HMS Nubian (pennant number

Pennant number

In the modern Royal Navy, and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth, ships are identified by pennant numbers...

 L36, later F36) was a Tribal-class

Tribal class destroyer (1936)

The Tribal class, or Afridi class, were a class of destroyers built for the Royal Navy, Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Australian Navy that saw service in World War II...

 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 British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 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...

 that saw much distinguished service in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.
She won 13 battle honours, a record only exceeded by one other ship, and matched by two others.

Service history

Nubian was in home waters for the early part of the Second World War, and saw action with the Home Fleet during the Norwegian Campaign

Norwegian Campaign

The Norwegian Campaign was a military campaign that was fought in Norway during the Second World War between the Allies and Germany, after the latter's invasion of the country. In April 1940, the United Kingdom and France came to Norway's aid with an expeditionary force...

 in May 1940.

Following this, Nubian joined 14th Destroyer Flotilla at Plymouth, which was led by Capt. P J Mack (temporarily flying his pennant in Janus, whilst has own ship, Jervis, was undergoing repair).
Also in 14 DF were Mohawk (another Tribal”), and Juno (another “J”class).
14 DF left Plymouth for Alexandria on 18 May 1940, in company with 4 “K’s” from 5 DF en route for service in the Red Sea; they arrived in Alexandria on 25 May, just two weeks days before hostilities with Italy commenced on 11 June 1940..

Nubian saw much action with 14 DF, being involved in the actions at Calabria

Battle of Calabria

The Battle of Calabria, was a naval battle during the Battle of the Mediterranean in World War II. It was fought between the Italian Royal Navy and the British Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Navy. The battle occurred 30 miles to the east of Punta Stilo, the "toe" of Italy , on 9 July 1940...

, in July 1940, Matapan

Battle of Cape Matapan

The Battle of Cape Matapan was a Second World War naval battle fought from 27–29 March 1941. The cape is on the southwest coast of Greece's Peloponnesian peninsula...

 (March 1941), Sfax

Battle of the Tarigo Convoy

The Battle of the Tarigo Convoy was fought on 16 April 1941 between four British and three Italian destroyers during the Mediterranean Campaign, in World War II...

 (April),and finally 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...

 (May). During the battle of Cape Matapan, she delivered the coup de grace to the Italian cruiser Pola, stricken by an aerial torpedo.

During the battle of Crete, on 26 May, Nubian was bombed and had her stern blown off, with the loss of 7 of her crew killed, and another 12 wounded. Despite further attacks, she was able to return to Alexandria under escort, but departed there on 12 June under tow for extensive repairs in Bombay, which were not completed for another 18 months.

Nubian returned to the Mediterranean and 14 DF in November 1942, seeing action with them against the Lupo Convoy on 2 December and off Tripoli in company with Jervis on the 20/21 December.

In 1943 she was involved with supporting the landings in Sicily, and at Salerno, before returning to Britain for re-assignment to the Arctic.

In 1944 Nubian was dispatched to the Far East, seeing action in support of operations in Burma, a varied and wide-ranging career.

Battle honours

• Norway 1940.
• Calabria 1940, Mediterranean 1940-43 ; Libya 1940;
• Matapan 1941, Sfax 1941, Greece 1941, Crete 1941, Malta Convoys 1941;
• Sicily 1943, Salerno 1943:
• Arctic 1944:
• Burma 1944-45.

Two other ships, Orion

HMS Orion (85)

HMS Orion was a Leander class light cruiser which served with distinction in the Royal Navy during World War II.She received 13 battle honours, a record only exceeded by one other ship, and matched by two others.-History:...

 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...

, also serving in the Mediterranean with Nubian, matched this record; it was exceeded only by the Queen Elizabeth-class battleship

Queen Elizabeth class battleship

The Queen Elizabeth-class battleships were a class of five super-dreadnoughts of the Royal Navy. The lead ship was named after Elizabeth I of England...

 Warspite, a Jutland

Battle of Jutland

The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...

veteran and the Mediterranean Fleet flagship through much of the Second World War.