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Allied Warships

HMS Gallant (H 59)

Destroyer of the G class

NavyThe Royal Navy
TypeDestroyer
ClassG 
PennantH 59 
Built byA. Stephen & Sons Ltd. (Glasgow, Scotland) 
Ordered 
Laid down15 Sep, 1934 
Launched26 Sep, 1935 
Commissioned25 Feb, 1936 
End service 
Loss position
 
HistoryHMS Gallant (Lt.Cdr. Cecil Powis Frobisher Brown, DSC, RN) was damaged by a mine at 0834 hours on 10 January 1941 about 25 nautical miles south-west of Pantelleria in position 36º27'N, 12º11'E. She lost her bow and was taken in tow to Malta by HMS Mohawk. At Malta she was beached in Grand harbour below Floriana. She was destroyed there during an air raid on 5 April 1942 and declared a constructive total loss. Gallant was finally sunk as a blockship at St. Paul`s Bay in September 1943.

Commanding Officer:
Lt.Cdr. Cecil Powis Frobisher Brown, RN
22 July 1938 – early 1941
DSC awarded on 3 December 1940 


Noteable events involving Gallant include:

27 May, 1940
In the evening, the Polish destroyer Blyskawica recieved orders to meet with the British destroyers HMS Gallant and HMS Vivacious to enter the small port of La Panne (in the Dunkirk area) and evacuate part of RAF personnel. Unfortunely, she failed to find her partners and didn't complete the task. Instead of this, she was ordered to enter Dunkirk harbor together with the British destroyer HMS Vega and conduct a night reconnisance mission. The Admirality wanted to find out, if this harbor (partially blocked by wrecks) may be useful in Allied evacuation. Both destroyers were attacked by two German aircraft, but inspected the positions of wrecks. After that, Admiral Ramsey learned that navy vessels are able to conduct evacuation from Dunkirk and sent part of them there.

20 Oct, 1940
The Italian submarine Lafolè was sunk north off Melilla in position 36º00'N, 03º00'W by the British destroyers HMS Gallant (Lt.Cdr. C.P.F. Brown, RN), HMS Hotspur (Cdr. H.F.H. Layman, DSO, RN) and HMS Griffin (Lt.Cdr. J. Lee-Barber, DSO, RN). (see map)




Submarine Grayback
Cline, Rick

Books dealing with this subject include:

Submarine Grayback, Cline, Rick, 1999


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