HMS Matabele (F26)

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (February 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Matabele
History
United Kingdom
Name	Matabele
Namesake	Southern Ndebele people
Ordered	19 June 1936
Builder	Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering, Greenock
Cost	£342,005
Laid down	1 October 1936
Launched	6 October 1937
Completed	25 January 1939
Identification	Pennant numbers: L26, later F26
Motto	Hamba Gahle: " Go in Peace."
Fate	Sunk by U-454, 17 January 1942
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type	Tribal-class destroyer
Displacement	1,891 long tons (1,921 t) (standard) 2,519 long tons (2,559 t) (deep load)
Length	377 ft (114.9 m) (o/a)
Beam	36 ft 6 in (11.13 m)
Draught	11 ft 3 in (3.43 m)
Installed power	3 × Admiralty 3-drum boilers 44,000 shp (33,000 kW)
Propulsion	2 × shafts; 2 × geared steam turbines
Speed	36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph)
Range	5,700 nmi (10,600 km; 6,600 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	190
Sensors and processing systems	ASDIC
Armament	4 × twin 4.7 in (120 mm) guns 1 × quadruple 2-pdr (40 mm (1.6 in)) AA guns 2 × quadruple 0.5 in (12.7 mm) anti-aircraft machineguns 1 × quadruple 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes 20 × depth charges, 1 × rack, 2 × throwers

HMS Matabele was a Tribal-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that saw service in World War II, being sunk by a U-boat on 17 January 1942. She has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name Matabele, which in common with the other ships of the Tribal class, was named after an ethnic group of the British Empire. In this case, this was the Anglicisation of the Ndebele people of Zimbabwe.