HMS Juno (F46)

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HMS Juno was a J-class destroyer of the Royal Navy laid down by the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Limited, at Govan in Scotland on 5 October 1937, launched on 8 December 1938 and commissioned on 25 August 1939. Juno participated in the Battle of Calabria in July 1940 and the Battle of Cape Matapan in March 1941.

Construction

The eight ships of the J class were ordered on 25 March 1937, and Juno was laid down with the name Jamaica at Fairfield's Govan shipyard on 5 October 1937. The ship was renamed Juno in September 1938 and was launched on 8 December 1938. The ship was completed on 25 August 1939, and was commissioned with the pennant number F46.

Juno was Template:Convert long between perpendiculars and Template:Convert overall, with a beam of Template:Convert and a draught of Template:Convert. Displacement was Template:Convert standard and Template:Convert deep load. Two Admiralty three-drum boilers fed steam at Template:Convert and Template:Convert to Parsons to two sets of Parsons single-reduction geared-steam turbines, rated at Template:Convert. This gave a design speed of Template:Convert at trials displacement and Template:Convert at full load.

As completed, Juno had a main gun armament of six Template:Convert QF Mark XII guns in three twin mountings, two forward and one aft. These guns could only elevate to an angle of 40 degrees, and so were of limited use in the anti-aircraft role, while the aft mount was arranged so that it could fire forwards over the ship's superstructure to maximise the forward firing firepower, but was therefore incapable of firing directly aft. A short range anti-aircraft armament of a four-barrelled 2-pounder "pom-pom" anti-aircraft mount and eight .50 in machine guns in two quadruple mounts was fitted, while torpedo armament consisted of ten Template:Convert torpedo tubes in two quintuple mounts. Anti-submarine armament consisted of two depth charge throwers and a single rack, with 20 depth charges carried, while the Two-Speed Destroyer Sweep (TSDS) minesweeping gear could also be carried.

Modifications

Early in the war, the aft 4.7-inch mount was modified to allow it to fire directly aft, while in mid-1941, the aft set of torpedo tubes was replaced by a single 4 inch (102 mm) Mk V anti-aircraft gun (although this gun was not provided with appropriate fire control and was therefore of limited use). Close-in armament was improved by replacing the .50 in machine guns with 4 single Oerlikon 20 mm cannon.

Service

The initial work-up of the ship and her crew was interrupted by the German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939, and on 6 September 1939, Juno and sister ships Template:HMS and Template:HMS escorted the Norwegian steamer SS Batavia, carrying the staff of the British embassy in Berlin across the North Sea from Rotterdam to the Tongue lightship in the Thames estuary. She then resumed training and work up activities based at Devonport for the remainder of September, joining the 7th Destroyer Flotilla based on the Humber and operating off the east coast of Britain, with duties including patrols and escorting convoys. On the night of 6/7 December 1939, Juno and Template:HMS were on patrol off Cromer when they encountered two German destroyers, Hans Lody and Erich Giese, returning from a minelaying sortie. Juno and Jersey did not spot the two German ships, which launched 7 torpedoes, one of which hit Jersey. Juno in response, searched for a submarine, which was believed to have fired the torpedo, allowing the German destroyers to escape unchallenged. When it was realised that there was no submarine, Juno took Jersey under tow, taking the damaged destroyer to Immingham.

Juno continued in service with the 7th Flotilla until March 1940, with her service interrupted by a refit at Kingston upon Hull from 5 February to 2 March 1940 and by repairs to her feedwater tanks from 9 to 20 March. On 5 April 1940, Juno left Methil together with the destroyers Template:HMS, Template:HMS and Template:HMS as escort to the Norway-bound convoy ON.25. The convoy met up with the covering cruisers Template:HMS and Template:HMS on 7 April, but later that day, reports of German heavy warships at sea caused the convoy to return to Britain. The reported German ships were, in fact, part of the German fleet taking part in the German invasion of Norway. Juno operated with the Home Fleet through April 1940 in operations to oppose the invasion. On 17 April, Juno, together with Janus, Template:HMS and Template:HMS, escorted the cruiser Template:HMS as the cruiser shelled the airfield at Sola, Norway. The force came under heavy air attack, and Suffolk was hit by a bomb and badly damaged. On 23 April, Juno left Scapa Flow as part of the escort for the aircraft carriers Template:HMS and Template:HMS as the carriers provided air cover for landings at Åndalsnes and Namsos, the force returning to Scapa on 3 May.

On 18 May, Juno joined the 14th Destroyer Flotilla with the Mediterranean Fleet. In June, the flotilla participated in sweeps for Italian convoys, and in escorting Allied evacuation convoys MF1 and MS1 from Malta. In July, it carried out a bombardment of Bardia, Libya and participated in the Battle of Calabria. Juno spent the remainder of 1940 escorting convoys to Malta, bombarding Italian shore positions, and accompanying fleet movements including Operation Collar. In January 1941, Juno participated in Operation Excess, and in March took part in the Battle of Cape Matapan.

Attacked and sunk

Juno was attacked and sunk by five Italian CANT Z.1007 aircraft from 210th group, led by Lt. Mario Morassutti, as she steamed with the Mediterranean Fleet against the German sea-borne invasion of Crete and sank 30 nautical miles south-east of Crete on 21 May 1941.

At the time of her sinking Juno was commanded by Cdr. St. John Reginald Joseph Tyrwhitt and would have had a complement of 183 to 218 seamen and officers. It is believed that 116 crew lost their lives after 3 powerful explosions split Juno in two, sinking her in around 97 seconds.