HMS Neptune saw service with the Royal Navy in the South Atlantic during 1939 and in the Mediterranean and East Indies in 1940. Early in 1941, New Zealand agreed to partly man Neptune and 150 New Zealanders joined her in May of that year. The intention was for Neptune to sail for the New Zealand station and stand in for HMS Leander, which was to stay on overseas service. Neptune was then deployed into the eastern Mediterranean for operations between Malta and Egypt and off the North African coast in July 1941.
HMS Neptune, a Leander Class Cruiser under the Command of Captain Rory O’Conor, sailed from Malta at high speed on the evening of 18 December 1941. In the company of two cruisers, Penelope and Aurora and four destroyers, Kandahar, Lively, Havelock and Lance. She had the mission to seek out the Italian battleship force which had been sighted by aerial reconnaissance about half-way between Malta and Benghazi.
Early in the morning of 19 December 1941 the force was about 20 miles from Tripoli when Neptune, which was leading, struck a mine. Going full astern she hit another mine, wrecking her propellers and steering gear, bringing the ship to a standstill. A minute or so later she exploded a third mine and took a heavy list to port. At about 0400, the Neptune set off a fourth mine, then quickly rolled over and sank. The order was given to abandon ship. A heavy sea was running as the men went overboard. Death came quickly to many of her company and many perished as they tried to swim to HMS Kandahar.
When daylight came, 16 of the ship’s company who survived the sinking were left afloat on a raft. During the next six days, all but one of the survivors succumbed to thirst and exhaustion. The sole survivor, Leading Seaman Norman Walton of the Royal Navy, was rescued by an Italian ship and was interned as a prisoner of war.
A total of 764 men including the 150 New Zealanders died as a result of the Neptune sinking. In the war record of the Royal New Zealand Navy, the names of two officers and 148 ratings from this ship furnished, by far, the longest list of casualties.
Torpedo Bay - NZ Navy Museum. www.navymuseum.co.nz
