| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | Destroyer |
| Class | D |
| Pennant | D 99 |
| Built by | Portsmouth D.Y. (Portsmouth, U.K.): Hawthorn Leslie & Co. (Hebburn-on-Tyne, U.K.) |
| Ordered | |
| Laid down | 3 Sep 1931 |
| Launched | 7 Jul 1932 |
| Commissioned | 5 Apr 1933 |
| End service | |
| Loss position | |
| History | Sold to be broken up for scrap in September 1945 and srapped in November 1945. Commanding Officers: Capt. Anthony Fane de Salis, RN Lt.Cdr. Clive Gwinner, RN (retired) Capt. Arthur Dyke Beauchamp James, RN Lt.Cdr. Arthur Nicholl Rowell, RN Capt. Hugh St. Lawrence Nicholson, DSO, RN HMS Duncan was in Dockyard Control during refit Lt.Cdr. Clive Gwinner, RN (retired) Cdr. Peter William Gretton, OBE, DSO, DSC, RN HMS Duncan was in Dockyard Control during refit Lt. Denis Guy Douglas Hall-Wright, RN |
Commands listed for HMS Duncan (D 99)
Please note that we're still working on this section.
| Commander | From | To | ||
| 1 | Capt. Geoffrey Robert Bensly Back, RN | 8 Jul 1939 | 2 Jan 1940 | |
| 2 | Capt. Antony Fane de Salis, RN | 2 Jan 1940 | Feb 1940 | |
| 3 | Lt.Cdr. (retired) Clive Gwinner, RN | Feb 1940 | 12 Jul 1940 | |
| 4 | Cdr. Arthur Dyke Beauchamp James, RN | 12 Jul 1940 | 13 Feb 1941 | |
| 5 | Lt.Cdr. Arthur Nichol Rowell, RN | 13 Feb 1941 | Jun 1942 | |
| 6 | Capt. Hugh St. Lawrence Nicolson, DSO, RN | Jun 1942 | ??? | |
| 7 | Lt.Cdr. (retired) Clive Gwinner, DSO, RN | 10 Mar 1943 | 1 Apr 1943 | |
| 8 | Cdr. Peter William Gretton, DSC, OBE, DSO, RN | 12 Apr 1943 | Nov 1943 | |
| 9 | Lt. Denis Guy Douglas Hall-Wright, RN | 10 Apr 1944 | Jul 1945 ? | |
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Noteable events involving Duncan include:
6 Feb 1941
British raid on Genoa.
Force H (Vice Admiral Somerville) left Gibraltar on 6 February 1941. The battlecruiser HMS Renown (Capt R.R. McGrigor, RN), battleship HMS Malaya (Capt. A.F.E. Palliser, DSC, RN), aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal (Capt. C.S. Holland, RN), light cruiser HMS Sheffield (Capt. C.A.A. Larcom, RN) and the destroyers HMS Fearless (Cdr. A.F. Pugsley, RN) HMS Foxhound (Lt.Cdr. G.H. Peters, DSC, RN), HMS Foresight (Cdr. J.S.C. Salter, RN), HMS Fury (Lt.Cdr. T.C. Robinson, RN), HMS Encounter (Lt.Cdr. E.V.St.J. Morgan, RN) and HMS Jersey (Lt.Cdr. A.F. Burnell-Nugent, DSC, RN) left Gibraltar to the west with convoy HG-53. This was done to fool German and Italian observers in Spain. In the meantime 4 destroyers HMS Duncan (Capt. A.D.B. James, RN), HMS Isis (Cdr. C.S.B. Swinley, DSC, RN) HMS Firedrake (Lt.Cdr. S.H. Norris, DSO, DSC, RN) and HMS Jupiter (Lt.Cdr. N.V.J.P. Thew, RN) left Gibraltar and steamed to the east to conduct a anti-submarine sweep. During the night Force H reversed course and passed Gibraltar on an easterly course back into the Mediterranean. There they were joined by the 4 destroyers that conducted the anti-submarine sweep.
On 8 February the Italian fleet left port and steamed south after they received reports of British carrier aircraft south of the Balearics. The Italians thought that there was another convoy to Malta.
Early in the morning of 9 February Renown, Malaya and Sheffield bombarded the Italian city of Genoa. In the harbour 4 ships were sunk and 18 were damaged. Also the city itself was damaged.
The Italian fleet turned around and tried to intercept the British ships but due to the bad weather this failed.
In the meantime Ark Royal's aircraft raided Livorno and mined the harbour of La Spezia.
Force H safely returned to Gibraltar on 11 February.
19 Oct 1941
The British destroyer HMS Duncan (Lt.Cdr. A.N. Rowell, RN) and the British ASW trawlers HMT Lady Hogarth (Lt. S.G. Barnes, RNR) and HMT Haarlem (Lt. L.B. Merrick, RNVR) together pick up 17 survivors from the British tanker Inverlee that was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-204 30 nautical miles 240° from Cape Spartel, Marocco.
HMS Duncan also picks up 1 survivor from the British merchant Baron Kelvin that was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-206 in the Strait of Gibraltar 14 nautical miles bearing 100° from Tarifa Point in approximate position 35º51'N, 06º24'W.
23 Oct 1943
The German submarine U-274 was sunk in the North Atlantic south-west of Iceland in position 57º14'N, 27º50'W, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS Duncan (Cdr. P.W. Gretton, OBE, DSO, DSC, RN) and HMS Vidette (Lt.Cdr. R. Hart, DSC and Bar, RN), and by depth charges from a British Liberator aircraft (Sqdn. 224/Z). (see map)
29 Oct 1943
The German submarine U-282 was sunk south-east of Greenland, in position 55º28'N, 31º57'W, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS Vidette (Lt.Cdr. R. Hart, DSC and Bar, RN) and HMS Duncan (Cdr. P.W. Gretton, OBE, DSO, DSC, RN) and the British corvette HMS Sunflower (A/Lt.Cdr. J. Plomer, DSC, RCNVR). (see map)