HMS Panther (G41)

Panther coming into Hvalfjord in Iceland, January 1942
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Panther
Ordered	20 October 1939
Builder	Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company
Laid down	15 July 1940
Launched	28 May 1941
Commissioned	12 December 1941
Identification	Pennant number: G41
Fate	Sunk by Aerial attack, 9 October 1943
General characteristics
Class and type	P-class destroyer
Displacement	1,640 long tons (1,666 t) standard 2,250 long tons (2,286 t) full
Length	345 ft (105 m) o/a
Beam	35 ft (11 m)
Draught	12 ft 3 in (3.73 m)
Installed power	40,000 shp (30,000 kW) 2 × Admiralty 3-drum boilers
Propulsion	2 shafts; 2 × steam turbines
Speed	36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph)
Range	3,850 nautical miles (7,130 km; 4,430 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement	176
Armament	5 × single QF 4 in Mk.V (102 mm) 1 × quadruple QF 2-pdr (40 mm) Mk.VIII 4 × single QF 20 mm Oerlikon 1 × quadruple 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes 4 × throwers and 2 × racks for 70 depth charges

HMS Panther was a P-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy during the Second World War. After commissioning on 12 December 1941, she made a short trip to Iceland with the battleship King George V, then escorted a British convoy to India. In early April 1942, Panther rescued survivors from two cruisers sunk in the Indian Ocean, after which she took part in Operation Ironclad, the Allied invasion of Vichy French-held Madagascar, and sank a French submarine with another destroyer. Panther then returned to the Mediterranean, and participated in the Allied landings in North Africa, but was severely damaged in an air attack and had to undergo repairs in Gibraltar. After taking on survivors from the torpedoed SS Strathallan, Panther escorted two Allied convoys in the Atlantic. She next supported the Allied attack on Sicily, then sailed to the Aegean Sea in the Dodecanese Campaign. On 9 October 1943, Panther was sunk by German Stuka dive-bombers with 33 dead.