File:HMSEskimoBowTorpedoDamageMay1940.jpg|thumb|''Eskimo'' after losing her bow during the Second Battle of Narvik]]
''Eskimo'' participated in the [[Battles of Narvik|Second Battle of Narvik]] in April 1940.<ref>''[[The Times]] (London)'', Friday, 26 April 1940, p.6</ref> On 12 April, ''Eskimo'' was hit by a torpedo fired from German destroyer {{ship|German destroyer|Z2 Georg Thiele||2}}. The explosion caused severe damage, blowing off ''Eskimo'''s bow.<ref>{{cite book
| last                  = Williamson
| first                 = Gordon
| title                 = German Destroyers 1939-1945
| url                   = https://books.google.com/books?id=q7n62xEet1YC
| access-date            = 29 September 2013
| year                  = 2012
| publisher             = Osprey Publishing
| isbn                  = 9781780966212
| pages                 = 35–36}}</ref> After temporary repairs by the shipwrights of the fleet repair ship [[HMS Vindictive (1918)|''Vindictive'']] at Skjelfjorden in Norway,<ref>{{cite book
|author=Sims, George
|title=H.M.S. Coventry, anti-aircraft cruiser
|publisher=H.M.S. Coventry Old Hands
|year=1972
|isbn=9780950229003
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IzEpAQAAMAAJ
|access-date=29 September 2013}}</ref> ''Eskimo'' was able to return to the Vickers-Armstrong works at Newcastle for rebuilding, which took until Sept. 1940.<ref name="uboatnet">{{cite web
|url=http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4430.html
|title=HMS Eskimo (F 75)
|work=Uboat.net
|author=Guðmundur Helgason
|access-date=29 September 2013}}
</ref>

She took part in [[Operation Pedestal]] in August 1942 and then supported the Allied landings in [[North Africa]] in November 1942 and served with the [[10th Destroyer Flotilla]] at [[Plymouth]]. ''Eskimo'' was extensively damaged when two German dive bombers attacked her in the Mediterranean while taking part in [[Operation Husky]].<ref name="uboatnet"/> She cornered and sank the enemy [[Germany|German]] [[submarine]] {{GS|U-971||2}} while in company with the [[Canada|Canadian]] destroyer {{HMCS|Haida|G63|2}} and a [[B-24 Liberator|Liberator]] aircraft of the [[No. 311 Squadron RAF]] in the [[English Channel]] north of [[Brest, France|Brest]] on 24 June 1944.<ref>{{cite journal
 | last1 =Gough
 | first1 =Barry M
 | last2 =Wood
 | first2 =James A
 | date =Summer 2001
 | title ='One more for luck': The destruction of U971 by HMCS ''Haida'' and HMS ''Eskimo'', 24 June 1944
 | journal =Canadian Military History
 | volume =10
 | issue =3
 | pages =7–22
 | access-date =29 September 2013
 | url =http://www.wlu.ca/lcmsds/cmh/back%20issues/CMH/volume%2010/issue%203/Gough%20&%20Wood%20-%20One%20More%20for%20Luck%20-%20The%20Destruction%20of%20U971%20by%20HMCS%20Haida%20and%20HMS%20Eskimo,%2024%20June%201944.pdf
 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20131002120315/http://www.wlu.ca/lcmsds/cmh/back%20issues/CMH/volume%2010/issue%203/Gough%20%26%20Wood%20-%20One%20More%20for%20Luck%20-%20The%20Destruction%20of%20U971%20by%20HMCS%20Haida%20and%20HMS%20Eskimo%2C%2024%20June%201944.pdf
 | archive-date =2 October 2013
 | url-status =dead
 }}</ref> On 13 July 1944, ''Eskimo'' and {{HMCS|Huron|G24|6}} engaged the [[vorpostenboot]]e [[German trawler V 209 Carl Röver|V 203 ''Carl Röver'']], [[German trawler V 213 Claus Bolten|V 213 ''Claus Bolten'']] and the [[minesweeper]] {{ship|German minesweeper|M 4611||2}} in the English Channel. Although V 213 ''Claus Bolten'' and ''M 4611'' were sunk and V 203 ''Carl Röver'' was severely damaged, ''Eskimo'' was herself severely damaged by gunfire from V 203 ''Carl Röver''.<ref>Karting, pp. 381-84</ref> During the final days of the war, she operated in the [[Far East]].

==Fate==
''Eskimo'' was reduced to an accommodation and headquarters ship for minesweepers, wreck-disposal vessels, and salvage craft clearing the [[Thames]] and [[Medway]] estuaries in 1946. She was used as a target ship in the [[Gareloch]], sold for scrap on 27 June 1949 and finally broken up at [[Troon]].

===Museum holdings===
''Eskimo'''s [[ship's bell|bell]] is in the collection of the [[National Maritime Museum]].<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/554546.html
|access-date=29 September 2013
|title=Ship's Bell [HMS Eskimo]
|work=collections.rmg.co.uk
|publisher=Royal Museums Greenwich}}</ref>  [[Imperial War Museums]] holds a range of material relating to ''Eskimo'', including photographs, film,<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/search?query=%22hms%20eskimo%22&items_per_page=50
|title=Collections Search for 'HMS Eskimo'
|publisher=[[Imperial War Museum]]s
|access-date=29 September 2013
|work=iwm.org.uk}}</ref> and an [[British official war artists|officially commissioned]] watercolour by [[Vivian Pitchforth]] showing ''Eskimo'' refitting at [[Durban]].<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/21903
|title=HMS Eskimo and other Destroyers Fitting Out at Durban
|publisher=Imperial War Museums
|work=iwm.org.uk
|access-date=29 September 2013}}</ref>  The [[National Museum of the Royal Navy]] holds a detailed [[ship model]] of ''Eskimo'', built by Commander John West.<ref>{{cite journal
|title=The museum's models: HMS Eskimo (1938)
|author=Brady, Mark
|editor=John Roberts
|number=45
|url=http://www.royalnavalmuseum.org/documents/SB45_Autumn2012.pdf
|access-date=29 September 2013
|date=Autumn 2012
|journal=Scuttlebutt: The Magazine of the National Museum of the Royal Navy (Portsmouth), HMS Victory and the Friends
|pages=24–27
|publisher=[[National Museum of the Royal Navy]]
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130322083650/http://royalnavalmuseum.org/documents/SB45_Autumn2012.pdf
|archive-date=22 March 2013
|url-status=dead
}}</ref> West had served in ''Eskimo'' as navigating officer at Narvik.<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1413678/Commander-John-West.html
|access-date=29 September 2013
|title=Commander John West [obituary]
|date=20 November 2002
|work=telegraph.co.uk}}</ref>

Her Pennant and Crest are on display at St Clares Church in Newton Aycliffe, Co Durham

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

== References ==
{{Commons category|HMS Eskimo (F75)}}
* {{cite book|last=Brice|first=Martin H.|title=The Tribals|publisher=Ian Allan|date=1971 |location=London|isbn=0-7110-0245-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Crabb |first=Brian James |title=In Harm's Way. The Story of HMS ''Kenya'': A Second World War Cruiser |publisher=Paul Watkins |year=1998 |location=England |isbn=1-900289-02-4}}
* {{cite book |last=Crabb |first=Brian James |title=Operation Pedestal: The Story of Convoy WS21S in August 1942 |publisher=Shaun Tyas |year=2014 |location=England |isbn=978-1-907730-19-1}}
* {{cite book|last=English|first=John|title=''Afridi'' to ''Nizam'': British Fleet Destroyers 1937–43|publisher=World Ship Society|location=Gravesend, Kent|date=2001|isbn=0-905617-64-9}}
* {{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|title=British Destroyers and Frigates, the Second World War and After|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=2006 |isbn=1-86176-137-6|author-link=Norman Friedman}}
* {{cite book|last=Haarr|first=Geirr H.|title=The Battle for Norway: April–June 1940|year=2010 |publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|isbn=978-1-59114-051-1}}
* {{cite book|last=Haarr|first=Geirr H.|title=The German Invasion of Norway, April 1940 |year=2009 |publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland |isbn=978-1-59114-310-9 |url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/germaninvasionof00geir}}
* {{cite book|last=Hodges|first=Peter|title=Tribal Class Destroyers|year=1971 |publisher=Almark |location=London|isbn=0-85524-047-4}}
* {{cite book |last=Karting |first=Herbert |title=Itzehoer Schifffahrtschronik: Die maritime Geschichte der Stadt und ihres Hafens, ihrer Kaufleute, Schiffer, Reeder, Schiffbauer und deren Fahrzeuge bis zur Gegenwart |publisher=Falkenburg |year=2015 |isbn=978-3954940523 |language=de |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2MARBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA381 }}
* {{cite book|last=Lenton|first=H. T.|title=British & Empire Warships of the Second World War|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=1998 |isbn=1-55750-048-7 |author-link=Henry Trevor Lenton}}
* {{cite book|last=Rohwer|first=Jürgen|title=Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland |year=2005 |edition=Third Revised|isbn=1-59114-119-2|author-link=Jürgen Rohwer}}
* {{cite book|last=Whitley|first=M. J.|title=Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia|publisher=Naval Institute Press|year=1988|isbn=0-87021-326-1|location=Annapolis, Maryland|author-link=Michael J. Whitley}}
{{Tribal class destroyer (1936)}}
{{April 1940 shipwrecks}}
{{July 1944 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eskimo (F75)}}
[[Category:Tribal-class destroyers (1936) of the Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built on the River Tyne]]
[[Category:1937 ships]]
[[Category:World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Ships built by Vickers Armstrong]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in April 1940]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in July 1944]]