HMS Matabele (G 26)
HMS Matabele (G 26) during the war
| Name | HMS Matabele (G 26) | ||
| Type: | Destroyer (Tribal) | ||
| Tonnage | 1.870 tons | ||
| Completed | 1939 - Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Co, Greenock | ||
| Owner | The Admiralty | ||
| Homeport | |||
| Date of attack | 17 Jan, 1942 | Nationality:  British | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-454 (Burckhard Hackländer) | ||
| Position | 69.21N, 35.27E - Grid AC 8945 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 200 officers and men (198 dead and 2 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | PQ-8 | ||
| Route | UK - Murmansk | ||
| Cargo | |||
| History | Further informations available here: HMS Matabele (G 26) | ||
| Notes on loss | At 22.21 hours on 17 Jan, 1942, HMS Matabele (G 26), escorting convoy PQ-8, was hit by one torpedo from U-454 in the stern, which caused her magazines to blow up and the ship sank within two minutes off Kola Inlet. Her depth charges detonated and killed many survivors in the water, while others were frozen to death by the icy waters. The U-boat reported an earlier hit on a destroyer at 18.54 hours and a previous shot that missed. All attacks were probably against the same destroyer. | ||
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