HMS Bittern (L07)

HMS Bittern was a Bittern class sloop of the Royal Navy. She was laid down on 27 August 1936 by J. Samuel White, of Cowes, Isle of Wight and launched on 14 July 1937.

She served in Home waters and off the coast of Norway during the Second World War. She took part in the ill-fated Namsos Campaign of 1940, where she was used to defend allied troop ships entering and leaving Namsos harbour from submarine attacks. The harbour came under regular air attack by the Luftwaffe, and on 30 April, Bittern was spotted and mistaken for an allied cruiser by a squadron of Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers. Bittern came under repeated attack from 0700 hours onwards. She was hit repeatedly and severely damaged, being set on fire. Nearby allied ships came alongside and took the survivors off. When this had been completed, Bittern was sunk with gunfire from HMS Carlisle.

In 2011 it was reported that the ship has started to leak oil and contained circa 200,000 liters of oil.