HMS Panther (G41)

HMS Panther (G41) was a P class destroyer of the Royal Navy laid down on 5 March 1940 by the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company (Govan, Scotland) and launched on 28 May of the following year. She was commissioned to the fleet on 12 December 1941.

Following the sinking of the heavy cruisers Cornwall and Dorsetshire, off Ceylon on 5 April 1942, Panther took part in the rescue operations, and assisted in the recovery of approximately 1,120 men from both crews.

On 8 May 1942, in conjunction with HMS Active she sank the Vichy French submarine Monge as part of operations against Madagascar. HMS Panther formed part of a convoy that included the troopship SS Strathallan in December 1942. On 21 December the troopship was torpedoed by U-562. HMS Panther under the command of Lt.Cdr. Viscount Jocelyn, RN along with other escort vessels took on board the crew and troops, including the staff of U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, and delivered them to Oran.

Later in 1942 the flotilla including HMS Panther moved to the Mediterranean on convoy duties to Malta. After this, she was transferred with her sister ship HMS Pathfinder to the North Atlantic. Returning to the Mediterranean in July 1943 with the survivors of her class, she served as part of the Sicily invasion fleet and then at Salerno. HMS Panther was attacked in the Scarpento Channel in the Aegean Sea by Junkers Ju 87 Stuka aircraft of I. Group Stuka Wing 3 from Megara airbase at noon on 9 October 1943, during the Dodecanese Campaign. She sank within one minute at 12:05 hrs C-time. Her crew was saved by the Greek destroyer Miaoulis.