HMS Acheron H45

HMS Acheron (H45)

Navy:	Royal Navy
Type:	Destroyer
Class:	A Class
Pennant:	H 45
Built by:	Thornycroft (Southampton, U.K.): Parsons
Ordered:	29 May, 1928
Laid down:	29 Oct, 1928
Launched:	18 Mar, 1930
Commissioned:	13 Oct, 1931
Complement:	180 crew and 35 shipyard workers 19 crew survivors
Lost:	17 December, 1940 (Lt. J. R. Wilson, RN) hit a mine and sank off the Isle of Wight.in position (50º32'N, 01º26'W.) The trial was being conducted at night, in heavy seas and with a strong north-east wind in complete darkness. She was conducting steaming exercises over a measured mile, west-south-west of St. Catherine's Point. On one of the passes, she struck a mine. The explosion caused major structural damage forward and her own speed drove her under. She sank within four minutes,taking crew and shipyard workers,who were on board for the trials, to the bottom.The mine was probably laid by the Luftwaffe in no definite pattern along the Channel coast. Her sinking was not made public until 27 December 1940.