https://wiki.sarg.dev/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=HMS_Janus_%28F53%29HMS Janus (F53) - Revision history2026-06-12T17:00:50ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.44.2https://wiki.sarg.dev/index.php?title=HMS_Janus_(F53)&diff=292814&oldid=previmported>Machine Man77: /* References */ Adding categories2025-10-08T18:07:48Z<p><span class="autocomment">References: </span> Adding categories</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{short description|J-class destroyer}}<br />
{{Other ships|HMS Janus}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2015}}<br />
{{Use British English|date=July 2015}}<br />
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}<br />
{{Infobox ship image<br />
| Ship image = HMS Janus (F53) IWM FL 003695.jpg<br />
| Ship caption = ''Janus'' on sea trials in 1939<br />
}}<br />
{{Infobox ship career<br />
| Hide header = <br />
| Ship country = United Kingdom<br />
| Ship flag ={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}<br />
| Ship name = HMS ''Janus''<br />
| Ship namesake = [[Janus (mythology)|Roman god ''Janus'']]<br />
|Ship builder=[[Swan Hunter]], [[Tyne and Wear]], [[United Kingdom]]<br />
|Ship yard number=<br />
| Ship ordered = 25 March 1937<br />
| Ship laid down = 29 September 1937<br />
| Ship launched = 10 November 1938<br />
| Ship commissioned = 5 August 1939<br />
| Ship in service = <br />
| Ship struck = <br />
| Ship honours = <br />
| Ship identification=[[Pennant number]]: F53<br />
| Ship fate = Sunk by a [[Fritz X]] bomb, 23 January 1944<br />
| Ship notes = <br />
}}<br />
{{Infobox ship characteristics<br />
| Hide header = <br />
|Header caption=(as built)<br />
|Ship class=[[J-, K- and N-class destroyer|J-class destroyer]]<br />
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|1690|LT|t}} ([[Standard displacement|standard]])<br />
*{{convert|2330|LT|t}} ([[deep load]])<br />
|Ship length={{convert|356|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} [[Length overall|o/a]]<br />
|Ship beam={{convert|35|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}}<br />
|Ship draught={{convert|12|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} (deep)<br />
|Ship power=*{{convert|44000|shp|kW|lk=in|abbr=on}}<br />
*2 × [[Admiralty 3-drum boiler]]s<br />
|Ship propulsion=2 × shafts; 2 × geared [[steam turbine]]s<br />
|Ship speed={{convert|36|kn|lk=in}}<br />
|Ship range={{convert|5500|nmi|lk=in|abbr=on}} at {{convert|15|kn}}<br />
|Ship complement=183 (218 for [[flotilla leader]]s)<br />
|Ship sensors=[[ASDIC]]<br />
|Ship armament=<br />
*3 × twin [[4.7 inch QF Mark IX|QF 4.7-inch (120&nbsp;mm) Mk XII guns]]<br />
*1 × quadruple [[QF 2 pounder naval gun|QF 2-pounder (40 mm) anti-aircraft guns]]<br />
*2 × quadruple [[Vickers .50 machine gun|QF 0.5-inch (12.7&nbsp;mm) Mk III]] [[anti-aircraft machinegun]]s<br />
*2 × quintuple [[British 21-inch torpedo|21-inch (533&nbsp;mm)]] [[torpedo tubes]]<br />
*20 × [[depth charge]]s, 1 × rack, 2 × throwers<br />
}}<br />
|}<br />
<br />
'''HMS ''Janus''''', named after the [[Janus (mythology)|Roman god]], was a ''Javelin'' or [[J, K and N-class destroyer|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.<ref name=uboat>{{cite web|title=HMS Janus (F 53)|url=http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4450.html|publisher=uboat.net|access-date=6 April 2013}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Service history==<br />
<br />
===North Sea and Mediterranean duties===<br />
Off [[Namsos (town)|Namsos]], Norway, on 30 April 1940 the [[sloop-of-war|sloop]] {{HMS|Bittern|L07|2}} was mistaken for a cruiser and was badly damaged by German [[Junkers Ju 87]] dive bombers and had to be sunk by ''Janus''.<ref name=naval/> ''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.<ref name=uboat /> 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.<ref name=naval>{{cite web|title=HMS Janus (F.53) – J-class Destroyer|url=http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-10DD-37J-Janus.htm|publisher=www.naval-history.net|access-date=6 April 2013}}</ref><br />
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===Fate===<br />
On 23 January 1944 ''Janus'' was struck by one [[Fritz X]] guided bomb dropped by a German [[Heinkel He 111|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 {{HMS|Laforey|G99|6}} 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.<ref name=hms>{{cite web|title=HMS Janus (F53)|url=http://www.hmscavalier.org.uk/F53/|publisher=www.hmscavalier.org|access-date=6 April 2013}}</ref><br />
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''Janus''{{'}}s badge is still on display at the [[Selborne Graving Dock|Selborne dry dock]] wall.<ref name=hms /><br />
<br />
==Notes==<br />
{{reflist|30em}}<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
* {{Cite Colledge2006}}<br />
* {{cite book|last=English|first=John|title=Afridi to Nizam: British Fleet Destroyers 1937–43|publisher=World Ship Society|location=Gravesend, Kent|year=2001|isbn=0-905617-64-9}}<br />
* {{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|title=British Destroyers and Frigates, the Second World War and After|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=2006 |isbn=1-86176-137-6|author-link=Norman Friedman}}<br />
* {{cite book |last=Hodges |first=Peter |author2=Friedman, Norman |title=Destroyer Weapons of World War 2 |year=1979 |publisher=Conway Maritime Press |location=Greenwich |isbn=978-0-85177-137-3 }}<br />
* {{cite book|last=Langtree|first=Charles|title=The Kelly's: British J, K, and N Class Destroyers of World War II |year=2002|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|isbn=1-55750-422-9}}<br />
* {{cite book|last=Lenton|first=H. T.|title=British & Empire Warships of the Second World War|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=1998|isbn=1-55750-048-7|author-link=Henry Trevor Lenton}}<br />
* {{cite book|last=March|first=Edgar J.|title=British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892–1953; Drawn by Admiralty Permission From Official Records & Returns, Ships' Covers & Building Plans|year=1966|publisher=Seeley Service|location=London |oclc=164893555}}<br />
* {{cite book|last=Rohwer|first=Jürgen|title=Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=2005|edition=Third Revised|isbn=1-59114-119-2|author-link=Jürgen Rohwer}}<br />
* {{cite book|last=Whitley|first=M. J.|title=Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia|publisher=Naval Institute Press|year=1988|isbn=0-87021-326-1|location=Annapolis, Maryland|author-link=Michael J. Whitley}}<br />
* {{cite book |last=Winser |first=John de D |date=1999 |title=B.E.F. Ships Before, At and After Dunkirk |location=Gravesend |publisher=[[World Ship Society]] |isbn=0-905617-91-6}}<br />
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{{J, K and N class destroyer}}<br />
{{January 1944 shipwrecks}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Janus (F53)}}<br />
[[Category:J, K and N-class destroyers of the Royal Navy]]<br />
[[Category:Ships built by Swan Hunter]]<br />
[[Category:1938 ships]]<br />
[[Category:World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom]]<br />
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea]]<br />
[[Category:Destroyers sunk by aircraft]]<br />
[[Category:Maritime incidents in January 1944]]<br />
[[Category:Ships sunk by German aircraft]]<br />
[[Category:Naval magazine explosions]]<br />
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the Tyrrhenian Sea]]<br />
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