HMS Jervis (F00)

HMS Jervis was a J-class destroyer of the Royal Navy named after Admiral John Jervis (1735–1823). Jervis was laid down by R. and W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, Limited, at Hebburn-on-Tyne on 26 August 1937. She was launched on 9 September 1938 and commissioned on 8 May 1939, four months before the opening of hostilities.

Designed as a flotilla leader to the J-class destroyers, who were intended to make up 7th Flotilla, she was sister ship of, and identical to, HMS Kelly (F01), leader to the K class and similar to HMAS Napier (G97) of the N class. However, despite an impressive war record (she earned 13 battle honours, a feat only exceeded by one other ship) she remains virtually unknown, overshadowed by her more famous sister.

1939 (Home Waters)
When war broke out in September 1939 Jervis was under the command of Captain Philip Mack, and was leader of 7th Destroyer Flotilla (DF) based in the Humber. The first six months of hostilities was taken up with sweeps across the North Sea, in "appalling weather conditions" which saw the Flotilla suffer a succession of storm and collision damage. During this time Jervis captured three blockade runners, one on the second day of the war, and helped search for the SS City of Flint (1919). In March 1940 Jervis was involved in a collision with SS Tor, a Swedish freighter, that put her in dock for the next three months for repairs.

1940 (Mediterranean)
During this time Mack, as Captain (D) led the Flotilla from HMS Janus (F53), and in May 1940 sailed with her for the Mediterranean to take command of 14th Destroyer Flotilla. Her pennant number changed to G00 around this time In July, after working-up trials Jervis joined him in Malta, where he resumed command. For the next two years Jervis saw action in a constant round of operations; sweeps along the coast, bombarding shore targets for the Army, protecting convoys to Malta, and screening major fleet movements.

1941
In 1941 Jervis was involved in a number of fleet actions: In March she was at Battle of Cape Matapan. In the course of the battle she was involved in the destruction of the Italian cruiser Zara which had been crippled by heavy guns in attempting to recover the Italian cruiser Pola stricken by an aerial torpedo. Then Jervis came alongside the Pola and boarded her, taking off the wounded before, with the destroyer Nubian, torpedoeing and sinking the Pola, In April she led the force that annihilated an Axis convoy at the action off Sfax; in May she was in the battle of Crete, where so many Royal Navy ships were lost, including her sister ship Kelly. During the summer Jervis ran supplies to the beleaguered port of Tobruk, and in December she led the destroyers at the first Battle of Sirte. On returning to Alexandria, she was damaged in the Italian human torpedo, commanded by Lieutenant Luigi Durand de la Penne, attack on the fleet there, which left her in dock for six weeks, the same attack that crippled the battleships HMS Queen Elizabeth (1913) and HMS Valiant (1914).

1942
Released from dock at the end of January, she resumed operations; in April she joined the Malta Strike Force, although without her captain; Mack left Jervis in March due to ill-health and was replaced as captain of Jervis, and Captain (D), by A.L Poland. He would command her, and lead 14th DF, for the next year. In March 1942, under Poland's leadership, she again led the destroyers at the second Battle of Sirte.

1943
Saw action during the landings in Sicily, Calabria, Salerno, and Anzio, as well as operations in the Adriatic, supporting both 8th Army and Yugoslav partisans. In the autumn of 1943 Jervis was in the Aegean supporting the ill-fated operation against the Dodecanese.

1944 (Home Waters)
Having returned to Britain after a re-fit, and no longer Flotilla leader, Jervis saw action at the Normandy landings under Lt. Commander Roger Hill, and in the closing stages of the war. She decommissioned in September 1944, paying off at Chatham prior to a further, major re-fit.

1945 and post-war
Re-commissioned in May 1945 Jervis saw further service in the Mediterranean, policing the aftermath of World War II. She paid off into the reserve in May 1946, serving for the next nine years as a cadet training ship.

Fate
Jervis was sold for scrap to W. H. Arnott, Young and Company Limited in 1954, and broken up at Troon, on the Firth of Clyde.

"Lucky Jervis"
Jervis had a reputation as a lucky ship (again in contrast to her sister, Kelly, who seemed to have more than her share of bad luck). Despite a long and active career, in 5½ years of war and 13 major actions, not one of her crew was lost to enemy action, possibly a unique record. An example of her luck might be seen in her action at Anzio in January 1944. Supporting the landing with gunfire, Jervis and her sister ship, Janus, were attacked by enemy aircraft using Henschel Hs 293 glider bombs. Both were hit; Janus’ forward magazine exploded, sinking her with the loss of nearly 160 of her crew; Jervis’ bow was blown off, leaving her to be towed stern-first to safety. Astonishingly, not one of her crew were harmed in this incident, and she was able to rescue over 80 of Janus’ crew.

Battle honours
Mediterranean 1940-44; Libya 1940-42; Malta convoys 1941-42;

Matapan 1941; Sfax 1941; Crete 1941; Sirte 1942;

Sicily 1943; Salerno 1943; Aegean 1943; Adriatic 1944; Anzio 1944; Normandy 1944

Only HMS Orion (85) and HMS Nubian (F36), who served in the Mediterranean with Jervis matched this record; it was exceeded by HMS Warspite (03), the Mediterranean Fleet flagship, which saw service in both World Wars.