HMS Janus (F53) explained

HMS Janus, named after the Roman god, was a Javelin or J-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was ordered from the Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson Limited at Wallsend-on-Tyne as part of the 1936 Build Programme and laid down on 29 September 1937, launched on 10 November 1938 and commissioned on 5 August 1939.^[1]

Service history

North Sea and Mediterranean duties

Off Namsos, Norway, on 30 April 1940 the sloop was mistaken for a cruiser and was badly damaged by German Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers and had to be sunk by Janus. Janus served in the North Sea until May 1940 and had participated in over 20 convoy duties in that time. From May 1940 Janus began Mediterranean duties with the 14th Destroyer Flotilla in Alexandria. She participated in the Battle of Calabria in July 1940 and the Battle of Cape Matapan in March 1941, and in the action off Sfax in April 1941.^[2]

Fate

On 23 January 1944 Janus was struck by one Fritz X guided bomb dropped by a German He 111 torpedo bomber and sank off the Anzio beachhead in western Italy (according to another version, she was sunk by Henschel Hs 293 glider bomb or a conventional torpedo – see Fritz X article). It took a mere twenty minutes for Janus to sink. Of her crew only 80 survived, being rescued by and smaller craft. It was recorded that during her last duty Janus had laid down nearly 500 salvos of 4.7-inch shells in the first two days of the landings in support of allied troops.^[3]

Januss badge is still on display at the Selborne dry dock wall.

References

• • Book: English, John. Afridi to Nizam: British Fleet Destroyers 1937–43. World Ship Society. Gravesend, Kent. 2001. 0-905617-64-9.
• Book: Friedman, Norman. British Destroyers and Frigates, the Second World War and After. Naval Institute Press. Annapolis, Maryland. 2006 . 1-86176-137-6. Norman Friedman.
• Book: Hodges, Peter . Friedman, Norman . Destroyer Weapons of World War 2 . 1979 . Conway Maritime Press . Greenwich . 978-0-85177-137-3 .
• Book: Langtree, Charles. The Kelly's: British J, K, and N Class Destroyers of World War II . 2002. Naval Institute Press. Annapolis, Maryland. 1-55750-422-9.
• Book: Lenton, H. T.. British & Empire Warships of the Second World War. Naval Institute Press. Annapolis, Maryland. 1998. 1-55750-048-7. Henry Trevor Lenton.
• Book: March, Edgar J.. British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892–1953; Drawn by Admiralty Permission From Official Records & Returns, Ships' Covers & Building Plans. 1966. Seeley Service. London . 164893555.
• Book: Rohwer, Jürgen. Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two. Naval Institute Press. Annapolis, Maryland. 2005. Third Revised. 1-59114-119-2. Jürgen Rohwer.
• Book: Whitley, M. J.. Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. Naval Institute Press. 1988. 0-87021-326-1. Annapolis, Maryland. Michael J. Whitley.
• Book: Winser, John de D . 1999 . B.E.F. Ships Before, At and After Dunkirk . Gravesend . . 0-905617-91-6.

41.4333°N 50°W

Notes and References

1. Web site: HMS Janus (F 53). uboat.net. 6 April 2013.
2. Web site: HMS Janus (F.53) – J-class Destroyer. www.naval-history.net. 6 April 2013.
3. Web site: HMS Janus (F53). www.hmscavalier.org. 6 April 2013.