HMS Kelly
F.01
1939
(Neptun 1163T)
- Class: J & K Classes - 16 destroyers of 1937
- Displacement: 1,695 tons
- Dimensions: 339.5 (pp) 356.5 (oa) x 35.75 x 9 ft.
- Machinery: 2-shaft geared turbines, S.H.P. 40,000 = 36 knots
- Armament: 6-4.7in QF Mk XII (3x2), 4-2pdr Mk VII AA (1x4) guns, 8-.5in MG; 10-21in (2x5) TT
- Complement: 218
- Builder: Hawthorn Leslie (Hebburn)
- Laid Down: 26 Aug 1937
- Launched: 25 Oct 1938
- Completed: 23 Aug 1939
- Notes: The aft twin 4.7in mounting in X position was designed to fire forward, from red 170° to green 170°, and could not fire directly aft.
- Service: J class formed the 7th Destroyer Flotilla, while K class formed the 5th Flotilla. Home fleet 1939-40, Mediterranean fleet 1940-41. Kelly was damaged by a magnetic mine in autumn 1939 and under repair to Dec. In May 1940 she was torpedoed by German E-boat S-31 and almost sank, but was towed to safety and under repair to Dec 1940. Sent to the Mediterranean, she was leading four of her sisters in the 5th Flotilla under the command of Capt Lord Louis Mountbatten during the evacuation of Crete, when she was bombed and sunk by German Stukas of I/StG 2 on 23 May 1941; sister Kashmir was also lost in this same action.
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