Recognition Guide Warships of the Second World War
Royal Navy — Destroyer G72

HMS Scorpion (G72)

S-class destroyer

HMS Scorpion (G72)
U.S. Navy — Official U.S. Navy photo 80-G-253421 from the U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons Plate — G72 Normandy Invasion, 1944: the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Scorpion (G72), which carried Admiral Harold R. Stark, U.S. Navy, across the channel on his inspection tour on the beachhead, 14 June 1944. The photo was taken in an English port, just before Admiral Stark boarded the ship.

Service

  1. Royal Navy as HMS Scorpion11 May 1943 — 16 August 1945828 days of the war
  2. Royal Netherlands Navy as HNLMS KortenaarOctober 1945 — 1963
S-class destroyer Particulars
Name
HMS Scorpion
Pennant / hull number
G72
Builder
Cammell Laird, Birkenhead
Ordered
9 January 1941
Laid down
19 June 1941
Launched
26 August 1942
Commissioned
11 May 1943
Decommissioned
16 August 1945
Fate
Scrapped 1963 (1963)
Status
Scrapped

Specifications

Displacement, standard
1,730 long tons (1,758 t)
Length
110.64 m (363 ft)
Beam
10.67 m (35 ft)
Draught
4.27 m (14 ft)
Speed
36.8 knots (68.1 km/h, 42.3 mph)
Complement
225
Main gun
40 mm (1.6 in)

HMS Scorpion was a S-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She carried the pennant number G72. Her keel was laid at Cammell Laird, Birkenhead on 19 June 1941. Launched on 26 August 1942, she entered service on 11 May 1943.

111 ships of the class were built.

She displaced 1,730 long tons. She measured 110.6 m (363 ft) long with a beam of 10.7 m (35 ft). Her designed speed was 36.8 knots, and she carried a complement of 225.

Her main battery was two 40 mm (1.6 in) guns.

She served with the Royal Navy as HMS Scorpion until 16 August 1945. She then passed to the Royal Netherlands Navy, serving as HNLMS Kortenaar from October 1945. She was in commission for 828 days of the Second World War. She was decommissioned on 16 August 1945.

She was broken up for scrap in 1963.

Written from the harvested record. Every figure above is sourced; the wording is this site's own.

Armament and machinery

Armament and machinery
Propulsion
  • Two sets of Parsons geared turbines
  • 40000 hp
Armament
  • 4 × 4.7-inch (120-mm) QF Mk IX guns (4×1)
  • 2 × 40mm Bofors (1x2)
  • 8 × 20 mm guns anti-aircraft guns
  • 8 × 21 inch torpedo tubes (2×4)

Sister ships

86 more in the class

Sources

  • Facts harvested from HMS Scorpion (G72) on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
  • Photograph: U.S. Navy — Official U.S. Navy photo 80-G-253421 from the U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons