HMS Kandahar (F28) was a K-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy during the 1930s, named after the Afghan city of Kandahar.

Description

The K-class destroyers were repeats of the preceding J class, except that they were not fitted for minesweeping gear. They displaced 1690 LT at standard load and 2330 LT at deep load. The ships had an overall length of 339 ft, a beam of 35 ft and a draught of 9 ft. They were powered by Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by two Admiralty three-drum boilers. The turbines developed a total of 40000 shp and gave a maximum speed of 36 kn. The ships carried a maximum of 484 LT of fuel oil that gave them a range of 5500 nmi at 15 kn. The ship's complement was 183 officers and men. The ships were armed with six 4.7-inch (120 mm) Mark XII guns in twin mounts, two superfiring in front of the bridge and one aft of the superstructure. For anti-aircraft (AA) defence, they had one quadruple mount for 2-pounder "pom-pom" guns and two quadruple mounts for the 0.5 inch Vickers Mark III anti-aircraft machinegun. The K-class ships were fitted with two above-water quintuple mounts for 21 in torpedoes. The ship was fitted with two depth charge throwers and one rack for 20 depth charges.

Construction and career

Kandahar was launched on 21 March 1939. On 21 February 1941, in company with sister ship HMS Kimberley (F50) and the cruiser HMS Manchester (15), she captured the German blockade runner SS Wahehe (1922) off Iceland. On 19 December 1941, she was part of British Force K, tasked to intercept an Italian convoy bound for Tripoli when she was irreparably damaged by a newly laid Italian mine whilst attempting to rescue the stricken cruiser HMS Neptune (20). She was scuttled the next day by the destroyer HMS Jaguar (F34). 73 men went down with the ship.