 = HMS Hostile ( <unk> ) = 
 
 HMS Hostile ( <unk> ) was an H @-@ class destroyer built for the Royal Navy in the 1930s . During the Spanish Civil War of 1936 – 1939 the ship spent considerable time in Spanish waters , enforcing the arms blockade imposed by Britain and France on both sides of the conflict . She was transferred to Freetown , Sierra Leone , in October 1939 to hunt for German commerce raiders in the South Atlantic with Force K. Hostile participated in the First Battle of Narvik in April 1940 and the Battle of <unk> in July 1940 . The ship was damaged by a mine off Cape Bon in the Strait of Sicily while on passage from Malta to Gibraltar on 23 August 1940 . She was then scuttled by HMS Hero . 
 
 = = Description = = 
 
 Hostile displaced 1 @,@ 350 long tons ( 1 @,@ 370 t ) at standard load and 1 @,@ 883 long tons ( 1 @,@ <unk> t ) at deep load . The ship had an overall length of 323 feet ( 98 @.@ 5 m ) , a beam of 33 feet ( 10 @.@ 1 m ) , and a draught of 12 feet 5 inches ( 3 @.@ 8 m ) . She was powered by Parsons geared steam turbines , driving two shafts , which developed a total of 34 @,@ 000 shaft horsepower ( 25 @,@ 000 kW ) and gave a maximum speed of 36 knots ( 67 km / h ; 41 mph ) . Steam for the turbines was provided by three Admiralty 3 @-@ drum water @-@ tube boilers . Hostile carried a maximum of 470 long tons ( 480 t ) of fuel oil that gave her a range of 5 @,@ <unk> nautical miles ( 10 @,@ 240 km ; 6 @,@ 360 mi ) at 15 knots ( 28 km / h ; 17 mph ) . The ship 's complement was 137 officers and men in peacetime . 
 The ship mounted four 45 @-@ calibre 4 @.@ 7 @-@ inch ( 120 mm ) Mark IX guns in single mounts . For anti @-@ aircraft defence Hostile had two quadruple Mark I mounts for the 0 @.@ 5 inch Vickers Mark III machine gun . She was fitted with two above @-@ water quadruple torpedo tube mounts for 21 @-@ inch ( 533 mm ) torpedoes . One depth charge rail and two throwers were fitted ; 20 depth charges were originally carried , but this increased to 35 shortly after the war began . 
 
 = = Service = = 
 
 Hostile was laid down by Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Company at Greenock , Scotland on 27 February 1935 , launched on 24 January 1936 , and completed on 10 September 1936 . <unk> government @-@ furnished equipment like the armament , the ship cost £ 253 @,@ <unk> . She was assigned to the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla of the Mediterranean Fleet upon commissioning . Hostile patrolled Spanish waters in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War enforcing the edicts of the Non @-@ Intervention Committee . The ship received an overhaul at Gibraltar between 17 November and 15 December 1937 . She resumed patrolling Spanish waters in 1938 and 1939 . After the end of the Spanish Civil War , Hostile was refitted in <unk> Dockyard between 31 May and 26 July 1939 . She returned to the Mediterranean and was in Malta when World War II began . 
 In October the ship was transferred to Freetown to hunt for German commerce raiders in the South Atlantic with Force K. The ship and her half @-@ sisters , Hardy , <unk> , and <unk> , rendezvoused with the battlecruiser <unk> , the aircraft carrier Ark Royal , and the light cruiser Neptune on 17 December . They <unk> in Rio de Janeiro , Brazil , before proceeding to the estuary of the River Plate in case the damaged German pocket battleship Admiral <unk> <unk> attempted to escape from <unk> , Uruguay , where she had taken refuge after losing the Battle of the River Plate . Hostile was overhauled at Chatham Dockyard between 26 January and 29 March 1940 and then rejoined the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla , now assigned to the Home Fleet . During the First Battle of Narvik on 10 April the ship engaged the German destroyer <unk> <unk> von <unk> and badly damaged her , hitting her at least five times . Hostile was only hit once , but the shell did little damage . She escorted her badly damaged sister ship , Hotspur , to the repair base set up at <unk> in the <unk> Islands . Hostile briefly escorted the battleship HMS Warspite before she returned to Rosyth for repairs between 27 April and 4 May . The ship briefly returned to Norwegian waters , where she again escorted Warspite , before being transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in mid @-@ May . 
 On 9 July Hostile participated in the Battle of <unk> as an escort for the heavy ships of Force C and unsuccessfully engaged Italian destroyers , suffering no damage . The ship , together with her sister , Hero , and the destroyers Nubian and <unk> , were ordered to Gibraltar on 22 August where they were to join Force H. Hostile struck a mine en route on the early morning of 23 August off Cap Bon that broke her back . The explosion killed five men and wounded three others . <unk> took off the survivors while Hero fired two torpedoes to <unk> her . 
 
 