The Australian destroyer Napier leaves the port of Victoria in the Seychelles.
The Australian Napier destroyer (HMAS Napier) had hull numbers G97 and D15 and belonged to class N destroyers.
The Napier destroyer was under construction at Clydebank (Scotland).
The construction of the Napier destroyer began on July 26, 1939, launched on May 22, 1940, and entered into the Australian Navy on November 28, 1940.
The Napier destroyer 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. The maximum speed is 36 knots. The crew is 226 people.
Napier destroyer, 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 mount 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 guns 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 Allied sea convoys to Malta (1941-1942); Indian Ocean (1942, 1944-1945); Pacific Ocean (1943); operations in Okinawa (1945).
During the entire service of Napier destroyer covered more than 270 thousand miles. Withdrawn from the Australian Navy on October 17, 1945.
Source of information on the Napier destroyer photo: www.flickr.com
Location: Port of Victoria, Seychelles
Photo time: August 1942
Photo by: H.A. Mason