HMS Grove (L77)

HMS Grove (L77) was a Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She had been completed in early 1942 at the Swan Hunter yard at Wallsend-on-Tyne.

History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Grove
Builder	Swan Hunter, Tyne and Wear
Laid down	28 August 1940
Launched	29 May 1941
Commissioned	5 February 1942
Honours & awards	ATLANTIC 1942 LIBYA 1942 ARCTIC 1942
Fate	Torpedoed and sunk by U-77 on 12 June 1942
Badge	On a Field per fess wavy Red and Blue within a spur rowel upwards White, an escallop Gold
General characteristics
Class & type	Type II Hunt-class destroyer
Displacement	1,050 long tons (1,070 t) standard 1,430 long tons (1,450 t) full load
Length	279 ft 10 in (85.29 m) o/a
Beam	31 ft 6 in (9.60 m)
Draught	8 ft 3 in (2.51 m)
Propulsion	Two Admiralty 3-drum boilers Two shaft Parsons geared turbines, 19,000 shp
Speed	27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph) 25.5 knots (47.2 km/h; 29.3 mph) full
Range	3,600 nmi (6,700 km) at 14 kn (26 km/h)
Complement	164
Armament	6 × QF 4 in Mark XVI on twin mounts Mk. XIX 4 × QF 2 pdr Mk. VIII on quad mount MK.VII 2 × 20 mm Oerlikons on single mounts P Mk. III 110 depth charges, two throwers, three racks

Service history

Initial success

Grove, along with other ships of the 2nd Escort Group, namely Aldenham, Volunteer and Leamington, had sunk the German submarine U-587. This followed a 'Huff Duff' (High frequency Direction finding) interception.

Loss

While escorting Convoy MW 11, Grove was hit by two torpedoes fired by U-77 on 12 June 1942. The ship sank with the loss of 110 men.^[1] The destroyer Tetcott rescued 79 survivors. She had been returning to Alexandria from Tobruk, having run aground at Tobruk, damaging the port propeller shaft and the screw itself; her speed had been reduced to 8.5 knots (15.7 km/h; 9.8 mph).^[2]