View source for HMS Quorn (L66)

{{short description|Destroyer of the Royal Navy}}
{{other ships|HMS Quorn}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2017}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[File:HMS Quorn 1940 IWM A 7063.jpg|300px|HMS Quorn 1940 IWM A 7063]]
|Ship caption= HMS ''Quorn'' underway in 1940 (IWM)
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
|Ship name=HMS ''Quorn''
|Ship ordered=
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[J. Samuel White]] and Co. at [[Cowes]], [[Isle of Wight]]
|Ship laid down=22 August 1939
|Ship launched=27 March 1940
|Ship christened=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=21 September 1940
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship badge = On a Field Red, a lion's gamb erased holding a hunting horn Gold.
|Ship identification=[[Pennant number]]: L66
| Ship honours = *North Sea 1941-45
*English Channel 1942-44
*Adriatic 1944
|Ship fate= Sunk 3 August 1944 off the [[Normandy]] coast
|Ship homeport=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass2|Hunt|destroyer|0}} [[destroyer]]
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|1000|LT|t|0}} standard
*{{convert|1340|LT|t|0}} full load
|Ship length= {{convert|85|m|ftin|abbr=on}} [[Length overall|o/a]]
|Ship beam= {{convert|8.8|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship height= 
|Ship draught= {{convert|3.27|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=*2 Admiralty 3-drum boilers
*2 shaft [[Parsons Marine Steam Turbines|Parsons]] [[steam turbine|geared turbines]], 19,000 shp
|Ship speed=*{{convert|27.5|kn|mph km/h|lk=in}}
*{{convert|26|kn|mph km/h|abbr=on}} full
|Ship range=*{{convert|3500|nmi|km|abbr=on|lk=in}} at {{convert|15|kn|km/h|abbr=on}}
*{{convert|1000|nmi|km|abbr=on}} at {{convert|26|kn|km/h|abbr=on}}
|Ship endurance=
|Ship boats=
|Ship complement=146
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=*4 × [[QF 4 inch Mk XVI naval gun|QF 4 in Mark XVI guns]] on twin mounts Mk. XIX
*4 × [[QF 2 pounder naval gun|QF 2 pdr Mk. VIII]] on quad mount MK.VII
*2 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20 mm Oerlikons]] on single mounts P Mk. III
*40 [[depth charge]]s, 2 throwers, 1 rack
|Ship armour=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''HMS ''Quorn''''' was a {{sclass2|Hunt|destroyer|0}} [[destroyer]] of the [[Royal Navy]], built in 1940 and sunk off the [[Normandy]] coast on 3 August 1944. The class were named after British [[fox hunting|fox]] and stag hunts, in this case, the [[Quorn Hunt]], which was originally based in Quorn [[Leicestershire]].<ref>[http://ww2today.com/28th-may-1942-a-guessing-game-u-boat-hunt-in-the-mediterranean The 'Hunt' class destroyer  at WW2Today.com]</ref>

''Quorn'' was built by [[J. Samuel White]] and Co. at [[Cowes]], [[Isle of Wight]].  A  Type 1 Hunt-class destroyer, she was launched on 27 March 1940 and completed on 21 September 1940 with the pennant number L66.<ref name=nh>{{cite web|url=http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-10DE-Quorn.htm |title=HMS Quorn (L 66) - Type I, Hunt-class Escort Destroyer |publisher=naval-history.net |date=2004 |last=Mason |first=Geoffrey B. |editor=Gordon Smith |access-date=4 May 2015}}</ref> She was adopted by the civil community of Rushden, Northamptonshire, as part of [[Warship Week]] in 1942.

==Service history==
===1941===
''Quorn'' joined the [[21st Destroyer Flotilla]] at [[Harwich Dockyard|Harwich]].  The flotilla was tasked with convoy protection, anti-shipping and [[patrol duties]]. ''Quorn'' would stay with the flotilla for the whole of her commission.  In April ''Quorn'' was superficially damaged by two [[delay-action bomb]]s, that exploded {{convert|20|m}} from her port quarter.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-10DE-Quorn.htm|title=HMS Quorn, escort destroyer|website=www.naval-history.net}}</ref>

In August whilst on passage from [[Harwich Dockyard|Harwich]] to [[Chatham, Kent|Chatham]], ''Quorn'' set off a [[naval mine|mine]] {{convert|40|m}} off her port bow. She was repaired at [[Chatham Dockyard]]. This took until September to complete.<ref name="auto"/>

===1942===
In April ''Quorn'' hit another mine that blew a {{convert|9|x|15|ft}} hole in the port side of the ship. Two of ship's company were killed and one injured. Her No 1 boiler room was flooded and major structural damage sustained. She was towed to Harwich and then to [[Sheerness]] where repairs took 4 months to complete.

On 13 October ''Quorn'' was one of the five destroyers that intercepted the German [[auxiliary cruiser]] {{ship|German auxiliary cruiser|Komet||2}} in the [[English Channel]]. ''Komet'' was sunk and two [[M class minesweeper (Germany)|M-class minesweepers]] were heavily damaged and set on fire.  An hour later a second patrolling force of the same operation engaged a group of escort vessels, sinking an [[R boat]], (minesweeper) and damaging a [[German torpedo boats of World War II|torpedo boat]].

===1943===
North Sea convoy protection duties with the 21st Destroyer Flotilla

===1944===
In June ''Quorn'' was an escort for convoys of personnel during [[Operation Neptune]], the naval support of [[Operation Overlord]], the [[Normandy Landings]]. On 3 August, she was hit and sunk by a [[human torpedo]] piloted by Oberfernschreibmeister [[Herbert Berrer]] of the [[Kriegsmarine]] during a heavy attack on the British assault area by a force of [[E-boat]]s, Linse explosive motorboats, human torpedoes and low flying aircraft.<ref>Brown, p. 116</ref> Those that survived the initial attack spent up to eight hours in the water before being rescued, and many of these died. One hundred and thirty of her crew were lost.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hmscavalier.org.uk/casualtySearch.php?surname=&forenames=&ship=Quorn|title=Casualty Search|website=hmscavalier.org.uk}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Publications==
* Colledge, J. J. & Warlow, Ben: Ships of the Royal Navy - The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present. Newbury, UK: Casemate, 2010. {{ISBN|978-1-935149-07-1}}
* English, John: The Hunts - A history of the design, development and careers of the 86 destroyers of this class built for the Royal and Allied Navies during World War II. Cumbria: World Ship Society, 1987. {{ISBN|0-905617-44-4}}
*{{cite book|editor-last1=Gardiner|editor-first1=Robert|editor-last2=Chesneau|editor-first2=Roger|title=Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946|year=1980|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=London|isbn=0-85177-146-7}}
* Whitley, M. J.: Destroyers of World War Two – an international encyclopedia: Arms and Armour, 1988. {{ISBN|0-85368-910-5}}

==External links==
* [https://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4628.html HMS Quorn at Uboat.net]

{{Hunt class destroyer|type1}}
{{August 1944 shipwrecks}}
{{coord missing|Atlantic Ocean}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quorn (L66)}}
[[Category:Hunt-class destroyers of the Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in August 1944]]
[[Category:Naval ships of Operation Neptune]]
[[Category:Ships built on the Isle of Wight]]
[[Category:1940 ships]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II]]
[[Category:World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the English Channel]]