View source for HMS Jersey (F72)

{{Short description|J-class destroyer of the Royal Navy}}
{{Other ships|HMS Jersey}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2015}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image               = HMS Jersey.JPG
| Ship caption             = ''Jersey'' after pennant change
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header              = 
| Ship country             = United Kingdom
| Ship flag                = {{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
| Ship name                = ''Jersey''
| Ship namesake            = [[Jersey]]
| Ship ordered             = 
| Ship builder             = [[J. Samuel White|J. Samuel White and Company]]
| Ship laid down           = 20 September 1937
| Ship launched            = 26 September 1938
| Ship commissioned        = 28 April 1939
| Ship in service          = 
| Ship struck              = 
| Ship honours             = 
|Ship identification=[[Pennant number]]: F72
| Ship fate                = Sunk, 2 May 1941
| Ship notes               = 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Hide header              = 
|Header caption=(as built)
|Ship class=[[J-, K- and N-class destroyer|J-class destroyer]]
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|1690|LT|t}} ([[Standard displacement|standard]])
*{{convert|2330|LT|t}} ([[deep load]])
|Ship length={{convert|356|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} [[Length overall|o/a]]
|Ship beam={{convert|35|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught={{convert|12|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} (deep)
|Ship power=*{{convert|44000|shp|kW|lk=in|abbr=on}}
*2 × [[Admiralty 3-drum boiler]]s
|Ship propulsion=2 × shafts; 2 × geared [[steam turbine]]s
|Ship speed={{convert|36|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range={{convert|5500|nmi|lk=in|abbr=on}} at {{convert|15|kn}}
|Ship complement=183 (218 for [[flotilla leader]]s)
|Ship sensors=[[ASDIC]]
|Ship armament=
*3 × twin [[4.7 inch QF Mark IX|QF 4.7-inch (120&nbsp;mm) Mk XII guns]]
*1 × quadruple [[QF 2 pounder naval gun|QF 2-pounder (40 mm) anti-aircraft guns]]
*2 × quadruple [[Vickers .50 machine gun|QF 0.5-inch (12.7&nbsp;mm) Mk III]] [[anti-aircraft machinegun]]s
*2 × quintuple [[British 21-inch torpedo|21-inch (533&nbsp;mm)]] [[torpedo tubes]]
*20 × [[depth charge]]s, 1 × rack, 2 × throwers
}}
|}

'''HMS ''Jersey''''' was a [[J, K and N-class destroyer|J-class]] [[destroyer]] of the [[Royal Navy]].

==Construction and career==
On 25 March 1937, the [[British Admiralty]] placed orders for the eight destroyers of the J class, including one ship, ''Jersey'' to be built by [[J. Samuel White|J. Samuel White and Company]] at [[Cowes]] on the [[Isle of Wight]]. ''Jersey'' was laid down on 20 September 1937 and launched on 26 September 1938.<ref name="English p71">English 2001, p. 71.</ref> ''Jersey'' was commissioned on 28 April 1939.<ref>{{cite journal|title=List of Ships of the Royal Navy with the Officers and Present Stations: Jersey (Po.) Destroyer|journal=The Naval List|date=June 1939|page=300|url=http://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/pageturner.cfm?id=92689870|access-date=21 October 2014}}</ref>

Following commissioning, ''Jersey'' worked up at Portland through to July 1939. On 12 August 1939, ''Jersey'' joined the [[Seventh Destroyer Flotilla]] of the [[Home Fleet]], based at [[Scapa Flow]] in the [[Orkney Islands]].<ref name="English p78">English 2001, p. 78.</ref>

===7 December 1939===
''Jersey'' was torpedoed off [[Haisborough Sands]] by the {{ship|German destroyer|Z12 Erich Giese||6}}, which was returning unseen from laying a minefield.<ref name=SK1239>{{cite web |url=http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/39-12.htm |title=1939 Dezember |publisher=Württembergische Landesbibliothek |language=de |access-date=5 March 2015}}</ref> Ten of the ship's company were killed and extensive damage caused. ''Jersey'' was towed to the Humber for repairs and did not return to her flotilla until 28 October 1940.

===2 May 1941===
''Jersey'' struck an Italian aircraft-dropped mine off [[Malta]]'s [[Grand Harbour]] and sank next to the Grand Harbour breakwater.<ref>{{cite book |title=Our Name Wasn't Written |page=96 |first=Caroline |last=Vernon |date=1992 |publisher=Imagecraft |location=Canberra |edition=2 |isbn=0-646-07198-X}}</ref> Thirty-five crew members were killed.<ref name="navhist">{{cite web|last=Mason|first=Geoffrey B.|title=HMS Jersey (F 72) – J-class Destroyer|work=Service Histories of Royal Navy Warships in World War 2|publisher=Naval-History.net|year=2003|url=http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-10DD-37J-Jersey.htm|access-date=21 October 2014}}</ref> Her [[Captain (naval)|captain]], Lieutenant-Commander [[Anthony F. Burnell-Nugent]], survived.<ref>https://uboat.net/allies/commanders/403.html {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}}</ref>

When ''Jersey'' sank it blocked the entrance to Malta's Grand Harbour, meaning movements into and out of the harbour were impossible for several days. The destroyers {{HMS|Kelly|F01|2}}, {{HMS|Kelvin|F37|2}} and {{HMS|Jackal|F22|2}} were left marooned in the harbour until the wreck was cleared. Some of the ships that rescued the surviving crew had to take passage to [[Gibraltar]]. On 5 May the wreck broke into two sections. It was only after 1946 that the after section was cleared from the entrance, in a series of controlled demolitions carried out between 1946 and 1949.<ref name="navhist"/> Further salvage and clearance work was done in 1968 to make the harbour safe for large vessels.<ref>{{cite news |work=The Glasgow Herald |date=3 January 1969 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19690103&id=d39AAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zqMMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5299,378329 |title=Navy Makes Clean Sweep of Malta's Wartime Wrecks |page=15 |access-date=18 June 2015}}</ref>

==About the wreck==
* Ship sunk at: Valletta, Malta
* Position: 35° 54'N, 14° 30'E
* Depth (m.): 19 max. / 15.8 min.
* Orientation: 175°<ref>{{cite web|title=HMS Jersey (F72) [+1941]|url=http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?16010|website=wrecksite.eu|access-date=19 June 2015}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist|30em}}

==References==
* {{Cite Colledge2006}}
* {{cite book|last=English|first=John|title=Afridi to Nizam: British Fleet Destroyers 1937–43|publisher=World Ship Society|location=Gravesend, Kent|year=2001|isbn=0-905617-64-9}}
* {{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|title=British Destroyers and Frigates, the Second World War and After|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=2006 |isbn=1-86176-137-6|author-link=Norman Friedman}}
* {{cite book |last=Hodges |first=Peter |author2=Friedman, Norman |title=Destroyer Weapons of World War 2 |year=1979 |publisher=Conway Maritime Press |location=Greenwich |isbn=978-0-85177-137-3 }}
* {{cite book|last=Langtree|first=Charles|title=The Kelly's: British J, K, and N Class Destroyers of World War II |year=2002|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|isbn=1-55750-422-9}}
* {{cite book|last=Lenton|first=H. T.|title=British & Empire Warships of the Second World War|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=1998|isbn=1-55750-048-7|author-link=Henry Trevor Lenton}}
* {{cite book|last=March|first=Edgar J.|title=British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892–1953; Drawn by Admiralty Permission From Official Records & Returns, Ships' Covers & Building Plans|year=1966|publisher=Seeley Service|location=London |oclc=164893555}}
* {{cite book|last=Rohwer|first=Jürgen|title=Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=2005|edition=Third Revised|isbn=1-59114-119-2|author-link=Jürgen Rohwer}}
* {{cite book|last=Whitley|first=M. J.|title=Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia|publisher=Naval Institute Press|year=1988|isbn=0-87021-326-1|location=Annapolis, Maryland|author-link=Michael J. Whitley}}
* {{cite book |last=Winser |first=John de D |date=1999 |title=B.E.F. Ships Before, At and After Dunkirk |location=Gravesend |publisher=[[World Ship Society]] |isbn=0-905617-91-6}}

{{J, K and N class destroyer}}
{{Shipwrecks of Malta}}
{{May 1941 shipwrecks}}
{{coord|35|54|N|14|31.4|E|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jersey (F72)}}
[[Category:J, K and N-class destroyers of the Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built on the Isle of Wight]]
[[Category:1938 ships]]
[[Category:World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in May 1941]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by mines]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of Malta]]