| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | Destroyer |
| Class | E |
| Pennant | H 15 |
| Built by | Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd. (Wallsend-on-Tyne, U.K.): Wallsend |
| Ordered | |
| Laid down | 23 Mar 1933 |
| Launched | 19 Mar 1934 |
| Commissioned | 26 Sep 1934 |
| Lost | 31 Aug 1940 |
| Loss position | 53.30N, 03.47E (See a map) |
| History | On 31 August 1940 HMS Esk (Lt.Cdr. Richard John Hullis Couch, DSC, RN) was mined and sunk about 40 nautical miles north-west of Texel island, the Netherlands in position 53º30'N, 03º47'E. For more information see events listed below on this page. Commanding Officer: |
Commands listed for HMS Esk (H 15)
Please note that we're still working on this section.
| Commander | From | To | |
| 1 | Lt. Richard John Hullis Couch, RN | 14 Feb 1938 | 1 Sep 1940 (+) |
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Noteable events involving Esk include:
13 Mar 1940
The German submarine U-44 was hit by a mine around 13 March 1940, in minefield Field No 7. laid on 3 March 1940 by the British destroyers HMS Express (Cdr. J.G. Bickford, DSC, RN) HMS Esk (Lt.Cdr. R.J.H. Couch, RN), HMS Icarus (Cdr. C.D. Maud, DSC, RN) and HMS Impulsive (Lt.Cdr. W.S. Thomas, RN).
9 May 1940
The minelaying destroyers HMS Express (Cdr. J.G. Bickford, DSC, RN), HMS Esk (Lt.Cdr. R.J.H. Couch, RN) and HMS Intrepid (Cdr. R.G. Gordon, RN) lay 180 mines in known German swept channels in oparation XMG.
31 Aug 1940
On 31 August 1940 a group of destroyers sailed from Immingham on a minelaying mission off the Dutch coast. The minelayers were from the 20th Destroyer Flotilla and consisted of the destroyers HMS Express (Cdr. J.G. Bickford, DSC, RN), HMS Esk (Lt.Cdr. R.J.H. Couch, DSC, RN), HMS Icarus (Cdr. C.D. Maud, DSC, RN), HMS Intrepid (Cdr. R.C. Gordon, RN) and HMS Ivanhoe (Cdr. P.H. Hadow, RN). The minelayers were escorted by members of the 5th Destroyer Flotilla consisted of the destroyers HMS Kelvin (Cdr. J.H. Allison, DSO, RN), HMS Jupiter (Cdr. D.B. Wyburd, RN) and HMS Vortigern (Lt.Cdr. R.S. Howlett, RN). Aerial reconnaissance detected a German force and the ships of the 20th and 5th DF were ordered to intercept, beliving wrongly that the German ships were part of an invasion force. HMS Express struck a mine and was badly damaged, HMS Esk went to her assistance and hit mine and sank immediately, HMS Ivanhoe also went to her assistance and hit a mine and was badly damaged, so much so she she had to be sunk by HMS Kelvin. The following day they were joined by the light cruisers HMS Aurora (Capt. L.H.K. Hamilton, DSO, RN) and HMS Galatea (Capt. B.B. Schofield, RN) and while returning to base HMS Galatea struck another mine and was slightly damaged off Cleaner Shoal Buoy near the Humber light vessel.