H.M.S. Hunter (1936)

H.M.S. Hunter (1936)
Builder:	Swan Hunter^[1]
Launched:	25 Feb, 1936^[2]
Commissioned:	30 Sep, 1936^[3]
Sunk:	10 Apr, 1940^[4]

H.M.S. Hunter was one of thirty-five "G","H" and "I" Class destroyers completed for the Royal Navy.

Service

Upon her commissioning, Hunter was seemingly placed under the command of an engineering Lt. Cdr. and sent to Devonport. She left Portland for Gibraltar on 24 October, in company with destroyer Hostile, the first two ships of the class to be deployed to the Mediterranean.^[5] They took up operations with the Second Destroyer Flotilla.

At 2.35pm on 13 May 1937, Hunter struck a mine near the port of Almeria, Spain. The damage caused the ship's bow to be submerged and a heavy list to starboard. There were eight men killed and over twenty wounded. Spanish warships lent support and aid, the destroyer Template:ES-Lazaga and six patrol craft coming to tow the stricken destroyer to the mole. The battleship Jaime I took on wounded British sailors.^[6] The light cruiser H.M.S. Arethusa towed Hunter to Gibraltar, where she received temporary repairs. paying off into Dockyard Control at Gibraltar on 29 May, 1937.^[7] She was later towed to Malta to receive more comprehensive repairs.

She commissioned at Malta on 18 October, 1938 under the command of Lt. Cdr. Alfred Charles Behague.^[8]

Captains

Lieutenant-Commander Bryan G. Scurfield, – 28 May, 1937 (sent to Active following mining of this ship)
Lieutenant-Commander Alfred C. Behague, 18 October, 1938^[9] – mid 1939
Lieutenant-Commander Lindsay de Villiers, 22 August, 1939^[10] – 10 April, 1940^[11] (died when ship lost under his command)

Footnotes

↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. p. 39.
↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. p. 39.
↑ "New Ships for the Navy." The Times (London, England), Thursday, October 1, 1936, Issue 47494, p.9.
↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. p. 39.
↑ "Movements of Ships." The Times (London, England), Tuesday, October 27, 1936, Issue 47516, p.7.
↑ "Divers Patching the Hole." The Times (London, England), Saturday, May 15, 1937, Issue 47685, p.12.
↑ The Navy List. (July, 1937). p. 249.
↑ The Navy List. (May, 1939). p. 297.
↑ The Navy List. (May, 1939). p. 297.
↑ Uboat.net page on the ship.
↑ Uboat.net page on the ship.