HMS Lightning 1943
Marker: recorded wreck position (Second World War).
Key facts
| Name | HMS Lightning | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1943 | English Wikipedia lead text (year following a loss verb, parsed) |
| Era | Second World War | derived from year |
| Ship type | destroyer | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Cause of loss | War action | Keyword match in English Wikipedia lead sentence |
| Nationality / flag | United Kingdom | Wikidata P137 operator → P17 country |
| Operator | Royal Navy | Wikidata P137 operator |
| Conflict | World War II | Wikidata P607 conflict |
| Sea / ocean | Mediterranean Sea | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | Tunisia | Natural Earth (public domain); approx. 62 km from land |
| Position | 37.8833, 9.8333 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
HMS Lightning was an L-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 22 April 1940 and sunk on 12 March 1943 by German Motor Torpedo Boat S-55.
Ordered under the 1937 Programme and laid down as Job No J4502, Hawthorn Leslie & Co of Newcastle Upon Tyne were awarded the contract to build her with machinery supplied by Parsons. She would be the 10th Royal Navy ship to bear the name Lightning. Build was completed on 28 May 1941 but had been delayed by late delivery of the three twin 4.7-inch mountings required meeting the original design. The tender cost was £440,807 which excluded items such as weapons and communications equipment supplied by the Admiralty.
On 25 March 1942, Lightning was adopted by the Borough of Doncaster as part of a Warship Week National Savings plan. Doncaster and the surrounding boroughs raised over £800,000 in National Savings and effectively paid for the ship. At the same time T/S Lightning was formed in Doncaster for Sea Cadets, that continues to this day. HMS Lightning was the subject of an Oscar Parkes drawing created into a popular postcard by J Salmon Ltd Sevenoaks Kent.
Location
- Recorded position: 37.8833, 9.8333 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: Mediterranean Sea
- Nearest coast: Tunisia
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article HMS Lightning (G55) (revision 1375249785), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby wrecks
- Aviere 1942 · 25 km
- U-343 1944 · 43 km
- SS Ancona 1915 · 47 km
- HMS Cairo 69 km
- HMS Athenienne 1806 · 83 km
- HMS Quentin 1942 · 121 km
Other wrecks of the World War II
- USS Genesee 1942
- USS Lexington 1942
- USS Peary 1942
- USS Satterlee 1942
- USS Yorktown 1942
- HMS Dasher 1943
- HMS Harvester 1943
- HMS Hurricane 1943
- HMS Hurworth 1943
- HMS Sportsman 1943
All 599 wrecks of the World War II →
Browse more: Africa wrecks · wrecks off Tunisia · Mediterranean Sea · Second World War