HMS Kingston (F64) - Force C and The Battles of Sirte

Force C and The Battles of Sirte

In April 1941 Kingston was deployed to Alexandria to join the Eastern Mediterranean Fleet, there she was involved in the evacuation of Allied troops from mainland Greece to Crete. On 20 May she deployed as part of Force C to the Battle of Crete.

On the night of 21 May Force C intercepted a convoy of 20 troop carrying caiques escorted by the Italian torpedo boat Lupo heading for Crete. Ten of the caiques were sunk and the landing prevented, but Lupo successfully covered the withdrawal of the remainder of the convoy.

On 22 May Force C was sent to the Aegean sea through the Kasos strait to intercept a further invasion convoy of 30 caiques, escorted by the Italian torpedo boat Sagittario. One detached caique was sunk and, although there was no attack on the main convoy, the Germans were forced to abort the attempt to reach Crete. Kingston suffered minor damage from return fire by Sagittario, which also launched her torpedoes while protecting the retreat of the caiques. Force C suffered major damage from air attacks which continued when they joined up with Force A1 at the Kithera channel. Kingston and HMS Kandahar were sent to pick up survivors when the destroyer HMS Greyhound was sunk. Later the same day the cruisers HMS Gloucester and Fiji were sunk by air attacks, on 23 May Kingston and Kandahar returned and rescued 523 survivors.

She returned to Alexandria on 24 May, and was taken in hand for repairs.

In 1941 her after-set of torpedo-tubes were replaced by a 4-inch AA gun.

Kingston was engaged in defensive convoy duties to Tobruk and often as part of the escort for Breconshire on runs to Malta. She was also in action against Axis convoys and against the Vichy French in Syria.

On 17 December 1941 she took part in a brief engagement with the Italian Fleet, known as the First Battle of Sirte.

On 22 March 1942 Kingston took part in the Second Battle of Sirte, where, as the destroyers turned to fire their torpedoes on the Italian battle fleet, she was hit by a 15-inch shell fired by the Italian battleship Littorio which passed right through the ship and burst outside her; despite this, she fired three torpedoes. Fifteen men of her crew were killed in this incident, which left the destroyer temporarily dead in the water, her whaler torn apart, her anti-aircraft guns, searchlight tower and torpedo launchers obliterated by the explosion. According to some authors, like James Sadkovich and Vincent O'Hara, she was instead struck by an 8-inch round from the heavy cruiser Gorizia. With an engine in flames and a flooded boiler, she managed to recover her speed, reaching Malta the next day.