Name Sikh Cost £337,704 Completed 12 October 1938 Launched 17 December 1937 Draft 3.43 m | Namesake Sikh Laid down 24 September 1936 Construction started 24 September 1936 Length 115 m Beam 11 m | |
 | ||
Identification Pennant numbers L82/F82/G82 Builder Alexander Stephen and Sons | ||
HMS Sikh was a Tribal-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. The ship entered service in 1938 and served during the Second World War, participating in the sinking of Bismarck and the Battle of Cape Bon. In 1942, while participating in a commando raid, Sikh was sunk by a combination of antiaircraft guns, shore artillery and aerial bombs.
Construction and career
Sikh was built by Alexander Stephen and Sons in Glasgow and commissioned in 1938. The ship entered service as part of the 4th Destroyer Flotilla of the Royal Navy.
In 1941, while under the command of Commander Stokes, she took part in the sinking of the German battleship Bismarck. The night before Bismarck was sunk, she fired a salvo of four torpedoes and claimed a hit after hearing underwater explosions, but actually there were no hits.
Sikh transferred to the Mediterranean serving as part of Force H. On 13 December 1941, Sikh — together with Legion, Maori and the Dutch vessel HNLMS Isaac Sweers — sank the Italian cruisers Alberico da Barbiano and Alberto di Giussano in the Battle of Cape Bon.
On 4 August 1942, Sikh together with Zulu, Croome and Tetcott sank the German submarine U-372 off Haifa.
On 14 September, Sikh and Zulu landed and then covered Operation Agreement, a commando raid on Tobruk. Sikh was hit and sunk by German 88 mm guns and/or 152 mm Italian coastal artillery, and by a bomb dropped by a Macchi C.200 — 115 men were lost and many more were taken prisoner. Zulu was damaged and sunk by bombing the following day.