Tribal-class destroyer (1936)

The Royal Navy equipped the Tribal class with a comparatively heavy anti-aircraft armament; all eight 4.7in guns could engage aircraft with predicted fire using the FKC computer, and thus provide a powerful augmentation to the battle-fleet's AA defence.[8] The close range AA armament of a quad 2pdr and two quad Vickers machine guns was a marked advance over previous destroyer classes[9] and heavier than most other nations' close range destroyer armament in 1939.[10] However, prewar, the Royal Navy assumed that destroyers would be acting mainly as escorts for the battle-fleet, and would not be the primary focus of aerial attack and would not require more than 40-degree elevation for the main armament.[8] Events soon showed that destroyers often functioned independently and so became the main target of Luftwaffe attack, especially by dive bombers. After the loss of Afridi and Gurkha, the remaining ships were taken in hand to improve the situation. Each ship's 'X' turret, which held a 4.7-inch mounting, was removed and replaced by two QF 4-inch (102 mm) Mark XVI guns on the twin HA/LA Mark XIX mounting.[2] The mainmast was cut down and the rear funnel was lowered to improve the arcs of fire for the anti-aircraft weapons. As they became available, the more effective 20 mm Oerlikon guns were added, at first adding to and eventually replacing the .50 in./12.7 mm machine guns. Depth charge storage was also increased, from 30 to 46 charges.[2] Furthermore, the class initially had problems with leaks in feedwater tanks; this was traced to issues with the turbine blades caused by structural stress when steaming at high speed in rough weather.[11]

By 1944, the four surviving British Tribals were given a tall lattice foremast to carry a Type 293 radar target indication and Type 291 air warning, with Type 285 radar added to the rangefinder-director. The first two Canadian built Tribals, Micmac and Nootka, were armed with the then standard armament of three 4.7-inch twin mountings and a single twin 4-inch mount, with the 4.7-inch mounts being given improved A.A. fuze setters,[12] while the last two Canadian-built Tribals were equipped with eight Mark XVI guns with R.P.C. and four to six Bofors 40 mm guns as standard, along with a Mk VI Director.[2]

Post war, survivors of the class met different fates: Royal Navy Tribals were retired by the 1950s, while Tribals in service with the Australian and Canadian navies continued in service, with many refitted as anti-submarine destroyers.[2] The British-built Canadian Tribals landed their 4.7-inch guns, and received a pair of 4-inch Mark XVI guns in twin mounts in the 'A' and 'B' positions instead, improving anti-aircraft capabilities,[13] a pair of Squid mortars for anti-submarine warfare,[14] and a twin 3 inch/50 Mark 33 gun on the 'X' position as an anti-aircraft weapon.[15] Sensors were also upgraded for their new roles, and as refitted, Canadian Tribals continued to serve until the 1960s.[2]

Two of the Australian Tribals, Arunta and Warramunga, were modernised during the early 1950s.[16] The aft-most 4.7-inch (120 mm) gun mounting was removed, with the space modified to accommodate a Squid anti-submarine mortar.[16] New sonar and radar units were fitted, the latter requiring the replacement of the tripod radar mast with a stronger lattice structure.[16] Although the modernisation was intended to take less than six months per ship, it took two years for each ship to be refitted, by which time their modifications had already become obsolete.[17] Financial restrictions meant that the third Australian Tribal, Bataan, was not modernised, and a combination of manpower shortages and rapid obsolescence saw all three ships decommissioned by the end of the 1950s.[16][17]

HMS Eskimo showing bow damage, Norway May 1940

Cossack earned fame early on in the war, when on 6 February 1940, commanded by Captain Philip Vian, she pursued and then boarded the German tanker Altmark in neutral Norwegian waters in a daring attack to rescue around 300 British prisoners of war on board.[18][19] Referred to as the Altmark Incident,[20] this was the last true naval boarding action for the Royal Navy.[19] Gurkha was an early loss, being sunk by German bombers off Stavanger.[18] Afridi was lost soon afterwards to dive bombers while evacuating troops from Namsos.[21] Bedouin, Punjabi, Eskimo and Cossack took part in the Second Battle of Narvik, where Eskimo had her bow blown off.[22]

In May 1941, Somali, Bedouin, and Eskimo, along with the N-class destroyer HMAS Nestor, and Royal Navy cruisers Edinburgh, Manchester, and Birmingham boarded the German weather ship München, retrieving vital Enigma cypher codebooks.[23] In the same month, Zulu, Sikh, Cossack, Maori and Polish ORP Piorun (N-class destroyer) were in action against the German battleship Bismarck,[24] with Mashona being sunk by German aircraft during these operations.[25] In the Mediterranean Sea, Mohawk was lost as part of "Force K", torpedoed by the Italian destroyer Luca Tarigo in April, while Cossack, Sikh, Zulu, and Maori took part in Operation Substance, a relief convoy heading to Malta.[26] Cossack was torpedoed by U-563 in October while escorting Convoy HG 74 in the Atlantic Ocean, west of Gibraltar, sinking later under tow.[27] Maori and Sikh were amongst the victors at the Battle of Cape Bon in December.[26] Bedouin took part in Operation Archery, a British combined operations raid which diverted German resources to Norway for the rest of the war.[28]

In 1942, Matabele was torpedoed and sunk by U-454 in the Barents Sea and Maori was hit in the engine room by a bomb whilst lying in Grand Harbour, Valletta, in February, catching fire and later blowing up where she lay.[26][29] Punjabi was accidentally rammed and sunk by the battleship King George V in May, whilst performing close escort in thick weather.[30] In June, Bedouin was disabled in action with Regia Marina's cruisers Raimondo Montecuccoli and Eugenio di Savoia during Operation Harpoon.[28] Although later taken in tow by HMS Partridge the tow had to be cast when the Italian cruisers reappeared and, dead in the water, Bedouin was sunk by aircraft torpedo attack.[28] Ashanti was assigned to Operation Pedestal of August 1942. In September, the final two Tribals lost in the Battle of the Mediterranean were sunk; Sikh and Zulu during a disastrous raid on Tobruk.[11][31] Also that month, Somali was torpedoed by U-703 while covering the returning Russian Convoy QP 14. Although taken under tow by Ashanti, she sank four days later after heavy weather broke her back.[23] This was the last Royal Navy Tribal lost during the war.

In 1943, the four remaining British Tribals (Ashanti, Eskimo, Tartar, and Nubian) participated in Operation Retribution to prevent the Afrika Korps from being evacuated to Italy. Tartar, Nubian and Eskimo then covered the Allied invasion of Sicily. After the invasion of Sicily, the four then covered the Allied invasion of Italy at Salerno. Ashanti and Athabaskan then covered Arctic convoy RA 55A, which was involved in the Battle of North Cape, where the German battleship Scharnhorst was sunk.

At the same time, the two active Australian Tribals, Arunta and Warramunga, were attached to the joint Australian-American Task Force 74 and supported a series of landings in New Britain, and deployed to support a series of landings in Operation Cartwheel.[32]

A 1944 Canadian postage stamp showing a Tribal-class destroyer

The Canadian Tribals were also heavily engaged; Athabaskan was hit by German glide bombs while conducting operations in the Bay of Biscay and was put out of action for almost three months,[33] while Haida and Huron escorted the various Arctic convoys.[34][35]

Eskimo, Ashanti, Athabaskan, Haida, Huron, Nubian, Tartar and later Iroquois saw extensive action in the English Channel before and after Operation Overlord, sinking or damaging a variety of enemy ships.[36][37][38][39]

In April, HMCS Athabaskan and Haida engaged two Elbing-class torpedo boats in the Channel. Athabaskan was sunk by a torpedo from T24, while Haida pursued and forced aground T27.[34] Afterward, Haida returned and managed to rescue 42 personnel from Athabaskan.[34] One of the under-construction Canadian Tribals was then renamed Athabaskan as a tribute to the lost ship.[33] During the Normandy invasion, Eskimo, Tatar, Ashanti, Haida and Huron sank, damaged, or drove ashore the Elbing-class torpedo boat T24, the Narvik-class destroyers Z24 and Z32, and the ex-Dutch destroyer Gerard Callenburgh in a series of battles.[37][40] Furthermore, Haida and Eskimo also sank the German U-boat U-971 with depth charges and close in gunfire, rescuing 53 survivors.[37] Afterward, Eskimo was involved in a collision with the destroyer HMS Javelin, which kept Eskimo out of action for five months.[37]

After the Normandy invasion, Nubian was sent to screen Royal Navy Home Fleet units engaged in the protection of the Russian Convoy JW 59, and carrier-based aerial attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz and elsewhere in Norway.[36] Iroquois and Haida met up with the Free French cruiser Jeanne d'Arc which was sailing from Algiers to Cherbourg carrying members of the French Provisional Government.[39] Iroquois then escorted the liner RMS Queen Mary which was carrying the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to the Second Quebec Conference.[39]

Eskimo, Nubian, and Tartar were given some minor tropicalisation refits and were sent east to join the British Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean as the Atlantic war wound down.[36][37][38] There, Eskimo, Nubian, and Tartar engaged in escort of the Royal Navy major surface units and shore bombardment. Afterward, Nubian, and Tartar were waiting as backup for Battle of the Malacca Strait, where the Japanese cruiser Haguro was sunk.[36][38] Eskimo and Nubian were then engaged in anti-shipping patrols, sinking a Japanese merchant ship and a submarine chaser near Sumatra.[36][37] This was the last Royal Navy surface action against shipping in World War II.[36] In July, Nubian and Tatar prepared for Operation Zipper, the planned British landings in Malaya.[36][38]

During this period, the Canadian Tribals continued to be engaged; Haida, Huron and Iroquois escorted Russian convoys until May 1945, when Germany surrendered.[34][35][39] The Canadian Tribals then engaged in the escort of British warships liberating Norway following the German surrender.[34][35][39] Iroquois then joined the British cruisers Dido, Devonshire, and destroyer Savage at Copenhagen and headed to Wilhelmshaven, as escort for the surrendered German cruisers Prinz Eugen and Nürnberg.[39] Following this, the Canadian Tribals then returned to Halifax harbour for tropicalisation refits, which were suspended when the Japanese surrendered, and were sent into reserve.[34][35][39]