E and F-class destroyer: Difference between revisions

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==Service==

[[File:HMS (H02) Exmouth in leaving the port of Bilbao in 1936.jpg|thumb|''Exmouth'' leaving [[Bilbao]], 22 October 1936]]

All of the E class were assigned to the [[5th Destroyer Flotilla]] (DF) of the Home Fleet upon [[Ship commissioning|commissioning]] during 1934. Following the [[Second Italo-Ethiopian War|Italian invasion of Abyssinia]], the entire flotilla was sent to the Red Sea in August 1935 to monitor Italian warship movements until April 1936. Refitted upon their return, many were deployed to Spanish waters during the [[Spanish Civil War]] in 1936–39 to intercept shipping carrying contraband goods to Spain and to protect British-flagged ships. While the F-class ships were assigned to the [[6th Destroyer Flotilla]] of the Home Fleet, they followed much the same pattern as their E-class sisters. In April 1939 the 5th and 6th DFs were renumbered the [[7th Destroyer Flotilla|7th]] and [[8th Destroyer Flotilla]]s, respectively. In mid-1939, newly- commissioned [[J-, K- and N-class destroyer|J-class destroyers]] began to replace the E-class ships and they were reduced to [[Reserve fleet|reserve]] for lack of manpower. Increasing tensions with Nazi Germany in August, caused the British to mobilize the Navy's [[History of the Royal Naval Reserve|reserves]], which allowed the ships to be manned again and assigned to the [[12th Destroyer Flotilla]] of the Home Fleet.<ref name=e4>English, pp. 64–74, 76–86</ref>

When the war began on 3 September, the E-class ships, except for the two minelayers, ''Esk'' and ''Express'', were assigned to the [[Western Approaches Command]] (WAC) for convoy escort and patrolling duties, while the Fs remained with the Home Fleet, performing the same sorts of tasks.<ref name=e4/> On 14 September, ''Faulknor'', ''Firedrake'', and ''Foxhound'', escorting the [[aircraft carrier]] {{HMS|Ark Royal|91|2}}, sank {{GS|U-39|1938|2}}, the first German [[submarine]] to be lost during the war, after she had unsuccessfully attacked the carrier. Six days later, ''Fearless'', ''Faulknor'', ''Forester'', and ''Fortune'' sank {{GS|U-27|1936|2}}.<ref>Rohwer, pp. 3–4</ref> Most of the E class remained with the WAC until April 1940, but several were transferred to [[Rosyth Command]] at the end of 1939. ''Exmouth'' was one of these and was sunk by {{GS|U-22|1936|2}} on 21 January 1940 in the [[Moray Firth]]. On the other hand, ''Escapade'' forced {{GS|U-63|1939|2}} to the surface on 25 February, which was then scuttled by her crew, and ''Fortune'' sank {{GS|U-44|1939|2}} on 20 March. ''Esk'' and ''Express'' were assigned to the specialist [[20th Destroyer Flotilla]] shortly after the war began, together with the four {{sclass2-|I|destroyer|2}}-minelayers, and were busy laying mines in the [[North Sea]] and off the English coast through April–May 1940.<ref name=e4/>