Destroyer HMS Tenedos

Admiralty 'S' Type - 2 Funnels

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HMS Tenedos H.04 was a Simoon 'S' Class Destroyer, built by Hawthorn Leslie (Tyne) and completed in 1919.

Laid down 6th December 1917, Launched 21st October 1918 Commissioned 11th June 1919.

Part of Task Force Z November/December 1941.

4th February 1942. 

HMAS Hobart and HMS Tenedos take survivors from SS Norah Moller damaged beyond repair by Japanese bombing in Banka Strait.

5th April 1942: Sunk off Colombo by Japanese aircraft:
Operation C – The Raids in the Indian Ocean:
BatDiv 3 supports the Striking Force's attack on Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). At 0800, 315 of the "Kido Butai's" aircraft led by Cdr (later Captain) Fuchida Mitsuo (of Pearl Harbor) attack the British naval base. They wreck the base's facilities, destroy 27 aircraft and sink the destroyer HMS TENEDOS and the armed merchant cruiser HMS HECTOR. Five hundred sailors are killed. A floatplane from the cruiser TONE finds Admiral Sir James Somerville's British Eastern Fleet's cruisers HMS CORNWALL and HMS DORSETSHIRE at sea - without air cover. Between 1338-1400, 88 aircraft from the AKAGI, HIRYU and the SORYU sink both ships. After the attack, BatDiv 3 and the Striking Force withdraw to the SE and search unsuccessfully for the rest of Somerville's fleet

Tenedos was also part of the Western Striking Force, this consisted of three cruisers, HMAS Hobart (Australian), HMS Dragon and HMS Danae (British light cruisers) and destroyers HMS Scout and HMS Tenedos. 

Their main duty was to patrol the Sunda Strait and to the west of it. This strait was the main escape route for shipping to the West and Japanese submarines were operating in the area. USS Houston was also operating in this area too but was not part of the Western Striking Force.
Padang, Sumatra Island, is a small port is situated about two miles up a river. HMS Tenedos and HMS Scout evacuated around 1800 people (mainly civilian, but also some military personnel) to the Cruisers, with Tenedos making 2 trips, and Scout making 1 trip, each ship carrying around 600 evacuees per trip. The operation was carried out without incident or any Japanese air attacks.