HMS Kelvin (F37) was a K-class destroyer

Destroyer

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

 of the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 laid down by the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company

Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company

The Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Limited was a British shipbuilding company in the Govan area on the Clyde in Glasgow. Fairfields, as it is often known, was a major warship builder, turning out many vessels for the Royal Navy and other navies through the First World War and the...

, Limited, at Govan

Govan

Govan is a district and former burgh now part of southwest City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south bank of the River Clyde, opposite the mouth of the River Kelvin and the district of Partick....

 in Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 on 5 October 1937, launched on 19 January 1939 and commissioned on 27 November 1939.

War time service

She fought in several theatres during the war. In September 1940, as part of the 5th Destroyer Flotilla she scuttled HMS Ivanhoe

HMS Ivanhoe (D16)

HMS Ivanhoe was an of the British Royal Navy, commissioned in 1937, that served during World War II until sunk during the Texel Disaster on 31 August 1940.-Construction:...

, which had struck a mine off Texel

Texel

Texel is a municipality and an island in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the biggest and most populated of the Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea, and also the westernmost of this archipelago, which extends to Denmark...

 during the Texel Disaster

Texel Disaster

The Texel disaster took place off the Dutch coast on the night of 31 August 1940 and involved the sinking of two Royal Navy destroyers and damage to a third and a light cruiser...

.
In October 1940 she escorted HMS Revenge when she shelled Cherbourg.

A year later, under Admiral James Somerville, she was involved at the action off Cape Spartivento

Battle of Cape Spartivento

The Battle of Cape Spartivento, known as the Battle of Cape Teulada in Italy, was a naval battle during the Battle of the Mediterranean in the Second World War...

 on 27 November 1940.

For the next two years she was employed heavily in the Mediterranean and was involved in several major actions as well as several minor engagements.

In May 1941 she bombarded Benghazi

Benghazi

Benghazi is the second largest city in Libya, the main city of the Cyrenaica region , and the former provisional capital of the National Transitional Council. The wider metropolitan area is also a district of Libya...

 in company with HM destroyers Jackal

HMS Jackal (F22)

HMS Jackal was a J-class destroyer of the Royal Navy laid down by John Brown and Company, Limited, at Clydebank in Scotland on 24 September 1937, launched on 25 October 1938 and commissioned on 31 March 1939...

, Kashmir

HMS Kashmir

HMS Kashmir, has been the name of a number of ships of the Royal Navy, from Kashmir a former part of the British Empire.*Kashmir — a troopship, formerly a P & O liner. Collided on 6 October 1918 with HMS Otranto .*Kashmir — a K class destroyer that served in World War II....

, Kelly

HMS Kelly (F01)

HMS Kelly was a K-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy, and flotilla leader of her class. She served through the early years of the Second World War; in Home Waters, off Norway and in the Mediterranean. Throughout her service, Kelly was commanded by Lord Louis Mountbatten. She was lost in...

 and Kipling before heading to Crete

Battle of Crete

The Battle of Crete was a battle during World War II on the Greek island of Crete. It began on the morning of 20 May 1941, when Nazi Germany launched an airborne invasion of Crete under the code-name Unternehmen Merkur...

 on 20 May 1941. She survived the withdrawal and by March 1942 she was a part of convoy MW10 which took part in the Second Battle of Sirte

Second Battle of Sirte

The Second Battle of Sirte was a naval engagement in which the escorting warships of a British convoy to Malta frustrated a much more powerful Regia Marina squadron. The British convoy was composed of four merchant ships escorted by four light cruisers, one anti-aircraft cruiser, and 17 destroyers...

. Later in the year she was involved in diversionary attacks in support of Operation Pedestal

Operation Pedestal

Operation Pedestal was a British operation to get desperately needed supplies to the island of Malta in August 1942, during the Second World War. Malta was the base from which surface ships, submarines and aircraft attacked Axis convoys carrying essential supplies to the Italian and German armies...

 and bombarded Rhodes

Rhodes

Rhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within...

.

On 16 April 1942 she landed troops from the 11th Battalion of the Royal Marines

Royal Marines

The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...

 at Koufonisi near Crete to destroy a W/T station (Operation Lighter). In December 1942, in company with Janus

HMS Janus (F53)

HMS Janus , named after the Roman god, was a J-class destroyer of the Royal Navy laid down by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson Limited at Wallsend-on-Tyne on 29 September 1937, launched on 10 November 1938 and commissioned on 5 August 1939. Janus participated in the Battle of Calabria in July 1940...

, Javelin

HMS Javelin (F61)

HMS Javelin was a J-class destroyer of the Royal Navy laid down by John Brown and Company, Limited, at Clydebank in Scotland on 11 October 1937, launched on 21 December 1938, and commissioned on 10 June 1939....

 and Jervis

HMS Jervis (F00)

HMS Jervis was a J-class destroyer of the Royal Navy named after Admiral John Jervis . Jervis was laid down by R. and W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, Limited, at Hebburn-on-Tyne on 26 August 1937...

, she sunk the Italian torpedo boat Lupo

Spica class torpedo boat

The Spica-class were a class of torpedo boats of the Regia Marina during World War II. These ships were built as a result of a clause in the Washington Naval Treaty, which stated that ships with a tonnage of less than 600 tons could be built in unlimited numbers...

off Kerkennah Bank, Tunisia. In January 1943 she bombarded Zuara and in company with Nubian

HMS Nubian (F36)

HMS Nubian was a Tribal-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw much distinguished service in World War II.She won 13 battle honours, a record only exceeded by one other ship, and matched by two others....

 was responsible for sinking a variety of Italian supply ships and minesweepers. Several members of her crew were decorated for their part in destroying enemy ships and aircraft in the Mediterranean.

By June 1944 she was back in home waters and carried Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...

 and various other dignitaries across the English Channel

English Channel

The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...

 during Operation Overlord

Operation Overlord

Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...

. She returned to the Mediterranean and took part in operations to liberate the Dodecanese

Dodecanese

The Dodecanese are a group of 12 larger plus 150 smaller Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, of which 26 are inhabited. Τhis island group generally defines the eastern limit of the Sea of Crete. They belong to the Southern Sporades island group...

. She bombarded Tilos

Tilos

Tílos is a small Greek island and municipality located in the Aegean Sea. It is part of the Dodecanese group of islands, and lies midway between Kos and Rhodes. It has a population of 533 inhabitants . Along with the uninhabited offshore islets of Antitilos and Gaidaros, it forms the Municipality...

 and landed a party of Special Boat Service

Special Boat Service

The Special Boat Service is the special forces unit of the British Royal Navy. Together with the Special Air Service, Special Reconnaissance Regiment and the Special Forces Support Group they form the United Kingdom Special Forces and come under joint control of the same Director Special...

 troops in November 1944.

Post-war fate

Unlike many of the other J, K and N class destroyers, she survived the war and was sold for scrap on 6 April 1949 and broken up at Troon

Troon

Troon is a town in South Ayrshire. It is situated on the west coast of Scotland, about eight miles north of Ayr and three miles northwest of Glasgow Prestwick International Airport. Lying across the Firth of Clyde, the Isle of Arran can be seen. Troon is also a port with freight and ferry services...

in Scotland.

Battle honours

Atlantic (1940)
Spartivento (1940)
Crete (1941)
Mediterranean (1941-43)
Sirte (1942)
Malta Convoys (1942)
Normandy (1944)
Aegean (1944)