HMS Acasta (H09)

HMS "Acasta" (H09), the third ship to bear that name, launched in 1929, was an A class destroyer. She served in World War II and was sunk on 8 June 1940 in action against the German warships "Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau", while escorting the aircraft carrier HMS "Glorious". "Glorious" and her other escort, HMS "Ardent", were also sunk.

"Acasta" proved to be a tough opponent for the larger German ships, laying smoke to hide "Glorious" and making repeated torpedo and gun attacks. She scored several gun hits and one torpedo hit on "Scharnhorst", causing moderate damage to the much larger German vessel. "Acasta" was finally sunk after roughly two hours of fighting; the battle flag of the "Gneisenau" was lowered to half mast and her crew brought to attention to honour the brave fight of the "Acasta" and her crew. The damage to the German vessels inflicted by "Ardent" and "Acasta" caused them to retire to Trondheim, allowing the safe passage of convoys carrying Allied troops from Norway.

Although many of her crew survived to abandon the ship, communication errors meant the British were initially unaware of the sinking. In the end there was only a single survivor from "Acasta"; estimates place the number of sailors from "Ardent", "Acasta" and "Glorious" lost to exposure (rather than direct enemy action) at up to 800. The single survivor from "Acasta" was rescued by the Norwegian steam merchant "Borgund" which also saved 38 men from one of "Glorious"' lifeboats. All 39 men saved by "Borgund" were set ashore at Tórshavn in the Faroe Islands on 14 June. [ [http://www.warsailors.com/singleships/borgund.html www.warsailors.com on D/S "Borgund"] ]

Footnotes

ee also

*List of shipwrecks in 1940

External links

* [http://www.scharnhorst-class.dk/scharnhorst/history/scharnjuno.html An excellent summary of the battle leading to Acasta's sinking]
* [http://www.scharnhorst-class.dk/scharnhorst/history/scharnjuno_acasta.html Technical specs and pictures of HMS Acasta]
* [http://www.glarac.com "Glarac Association website remembering those lost with HMS "Acasta"] - with complete CWGC casualty list.