WAK 03-2005 HMS Saumarez

HMS Saumarez (G12) was a British destroyer of the Second World War. The ship was built at the Hawthorn Leslie shipyard in Newcastle upon Tyne in Great Britain. The ship was launched in 1942, and she was commissioned for service in the Royal Navy in July 1943. The total length was 111 meters and the width was 11 meters. The maximum speed was 37 knots. The on-board armament included: 4 120 mm guns, 2 40 mm Bofors cannons, and 8 533 mm torpedo tubes.

HMS Saumarez belonged to the "S" class destroyer with a total of 8 ships. Ships of this type were generally built on the basis of the destroyers of the "Q" and "R" classes, but they had more powerful anti-aircraft armament and several new types of weapons, such as 120 mm guns with a barrel elevation angle of 55 degrees or cannons cal. 40 mm cooperating with the radar. Undoubtedly, the "S" class units were successful ships. HMS Saumarez, shortly after entering service, was assigned to cover the Arctic convoys, which he served in the years 1943-1944. In December 1943, he took part in the Battle of the North Cape, as a result of which the battleship Scharnhorst was sunk. In June 1944, he supported naval operations in the Normandy region, and later (1945) he was transferred to the Far East, where in 1945 he served in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. HMS Saumarez (G12) in October 1946 suffered severe damage as a result of a mine hover. They turned out to be so serious that the unit was not renovated and sold for scrap in 1950.