HMS Beagle (H30)

For other ships of the same name, see List of ships named HMS Beagle.

HMS Beagle (H30)
HMS Beagle off Gold beach during the Invasion of Normandy, June 1944
Career
Name:	HMS Beagle
Namesake:	Beagle
Builder:	John Brown & Company, Clydebank
Cost:	£220,342
Laid down:	11 October 1929
Launched:	26 September 1930
Completed:	9 April 1931
Decommissioned:	24 May 1945
Identification:	Pennant number: H30
Motto:	To a finish
Honours and awards:	NORWAY 1940 ATLANTIC 1940-45 NORTH AFRICA 1942 ARCTIC 1942-44 ENGLISH CHANNEL 1943 NORMANDY 1944
Fate:	Sold for scrapping, December 1945
Badge:	On a Field Green, a Beagle proper
General characteristics (as built)
Class & type:	B class destroyer
Displacement:	1,360 long tons (1,380 t) (standard) 1,790 long tons (1,820 t) (deep load)
Length:	323 ft (98.5 m) o/a
Beam:	32 ft 3 in (9.8 m)
Draught:	12 ft 3 in (3.7 m)
Installed power:	34,000 shp (25,000 kW)
Propulsion:	2 × shafts 2 × Parsons geared steam turbines 3 × Admiralty 3-drum boilers
Speed:	35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph)
Range:	4,800 nmi (8,900 km; 5,500 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement:	138
Sensors and processing systems:	Type 119 ASDIC
Armament:	4 × 1 - 4.7-inch Mk IX guns 2 × 1 - QF 2-pounder Mk II AA guns 2 × 4 - 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes 20 × depth charges, 1 rail and 2 throwers

HMS Beagle was a B-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw extensive service throughout World War II; in Norway, the Atlantic, North Africa, on Russian Convoys, and in the Normandy landings.

Construction

The ship was ordered in early 1929 from John Brown & Company at Clydebank, Glasgow, under the 1928 Programme, along with her sister ship Basilisk. She was laid down on 11 October 1929, and launched on 26 September 1930, as the eighth RN ship to carry this name. Beagle was completed on 9 April 1931 at a cost of £220,342, excluding items supplied by the Admiralty such as guns, ammunition and communications equipment.

Service history

HMS Beagle participated in several campaigns Norway 1940, Battle of the Atlantic 1940-45, North Africa 1942, Arctic 1942-44, English Channel 1943 & Normandy 1944. HMS Beagle is most famous for liberating the Channel Islands in May 1945.

References

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475. 
• English, John (1993). Amazon to Ivanhoe: British Standard Destroyers of the 1930s. Kendal, England: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-64-9. 
• Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-081-8. 
• Lenton, H. T. (1998). British & Commonwealth Warships of the Second World War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-048-7. 
• March, Edgar J. (1966). British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892-1953; Drawn by Admiralty Permission From Official Records & Returns, Ships' Covers & Building Plans. London: Seeley Service. OCLC 164893555. 
• Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939-1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2. 
• Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War 2. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-326-1. 
• Winser, John de D. (1999). B.E.F. Ships Before, At and After Dunkirk. Gravesend, Kent: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-91-6. 

External links

• "HMS Beagle (H30)". uboat.net. http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4351.html. Retrieved February 2010. 
• "HMS Beagle to the rescue". BBC: WW2 People's War. http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/04/a2041804.shtml. Retrieved February 2010. 
• "HMS Beagle". Clydebuilt Ships Database. http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=2256. Retrieved February 2010.