A view of the bow twin 120mm cannons 4.7-inch QF Mk.XII of the Australian destroyer HMAS Napier at the dock in the port during World War II.
The Australian Napier destroyer (HMAS Napier) from the Royal Navy had hull numbers G97 and D15, belonged to the class N destroyers.
This destroyer was built at Clydebank, Scotland. Construction began on July 26, 1939, launched on May 22, 1940, accepted into the Australian Navy on November 28, 1940.
The ship had an Australian crew and was considered a ship of the Royal Australian Navy, but was in the possession and subordination of the Royal Navy of Great Britain.
Napier destroyer, main characteristics: displacement – 1760 tons (standard), 2550 tons (full). Length 108 m, width about 11 m, maximum draft about 5 m. Power plant – 3 boilers, Parsons turbines, power – 40 thousand hp. Napier destroyer, maximum speed – 36 knots. The crew is 226 people.
Armament – six 120-mm cannons (4.7-inch QF Mk.XII) in three twin-turrets (two at the bow, one at the stern), one 101.6-mm cannon (4-inch Mk.V), one quad anti-aircraft gun 40-mm automatic cannons Pom-Pom (QF 2 pounder 1,6 ″ Pom Pom AA gun), four 12.7-mm anti-aircraft machine guns Vickers (Vickers .50), four 20-mm automatic anti-aircraft guns Oerlikon (Oerlikon), three 7.7-mm anti-aircraft machine gun Lewis (.303 Levis), two twin torpedo tubes of 533 mm caliber, three devices for dropping depth charges.
The Napier destroyer took part in operations in the Mediterranean (1941-1942), including supply and evacuation from Crete (1941), Libya (1941), escorting convoys to Malta (1941-1942); Indian Ocean (1942, 1944-1945); Pacific Ocean (1943); operations in Okinawa (1945).
During the entire service of Napier, the destroyer covered more than 270 thousand miles. Withdrawn from the Australian Navy on October 17, 1945.
The 4.7-inch QF Mk.XII photo source: State Library of Victoria (Australia).
Location: Pacific Ocean
Time in the photo: May 11, 1945
Author: Allan C. Green