HMS Kimberley was a K-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She served in the Second World War and survived it, being one of only two of the K-class to do so. So far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name Kimberley, after the town of Kimberley, Northern Cape, site of the Siege of Kimberley in the Second Boer War. She was adopted by the civil community of Eastwood, Kimberley and Selston, Nottinghamshire in 1942 after a successful Warship Week campaign for National Savings.
HMS Kimberley (F50)
Winston Churchill with members of Kimberley's crew
The German delegation, aboard a captured British motor launch, come alongside Kimberley to formally surrender
HMS Kimberley (G50) laid up in Dartmouth after WWII
J-, K- and N-class destroyer
The J, K and N class consisted of 24 destroyers built for the Royal Navy beginning in 1938. They were a return to a smaller vessel, with a heavier torpedo armament, after the Tribal class that emphasised guns over torpedoes. The ships were built in three flotillas or groups, each consisting of eight ships with names beginning with "J", "K" and "N". The flag superior of the pennant numbers changed from "F" to "G" in 1940.
HMS Javelin in 1941
Church service aboard HMS Javelin, August 1940. Note the 4-inch QF Mk V anti-aircraft gun at upper left and the depth charges at bottom right
HMAS Nepal underway