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Allied Warships

HMS Hostile (H 55)

Destroyer of the H class

NavyThe Royal Navy
TypeDestroyer
ClassH 
PennantH 55 
Built byScotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. (Greenock, Scotland) 
Ordered5 Sep, 1934 
Laid down27 Feb, 1935 
Launched24 Jan, 1936 
Commissioned10 Sep, 1936 
Lost23 Aug, 1940 
Loss position36.53N, 11.19E (See a map)
 
HistoryOn 23 August 1940 HMS Hostile (Lt.Cdr. Anthony Frank Burnell-Nugent, DSC, RN) ran into minefield 5.AN, laid a couple of days previously by the Italian destroyers Maestrale, Grecale, Libeccio and Scirocco. She was severly damaged and had to be sunk by HMS Hero about 20 nautical miles south-east of Cape Bon, Tunisia in position 36º53'N, 11º19'E.

Commanding Officers:
Cdr. John Piachaud Wright, RN
23 August 1938 – 18 July 1940
DSO awarded on 7 June 1940

Lt.Cdr. Anthony Frank Burnell-Nugent, DSC, RN
18 July 1940 – 23 August 1940 


Noteable events involving Hostile include:

17 Aug, 1940
In the early morning the British battleships HMS Warspite (Capt. D.B. Fisher, CBE, RN), HMS Malaya (Capt. A.F.E. Palliser, DSC, RN), HMS Ramillies (Capt. H.T. Baillie-Grohman, OBE, DSO, RN) the British heavy cruiser HMS Kent (Capt. D. Young-Jamieson, RN) escorted by the British destroyers HMS Nubian (Cdr. R.W. Ravenhill, RN), HMS Mohawk (Cdr. J.W.M. Eaton, RN), Hyperion (Cdr. H.St.L. Nicolson, DSO and Bar, RN), HMS Hostile (Lt.Cdr. A.F. Burnell-Nugent, DSC, RN), HMS Hero (Cdr. H.W. Biggs, DSO, RN), HMS Hereward (Lt.Cdr. C.W. Greening, RN), HMS Ilex (Lt.Cdr. P.L. Saumarez, DSC, RN), HMS Diamond (Lt.Cdr. P.A. Cartwright, RN), HMS Juno (Cdr. W.E. Wilson, RN) and the Australian destroyers HMAS Stuart (Capt. H.M.L. Waller, RAN), HMAS Waterhen (Lt.Cdr. J.H. Swain, RAN) and HMAS Vendetta (Lt.Cdr. R. Rhoades, RAN) carried out a bombardment of Italian positions around the fortress of Bardia.


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