Sinking
Force K was sent out on 18 December 1941, to intercept a convoy bound for Tripoli, right after the brief fleet engagement known as First Battle of Sirte.
On the night of 19 December–20 December, Neptune, leading the line, struck two mines, part of a newly laid Italian minefield. The other cruisers present, Aurora and Penelope, also struck mines.
While reversing out of the minefield, Neptune struck a third mine, which took off her propellers and left her dead in the water. Aurora was unable to render assistance as she was already down to 10 knots (19 km/h) and needed to turn back to Malta. Penelope was also unable to assist.
The destroyers Kandahar and Lively were sent into the minefield to attempt a tow. The former struck a mine and began drifting. Neptune then signalled for Lively to keep clear. (Kandahar was later evacuated and torpedoed by the destroyer Jaguar, to prevent her capture.)
Neptune hit a fourth mine and quickly capsized. Only 30 seamen, out of her complement of 767, initially survived the sinking, and only one was still alive when their lifeboat was picked up five days later by the Italian torpedo boat Achille Papa.
Read more about this topic: HMS Neptune (20)
Famous quotes containing the word sinking:
“And this gray spirit yearning in desire
To follow knowledge like a sinking star,
Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)
“Eternal Venice sinking by degrees
Into the very water that she lights;”
—Edgar Bowers (b. 1924)
“I dream of a Ledaean body, bent
Above a sinking fire,”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)