HMS Petard (G56)
Petard photographed from the aircraft carrier HMS Formidable, December 1943 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Petard |
| Builder | Vickers-Armstrongs, High Walker |
| Laid down | 26 December 1939 |
| Launched | 27 March 1941 |
| Completed | 15 June 1942 |
| Identification | Pennant number G56/F56 |
| Fate | Broken up in June 1967 at Bo'ness |
| General characteristics as P–class | |
| Class & type | P-class destroyer |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 345 ft (105 m) o/a |
| Beam | 35 ft (11 m) |
| Draught | 9 ft (2.7 m) |
| Propulsion | 2 × Admiralty 3-drum water-tube boilers, Parsons geared steam turbines, 40,000 shp on 2 shafts |
| Speed | 36.75 knots (68.06 km/h) |
| Range | 3,850 nautical miles (7,130 km) at 20 knots (37 km/h) |
| Complement | 176 |
| Armament |
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| General characteristics as Type 16 class | |
| Class & type | Type 16 frigate |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 362 ft 9 in (110.57 m) o/a |
| Beam | 37 ft 9 in (11.51 m) |
| Draught | 14 ft 6 in (4.42 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 32 knots (37 mph; 59 km/h) full load |
| Complement | 175 |
| Sensors & processing systems |
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| Armament |
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HMS Petard was a P-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service during the Second World War. She was one of only three P-class ships, out of the original eight, to survive the war in a serviceable condition.
Originally to have been named HMS Persistent, Petard was launched in March 1941. She initially carried the pennant number G56, which was changed after the war to F56.
Petard had the distinction of sinking a submarine from each of the three Axis navies: the German U-559, the Italian Uarsciek and the Japanese I-27.
Members of the ship's crew recovered from U-559 a new, four-wheel Enigma cypher machine and the books to go with it, albeit at the cost of the lives of her First Lieutenant and an Able Seaman, both of whom were drowned when the U-boat they were searching sank with them inside.