HMS Kashmir (F12)
HMS Kashmir was a K-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy during the 1930s, named after the Indian province of Kashmir.Description
The K-class destroyers were repeats of the preceding J class, except that they were not fitted for minesweeping gear. They displaced at standard load and at deep load. The ships had an overall length of, a beam of and a draught of. They were powered by Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by two Admiralty three-drum boilers. The turbines developed a total of and gave a maximum speed of. The ships carried a maximum of of fuel oil that gave them a range of at. The ship's complement was 183 officers and men.
The ships were armed with six 4.7-inch Mark XII guns in twin mounts, two superfiring in front of the bridge and one aft of the superstructure. For anti-aircraft defence, they had one quadruple mount for 2-pounder "pom-pom" guns and two quadruple mounts for the 0.5 inch Vickers Mark III anti-aircraft machinegun. The K-class ships were fitted with two above-water quintuple mounts for torpedoes. The ship was fitted with two depth charge throwers and one rack for 20 depth charges.Construction and career
Kashmir was laid down by Thornycroft in Southampton in October 1937, launched on 4 April 1939 and commissioned on 26 October 1939.
In company with the destroyers and, Kashmir attacked the in the North Sea on 29 November 1939, forcing the U-boat to scuttle.
Kashmir was bombed and sunk on 23 May 1941 by German Stuka dive bombers belonging to StG 2 and led by Hubertus Hitschhold, south of Crete in position.
