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The Tribal Class were a class of destroyer built for the Royal Navy, Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Australian Navy in the 1930s. In total, 27 ships of the class were built, 16 for the Royal Navy, 8 for the Canadians and 3 in Australia. The British and Canadian ships saw heavy service during World War II, with 13 ships lost. Australian and Canadian ships of the class also saw combat during the Korean War with UN forces.
Three ships of the class, Cossack, Haida and Huron are featured in World of Warships.
Contents
Background
The Tribal-Class were designed as an answer to the large destroyers entering service with the German, Japanese and Italian Navies. From the mid 1920s, British destroyers had been based on designs which could be directly traced back to HMS Amazon and Ambuscade, which were largely intended to fight a Jutland style battle. These ships were built in several series, from A to I class; 77 destroyers were built to a standard design. These ships all displaced approximately 1300 tons and carried a strong torpedo load but a fairly weak main gun battery of four 120mm guns. In particular, the new Japanese Fubuki (1750 tons, 6x 127mm guns), German Type 1934 (2,223 tons, 5x 127mm guns) and Italian Navigatori (1,900 tons, 6x 120mm guns) destroyers were considerably larger and mounted more powerful gun batteries. Therefore, the Admiralty wanted to design a large destroyer which would be able to compete with these foreign designs.
Design & Construction
The Tribal class design had its origins in a design for a small fleet escort cruiser, “Design V”. After several redesigns and proposals it evolved into a large, powerful destroyer. Further development of the original “Design V” would eventually end in the Dido class light cruisers. The destroyer plan evolved into a project initially termed 'V' type leader. The functions of the 'V' Leader would be patrol work, shadowing, screening, close support of destroyer flotillas and in conjunction with cruisers, reconnaissance and escort duties.
The design resulted in a ship which displaced 1854 tons and could travel at 36 knots. They mounted eight 120mm guns in four twin turrets. Torpedo armament was reduced to one set of four 533mm torpedoes in order to make space for the heavy gun armament. The cost of one Tribal-class ship was put at £513,880 including Admiralty supplied equipment such as weapons (1936 prices). This compared to approximately £357,120 for an H-Class destroyer of 1935. They were some of the first ships to use a new design of streamlined bridge, which would become standard on British destroyers until the Daring-class. The structure was designed to deflect wind over the open bridge as well as lowering the silhouette of the ship, an important consideration for a destroyer.
The Royal Navy placed an order for 7 Tribal-class destroyers on 10 March 1936; a further order for 9 more ships was placed on 9 June 1936. This would give the Royal Navy 16 ships, enough for two destroyer flotillas under their organisation at the time. The Australian and Canadian navies both placed orders for eight ships each. Australia expected to face merchant raiders in any future war, with limited cruisers available to the RAN, the Tribal-class were a tempting proposition as they could fill some of the cruiser roles. Canada also wanted to obtain Tribal-class destroyers for their increased combat abilities compared to the standard British destroyer classes available. To pay for their ships being built in Britain, it was agreed that Canada would build and supply corvettes to the Royal Navy. Ten corvettes were built in exchange for each Tribal class ship. The planned complement of a Tribal-class destroyer was originally 190, with the flotilla leaders having 219 crew to cover the flotilla leader and his staff. The crews expanded during wartime, particularly as radar and other electronic equipment proliferated. As a result, the complement had expanded to approximately 300 at the end of the war. As a result, the ships became rather cramped, even though the Tribal-class were large for a destroyer. This was a particular issue in tropical climates, as many British ships were designed with the cold climate of the North Sea and Atlantic in mind and ventilation below decks was rather poor.
British Ships
The first ships of the class, Afridi and Cossack, were laid down on 9 June 1936. The last, Bedouin, was laid down on 13 January 1937. Afridi was commissioned into the Royal Navy on 3 May 1938; the remainder of the ships were commissioned by March 1939.
Canadian Ships
The first four Canadian ships were laid down at the Vickers Armstrong yard in Newcastle between September 1940 and September 1941. These ships were commissioned between December 1942 and September 1943. The Canadian ships took advantage of the lessons learned from the British ships and included several modifications to the design. The remaining four ships were built in the Canadian yards and laid down between May 1942 and May 1944. They were advanced ships for the Canadian shipbuilding industry to build at this time. In particular, shortages of high tensile steel and skilled workers held back construction. As a result of this, the Canadian-built ships entered service after World War II had ended. The Canadian ships were slightly wider than their British counterparts and featured increased hull strengthening after experience showed that the British-built ships suffered some structural issues.
Australian Ships
The Australian ships were laid down at Cockatoo dockyard, Sydney, which was the only facility in Australia with experience of building major warships. Construction of the ships was to be largely done from local sources, although some equipment such as weapons, sensors and auxiliary machinery would be supplied from the UK. Only three Australian ships were built, with two commissioned in 1942. The third ship was not commissioned until 1945. The remaining five ships were cancelled before construction began.
Propulsion
The Tribal-class were powered by 3 Admiralty 3-drum boilers which powered two geared steam turbines which each drove a propeller shaft. They provided 44,000 hp which was able to propel the ships at 36 knots. As designed, the ships had a maximum range of 5,700 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 15 knots. At maximum speed the range reduced to approximately 1,200 miles.
Armament
4.7 inch QK Mark XII
The Tribal-class mounted superior firepower when compared to the standard Royal Navy destroyer designs. This was achieved through increasing the number of guns rather than mounting larger weapons. It was felt that the standard 4 inch (120mm) guns represented a good rate of fire which would compensate for their smaller calibre when compared to foreign designs. The 120mm gun had enough punch to sink enemy destroyers, which would be the main task of the class in a fleet action. The large main battery would also be of great use in the event of a war with Italy, who were expected to operate large numbers of Motor Torpedo Boats which would need rapid firing guns to deal with them. The ships were expected to contribute to the anti-air defence of any fleet they were operating with. The main battery could engage enemy aircraft but the elevation was limited to 40°, which meant that targeting was limited to low level attackers and breaking up formations before they approached the fleet. Royal Navy doctrine envisaged that the ships would operate with larger vessels so that close-in protection would be provided by the larger ships and the destroyers would not be the focus of aerial attacks. Early war experience showed that this was not the case, and destroyers were operating independently and became the focus of heavy aerial attacks. This was particularly problematic in the confined waters of Norwegian fjords in 1940 where space to manoeuvre was limited and the cliffs limited any chance of long range AA fire.
Light Anti-Aircraft
For their time, the Tribal-class had a comparatively strong short range AA armament for a destroyer. The potential dangers of air attack were known, but not fully realized, and the weapons fitted to the Tribal class were thought to be sufficient. As built, they carried a Quad QF 2 pounder mount behind the torpedo tubes and two Quad 0.5” machine gun positions, one on each side between the funnels. The threat from dive-bombing in particular had been under-estimated. Experience from the First World War led planners to assume that the main threat to ships would be from high flying aircraft dropping bombs or low flying torpedo bombers, both of which would focus on larger ships. Destroyers were assumed to be almost immune to this type of attack. As accurate directors were not yet available, it was also assumed that destroyers would make poor platforms for small caliber AA as they lacked guidance and that the motion of a destroyer would make it a poor platform for such gunnery.
Vickers 2 pounder MkVII “Pompom”
The 40 mm “Pompom” gun was the standard British medium caliber gun between the wars. They were expected to be used mainly on low flying aircraft such as torpedo bombers which had broken through the outer ring of AA heavier defences. The quadruple mount had been developed specifically for destroyers. Larger ships carried the weapons in eight-gun mountings but these weighed too much to be mounted on destroyers without causing problems with excessive top weight. Although it was of a useful caliber, low muzzle velocity limited the effective range of the weapon. The design of new High Velocity rounds shortly before World War II saved the weapon from being totally obsolete, but it was still approaching the end of its useful life by 1939. Despite its position as the standard medium AA mount on British ships, studies had indicated that it would be of limited effectiveness. Trials on board the gunnery trials ship HMS Centurion had suggested that a 5% hit rate was the most that could be hoped for, and that the guns would only have ten seconds of firing time before a dive bomber was able to release a bomb. During discussions, it was felt that the Pompom’s value might actually lie in the enemy’s fear of being shot down by it spoiling their aim rather than the actual chances of shooting down an aircraft. Although it was not the primary role of the weapon, it was also thought to be useful against light surface forces such as motor torpedo boats or the expected radio controlled explosive boats, similar to the FL boats used by the Imperial German Navy in the First World War.
Vickers 0.5 Machine Gun
The main short range AA weapon of the Royal Navy in the 1930s was the 0.5” (12.7mm) machine gun, in a quad mount. Pre-war thinking anticipated these weapons would be used against low flying aircraft which were attempting to strafe the bridge and upper decks of ships. It was quickly realized during the war that the gun had insufficient stopping power when used against modern aircraft and, where possible, they were replaced by 20mm cannon instead. The main value of these guns was their high rate of fire could result in more hits than a Pompom mount, but the smaller size of the projectile meant that the damage caused to an attacking aircraft was much lower and was unlikely to stop an attack.
Torpedoes
Although the ships were intended to primarily use their guns to engage other destroyers, torpedoes were still an important part of destroyer tactics. The Tribal-class were built with a quad rack of torpedo launchers which fired the 533 mm Mark IX torpedo. Early versions of this weapon carried a 349kg TNT warhead and had a range of between 9,600m at 36 knots and 13,500m at 30 knots. Later versions of the weapon were much improved and could travel up to 13,700m at 35 knots or 10,000m at a faster speed of 40 knots. These later versions carried a larger warhead of more powerful explosive; 365kg of Torpex provided the equivalent explosive power of over half a ton of TNT. There were no reloads for the torpedo tubes carried.
Anti-Submarine
As built, the ships carried a depth charge rack and two depth charge throwers. The standard allotment of depth charges was 20 Mk.VII charges. This complement was increased during the war, first to 30 charges and finally 46 charges. This was felt to be a sufficient quantity given that the ships were not expected to be involved in convoy duties.
Wartime Modifications
QF 4-inch AA guns
Afridi and Ghurka were both lost to air attacks early in World War II. As a result of this, it was planned to replace “X” turret and the twin 120mm guns on the remaining ships with two QF 4 inch (100mm) Mk.XVI guns on a high angle Mk.XIX mounting. These were capable of elevating to 80° from the horizontal, which provided a much better defence against dive bombers and other high flying aircraft. In addition, the main mast and rear funnel were reduced in height to improve the field of fire for these guns. Work was done as ships passed through dockyards for refits or repairs and not all of the remaining ships had this modification.
The ships built for the Canadian and Australian navies were commissioned with the twin 100 mm AA guns in "X" position from new.
Light AA Guns
By 1941, experience had shown that the 12.7mm machine gun was not a powerful enough weapon for modern AA use and weapons with more destructive power were needed. The UK government began licence production of 20mm Oerlikon cannon, which began to be added to ships, initially alongside the bridge structure, and they would eventually replace the 12.7mm mounts entirely as sufficient numbers of weapons became available. By 1945, the ships generally mounted six Oerlikons in single mounts, two alongside the bridge, two on the rear structure and two in place of the 12.7mm mounts between the funnels. The Australian and Canadian ships were built with Oerlikons as standard and did not carry the 12.7mm gun mounts.
Service
After commissioning, the Tribal class destroyers were formed into their own flotillas; the 1st Tribal Flotilla in the Mediterranean Fleet and the 2nd Tribal Flotilla in the Home Fleet. These two flotillas were renamed in 1939, with 1st Tribal Flotilla becoming the 4th Destroyer Flotilla in April 1939 and 2nd Tribal Flotilla becoming the 6th Destroyer Flotilla in May 1939. Apart from naval exercises, the build up to war was relatively peaceful, although the ships of the 4th Flotilla took part in Neutrality Patrols during the Spanish Civil War. Early experience revealed a tendency for the ships to suffer from stress fractures which led to leaks in fuel and water tanks. This was because parts of the design had been scaled up from the smaller destroyer design and did not account for the increased stresses on a larger vessel.
1940
Cossack earned fame early on in the war, when on 6 February 1940, commanded by Captain Philip Vian, she pursued and then boarded the German tanker Altmark in neutral Norwegian waters in a daring attack to rescue around 300 British prisoners of war on board. Referred to as the Altmark Incident, this was the last true naval boarding action for the Royal Navy. Gurkha was an early loss, being sunk by German bombers off Stavanger. Afridi was lost soon afterwards to dive bombers while evacuating troops from Namsos.
The 2nd Naval Battle of Narvik took place on 13 April 1940, 3 days after the 1st Naval Battle of Narvik where the British 2nd Destroyer Flotilla had engaged a large force of German destroyers in the Ofotfjord area. Although the Germans lost 2 destroyers, they still had 8 more in the fjords around Narvik but these ships were low on fuel and ammunition after the previous battle. A large Royal Navy force included four Tribal class ships; Bedouin, Punjabi, Eskimo and Cossack, as well as the battleship Warspite and five smaller destroyers. As the German ships were low on fuel and ammunition, their ability to fight back was limited. The battle started with U-64 being sunk by a Swordfish aircraft from Warspite. As the British advanced along the fjord they were able to take advantage of the spotting provided by the Swordfish aircraft from Warspite, which were able to provide advance warning of the German destroyers' locations. In the ensuing battle, three German destroyers were sunk by the Royal Navy and the other five were scuttled. The Royal Navy did not lose any ships, although three were damaged, with Eskimo losing her bow section to a torpedo hit.
1941
In May 1941, Somali, Bedouin, and Eskimo, along with the N-class destroyer HMAS Nestor, and Royal Navy cruisers Edinburgh, Manchester, and Birmingham boarded the German weather ship München, retrieving vital Enigma cypher codebooks. In the same month, Zulu, Sikh, Cossack, Maori and Polish ORP Piorun (N-class destroyer) were in action against the German battleship Bismarck, with Mashona being sunk by German aircraft during these operations. In the Mediterranean Sea, Mohawk was lost as part of "Force K", torpedoed by the Italian destroyer Luca Tarigo in April, while Cossack, Sikh, Zulu, and Maori took part in Operation Substance, a relief convoy heading to Malta. Cossack was torpedoed by U-563 in October while escorting Convoy HG 74 in the Atlantic Ocean, west of Gibraltar, sinking later under tow. Maori and Sikh were amongst the victors at the Battle of Cape Bon in December. Bedouin took part in Operation Archery, a British combined operations raid which diverted German resources to Norway for the rest of the war.
1942
In 1942, Matabele was torpedoed and sunk by U-454 in the Barents Sea and Maori was hit in the engine room by a bomb whilst lying in Grand Harbour, Valletta, in February, catching fire and later blowing up where she lay. Punjabi was accidentally rammed and sunk by the battleship King George V in May, whilst performing close escort in thick weather. In June, Bedouin was disabled in action with Regia Marina's cruisers Raimondo Montecuccoli and Eugenio di Savoia during Operation Harpoon. Although later taken in tow by HMS Partridge the tow had to be cast when the Italian cruisers reappeared and, dead in the water, Bedouin was sunk by aircraft torpedo attack. Ashanti was assigned to Operation Pedestal of August 1942. In September, the final two Tribal Class lost in the Battle of the Mediterranean were sunk; Sikh and Zulu during a disastrous raid on Tobruk. Also that month, Somali was torpedoed by U-703 while covering the returning Russian Convoy QP 14. Although taken under tow by Ashanti, she sank four days later after heavy weather broke her back. This was the last Royal Navy Tribal lost during the war.
1943
In 1943, the four remaining British Tribal class (Ashanti, Eskimo, Tartar, and Nubian) participated in Operation Retribution to prevent the Afrika Korps from being evacuated to Italy. Tartar, Nubian and Eskimo then covered the Allied invasion of Sicily. After the invasion of Sicily, the four then covered the Allied invasion of Italy at Salerno. Ashanti and Athabaskan then covered Arctic convoy RA 55A, which was involved in the Battle of North Cape, where the German battleship Scharnhorst was sunk.
At the same time, the two active Australian Tribals Class ships, Arunta and Warramunga, were attached to the joint Australian-American Task Force 74 and supported a series of landings in New Britain, and deployed to support a series of landings in Operation Cartwheel.
The Canadian Tribal class were also heavily engaged; Athabaskan was hit by German glide bombs while conducting operations in the Bay of Biscay and was put out of action for almost three months, while Haida and Huron escorted the various Arctic convoys.
1944
Eskimo, Ashanti, Athabaskan, Haida, Huron, Nubian, Tartar and later Iroquois saw extensive action in the English Channel before and after Operation Overlord, sinking or damaging a variety of enemy ships.
In April, HMCS Athabaskan and Haida engaged two Elbing-class torpedo boats in the Channel. Athabaskan was sunk by a torpedo from T24, while Haida pursued and forced aground T27. Afterward, Haida returned and managed to rescue 42 personnel from Athabaskan. One of the under-construction Canadian Tribal class was then renamed Athabaskan as a tribute to the lost ship. During the Normandy invasion, Eskimo, Tatar, Ashanti, Haida and Huron sank, damaged, or drove ashore the Elbing-class torpedo boat T24, the Narvik-class destroyers Z24 and Z32, and the ex-Dutch destroyer Gerard Callenburgh in a series of battles. Furthermore, Haida and Eskimo also sank the German U-boat U-971 with depth charges and close in gunfire, rescuing 53 survivors. Afterward, Eskimo was involved in a collision with the destroyer HMS Javelin, which kept Eskimo out of action for five months.
After the Normandy invasion, Nubian was sent to screen Royal Navy Home Fleet units engaged in the protection of the Russian Convoy JW 59, and carrier-based aerial attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz and elsewhere in Norway. Iroquois and Haida met up with the Free French cruiser Jeanne d'Arc which was sailing from Algiers to Cherbourg carrying members of the French Provisional Government. Iroquois then escorted the liner RMS Queen Mary which was carrying the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to the Second Quebec Conference.
1945
Eskimo, Nubian, and Tartar were given some minor tropicalization refits and were sent east to join the British Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean as the Atlantic war wound down. There, Eskimo, Nubian, and Tartar engaged in escort of the Royal Navy major surface units and shore bombardment. Afterward, Nubian, and Tartar were waiting as backup for Battle of the Malacca Strait, where the Japanese cruiser Haguro was sunk. Eskimo and Nubian were then engaged in anti-shipping patrols, sinking a Japanese merchant ship and a submarine chaser near Sumatra. This was the last Royal Navy surface action against shipping in World War II. In July, Nubian and Tatar prepared for Operation Zipper, the planned British landings in Malaya.[36][38]
During this period, the Canadian Tribal Class continued to be engaged; Haida, Huron and Iroquois escorted Russian convoys until May 1945, when Germany surrendered. The Canadian Tribal Class ships then engaged in the escort of British warships liberating Norway following the German surrender. Iroquois then joined the British cruisers Dido, Devonshire, and destroyer Savage at Copenhagen and headed to Wilhelmshaven, as escort for the surrendered German cruisers Prinz Eugen and Nürnberg. Following this, the Canadian Tribal Class then returned to Halifax harbour for tropicalisation refits, which were suspended when the Japanese surrendered, and were sent into reserve.
Post Second World War
The surviving British Tribal-class ships, Ashanti, Eskimo, Nubian and Tartar had been heavily used during the war and were worn out. Because of this they were quickly placed in reserve and all four had been sold for scrap by 1949.
Three of the initial Canadian ships survived the war; Iroquois, Huron and Haida, with four more ships commissioned after the war ended. Several of the ships saw service with the UN forces during the Korean War. During the 1950s, they underwent conversion to fast anti-submarine ships which could act as the leaders of dedicated ASW groups. Their main armament was removed and replaced with 100 mm guns in "A" and "B" positions, "X" position was replaced with a dual 76.2 mm turret and two "squid" anti-submarine mortars were mounted on the quarter deck. The light anti-aircraft weapons were fully replaced with 40 mm Bofors guns. They continued in service until the 1960s, when they were decommissioned from service.
All three Australian Tribal-class ships survived the war. Like the Canadian ships, they saw further service in the Korean War. In the early 1950s, Arunta and Warramunga underwent conversion to ASW destroyers. The Australian conversion was less extensive than that of the Canadian ships. The ships left the conversion with four (2X2) 120 mm guns, two (1x2) 100 mm guns and a "squid" mortar. Bataan had her refit cancelled and she was scrapped in 1958. Arunta was sold for scrap in 1968 but sank under tow on the way to the breakers' yard. Warramunga was sold for scrap in 1963.
Notable Ships
HMS Nubian
Nubian was one of the original seven Tribal-class ships ordered in 1935. She saw extensive service throughout World War II, taking part in operations in every major theatre that the Royal navy fought in. She started the war with the Home Fleet and took part in the Norwegian Campaign before being sent to the Mediterranean where she saw heavy combat, being involved in the actions at Calabria, in July 1940, Matapan (March 1941), Sfax (April), and finally Crete (May). During the battle of Cape Matapan, she delivered the coup de grace to the Italian cruiser Pola, stricken by an aerial torpedo. She was damaged by a bomb during the Battle of Crete in 1941 and was repaired in Bombay, after which she returned to the Mediterranean. Nubian took part in the Sicily and Salerno landings, before returning to the UK for Arctic convoy duties.
In 1944 she was refitted for service in the Far East, with the Royal Navy’s East Indies Fleet, where she took part in operations along the Burmese Coast with the 21st Aircraft Carrier Squadron. She was present at the Singapore for the formal surrender of all Japanese forces in South-East Asia on 12 September 1945. She returned to the UK later that month, arriving at Portsmouth on 18 November where she was paid off and placed in reserve. She was placed on the Disposal List in 1948 before being used for Ship Target trials in Loch Striven. She was sold to BISCO on 11th June 1949 for demolition by TW Ward. She arrived in tow at the breakers yard in Briton Ferry on 25th June to be broken-up.
In total, Nubian gained 14 Battle Honours, a total which she shared with the cruiser Orion and destroyer Jervis and which was only beaten by Warspite. In January 1942 she was adopted by the civil community of the county of Pembrokeshire, Wales following a successful Warship Week National Savings campaign.
HMS Cossack
Arguably the best known of the Tribal-class ships due to her [boarding of the German supply ship Altmark] in February 1940 which liberated 300 Allied prisoners whose ships had been sunk by Graf Spee. The phrase “The Navy’s Here”, shouted by one of Cossack’s crew during the boarding action became an important propaganda slogan and was used as the title of a book printed during the war. This was also the last traditional boarding action carried out by the Royal Navy.
Cossack was part of the British destroyer force which fought in the 2nd Naval Battle of Narvik. In May 1941 she took part in the pursuit and destruction of the Bismarck, having being reassigned from convoy duty to take part in the search. Along with four other destroyers, she took part in long range torpedo attacks against Bismarck, although she scored no hits.
Cossack was sunk in October 1943 after being hit by a torpedo fired from U-563 with the loss of 159 of her crew. She did not initially sink and was taken under tow by a tug from Gibraltar, but heavy weather meant the attempt was abandoned and Cossack sank on 27 October 1941. A notable survivor however, was the ship’s cat, Oskar, who had allegedly been rescued from the wreckage of Bismarck. Oskar would later be transferred to Ark Royal, where he became known as “Unsinkable Sam”.
HMCS Haida
Haida was one of the Canadian ships built in British yards. On commissioning in 1943 she served with the Royal Navy’s Home Fleet. In 1944, she was transferred to Plymouth, to take part in operations along the French coast and in the Bay of Biscay. The Royal Navy formed Force 26, with the cruisers Bellona and Black Prince. Allied destroyers, with one of the cruisers, would be out on most nights hunting for German shipping. During 19 sailings, she sank more surface ship tonnage than any other Canadian warship and was dubbed the "Fightingest Ship in the Royal Canadian Navy”. Whilst part of Force 26, she took part in the sinking of T29, ZH1, U-971, Z32, UJ 1420, UJ 1421, M 263, M 486, the patrol boat V 414 and the coastal launch Otto and forced T27 aground where she was later destroyed.
She served two tours of duty in the Korean War and served as an ASW escort during the Cold War. Eventually, age caught up with her and she was decommissioned and paid off to reserve in 1963. She was scheduled to be sold for scrap in 1964, but instead was bought for the sum of $20,000. Haida is now a museum ship in Hamilton, Ontario and is the only surviving Tribal-class ship.
Ships of the class
| Name | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afridi | Vickers Armstrongs, Newcastle upon Tyne | 9 June 1936 | 8 June 1937 | 3 May 1938 | Lost 3 May 1940 to aircraft attack |
| Ashanti | William Denny & Brothers, Dumbarton | 23 November 1936 | 5 November 1937 | 21 December 1938 | Sold for scrap, 12 April 1949 |
| Bedouin | 13 January 1937 | 21 December 1937 | 15 March 1939 | Lost 15 June 1942 to aircraft attack after being disabled by Italian cruisers Raimondo Montecuccoli and Eugenio di Savoia | |
| Cossack | Vickers Armstrongs, Walker | 9 June 1936 | 8 June 1937 | 7 June 1938 | Lost 24 October 1941, torpedoed by U-563 |
| Eskimo | 5 August 1936 | 3 September 1937 | 30 December 1938 | Sold for scrap, 27 June 1949 | |
| Gurkha | Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Govan | 6 July 1936 | 7 July 1937 | 21 October 1938 | Lost 9 April 1940, to aircraft attack |
| Maori | 6 July 1936 | 2 September 1937 | 2 January 1939 | Lost 12 February 1942 to aircraft | |
| Mashona | Vickers Armstrongs | 5 August 1936 | 3 September 1937 | 28 March 1939 | Lost 28 May 1941 to aircraft attack |
| Matabele | Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Greenock | 1 October 1936 | 6 October 1937 | 25 January 1939 | Lost 17 January 1942, torpedoed by U-454 |
| Mohawk | John I. Thornycroft & Company, Woolston | 16 July 1936 | 15 October 1937 | 7 September 1938 | Lost 16 April 1941, torpedoed by Luca Tarigo |
| Nubian | 10 August 1936 | 21 December 1937 | 6 December 1938 | Sold for scrap, 11 June 1949 | |
| Punjabi | Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Greenock | 1 October 1936 | 18 December 1937 | 29 March 1939 | King George V |
| Sikh | Alexander Stephen & Sons, Linthouse | 24 September 1936 | 17 December 1937 | 12 October 1938 | Lost 14 September 1942 to coastal artillery |
| Somali | Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Wallsend | 26 August 1936 | 24 August 1937 | 12 December 1938 | Lost 20 September 1942, torpedoed by U-703, sank while under tow |
| Tartar | 26 August 1936 | 21 October 1937 | 10 March 1939 | Sold for scrap, 6 January 1948 | |
| Zulu | Alexander Stephen & Sons, Linthouse | 10 August 1936 | 23 September 1937 | 7 September 1938 | Lost 14 September 1942 to aircraft attack |
| Name | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iroquois | Vickers Armstrongs, Newcastle upon Tyne | 19 September 1940 | 23 September 1941 | 10 December 1942 | Sold for scrap, 1966 |
| Athabaskan (I) | 31 October 1940 | 18 November 1941 | 3 February 1943 | Lost 29 April 1944, torpedoed by T24 | |
| Huron | 15 July 1941 | 25 June 1942 | 28 July 1943 | Sold for scrap, 1965 | |
| Haida | 29 September 1941 | 25 August 1942 | 18 September 1943 | Preserved as museum ship, 1964 | |
| Micmac | Halifax Shipyards, City of Halifax | 20 May 1942 | 18 September 1943 | 14 September 1945 | Sold for scrap, 1964 |
| Nootka | 20 May 1942 | 26 April 1944 | 9 August 1946 | ||
| Cayuga | 7 October 1943 | 28 July 1945 | 20 October 1947 | ||
| Athabaskan (II) | 15 May 1944 | 4 May 1945 | 12 January 1947 | Sold for scrap, 1969 |
| Name | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arunta | Cockatoo Island Dockyard, Sydney | 15 November 1939 | 30 November 1940 | 30 April 1942 | Sold for scrap 1969, foundered en route to breakers |
| Warramunga | 10 February 1940 | 2 February 1942 | 23 November 1942 | Sold for scrap, 1963 | |
| Bataan | 18 February 1942 | 15 January 1944 | 25 May 1945 | Sold for scrap, 1958 |
