HMS Maori

The HMS Maori, a tribal class destroyer was built in 1937 by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. (Govan, Scotland). HMS Maori joined WW II on 3rd September 1939 in the Mediterranean while visiting Alexandria. Immediately she joined her group to carry out escort duties until she arrived back in UK in October. Back home, next to her escort duties, the destroyer took part on various North Sea patrols. During one of this patrols the disabled submarine HMS Triad was towed into a Norwegian fijord in gale force winds. In March 1940 HMS Maori was refitted in Scotland and put back in to North Sea patrol where she was bombed and damaged by German aircraft in April 1940. The escorting ships Bison and HMS Afridi where sunk during the same attack while HMS Maori made it back to Scapa Flow to patch up her damages. In December 1940 the Maori was undergoing another major refit and send back on escort duty in January 1941 where she was together with HMS Cossack, HMS Sikh and HMS Zulu involved in the search for the German battleship Bismarck. By the end of 1941 the destroyer was dispatched to the Mediterranean. On 12th February 1942 at 0200 hours, while anchored at Malta, HMS Maori was attacked from the air and a bomb found its way into her engine and gear room. The Tribal blew up and sank, still moored at the emergency destroyer buoy at the entrance to Dockyard Creek. By the end of 1942, the Admiralty decided that her wreck should be lifted, moved out of Grand Harbor and set down off Sliema.