HMS Saumarez (G12)
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Navy: |
RN |
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Type: |
Destroyer |
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Class: |
S |
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Pennant: |
G 12 |
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Built by: |
Hawthorn Leslie & Co. (Hebburn-on-Tyne, U.K.) |
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Laid down: |
8 Sep, 1941 |
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Launched: |
20 Nov, 1942 |
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Commissioned: |
1 Jul, 1943 |
| History: | This glorious ship ended her career over a mine in the Corfù strait, on 22 October 1946. The mines which heavily damaged the Saumarez had been secretly laid by Albanians, and this fact led to a crisis in the relationships between the two countries: we should note that we were at the opening of the Cold War. Among with the Saumarez, another destroyer got some trouble that day: the HMS Volage; first, she rammed the burning Saumarez in an attempt to save her crew; then she struck another mine, whose explosion torn off her bow. Howewer, she managed to reach Malta, where she was further repaired. A group of British minesweepers was sent to the area to clear the strait, and the dead sailors from the two destroyers now rests in the Corfù's cemetery. Saumarez was finally scrapped at Charlestown in October 1950. |
