HMS Cassandra (R 62)
HMS Cassandra (R 62)
| Name | HMS Cassandra (R 62) | ||
| Type: | Destroyer (Ca-class) | ||
| Tonnage | 1.710 tons | ||
| Completed | 1944 - Yarrow (Scotstoun) | ||
| Owner | The Admiralty | ||
| Homeport | |||
| Date of attack | 11 Dec, 1944 | Nationality:  British | |
| Fate | Damaged by U-365 (Diether Todenhagen) | ||
| Position | 71.57N, 32.04E - Grid AC 5763 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 186 officers and men (62 dead and 124 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | RA-62 | ||
| Route | Murmansk (10 Dec) - Scapa Flow | ||
| Cargo | |||
| History | 30 Jan, 1943 laid down as HMS Tourmaline On 1 Nov, 1944 escorted the steam passenger ships Scythia and Empress of Australia carrying 11000 Soviets back to Murmansk after their release from Germany. 1959 completed modernisation along with the sister ship HMS Caesar and in April 1960 joined the 8th Destroyer Squadron as HMS Cassandra (D 10) stationed in the Far East. The HMS Cassandra (R 62) earned following Battle Honour in World War 2: Arctic 1944. | ||
| Notes on loss | On 10 Dec, 1944, U-365 fired a Gnat at the convoy RA-62 in grid AC 8860 and heard a detonation after 10 minutes 58 seconds, probably at the end of its run. At 08.00 hours on 11 December, the HMS Cassandra (R 62) was struck by a Gnat from U-365, when she searched for the U-boat north of Varde, Norway to prevent a further attack on the convoy. The whole bow section was blown off. The British frigate HMS Bahamas took her in tow stern first and passed later the tow over to a Soviet tug, which towed her to Kola Inlet for. In July 1945 the destroyer sailed to Gibraltar for complete repairs, which took over a year to complete and then went into reserve in 1946. | ||
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