Warships Explorer
HMS Kelly, a destroyer of the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
Destroyer

HMS Kelly

A K-class destroyer made famous as the flotilla leader of Lord Louis Mountbatten.

Navy
United Kingdom
Commissioned
1939
Fate
Sunk by dive bombers off Crete, May 1941

Service History

HMS Kelly served as the flagship of Captain Lord Louis Mountbatten and became one of the most famous British destroyers of the war, surviving repeated mine and torpedo damage in the North Sea.

Her luck ran out off Crete in May 1941, when she was sunk by German dive bombers. Her story inspired the wartime film "In Which We Serve."

Major Campaigns & Battles

  • North Sea operations
  • Battle of Crete

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