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Friday, April 21, 2023

HMS Richmond back into Devonport this morning, with RFA Fort Victoria at buoy in the Sound beyond.


 



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Bow damage to HMS King George V from her collision (and sinking of the destroyer Punjab) on 1 May 1942. On May 1st 1942 the Tribal Class Destroyer HMS Punjabi was part of a screen of destroyers on the flanks of a line of capital ships that included the battleship HMS King George V, the Carrier HMS Victorious, the battleship USS Washington, and the Cruisers USS Wichita and USS Tuscaloosa. We had left Iceland five days before and were in Arctic waters when at 15:45 on May 1st a thick fog descended on the fleet. Suddenly there was a tremendous crash, the Punjabi heeled over sharply on its side, and all the lights went out. First thought was that we had been torpedoed, but our nemesis turned out to be one of our own ships - the 34,000-ton battleship King George V had rammed and cut in half our 1,850-ton destroyer. As our stricken ship lay in two halves in the water, she was narrowly missed both by the USS. Washington and HMS. Victorious. The Punjabi's depth charges blew up as the stern sank, and the crew of the Washington felt the concussion as they passed by. The incident was kept secret until the end of the war, and a court of enquiry decided that Punjabi, in the fog, had turned across the bows of the battleship after being told to alter course to avoid a floating mine. Miraculously, only 49 of the Punjabi's crew were lost in what was one of the most bizarre incidents in World War 2. There were 201 survivors. The King George V, with a huge gash in her bows, needed to return to Liverpool for repairs.