Plymouthhistory

MUTINY!
The story of HMS Jackal in Plymouth, March 1941
While the Luftwaffe continued their intensive air raid on Plymouth during 20-21 March
1941,Royal Navy destroyer HMS Jackal was ordered to take station in Plymouth Sound and
provide additional anti aircraft fire. Their was a problem however; many of the Jackal's crew were
Plymouth men, and they watched with a growing sense of horror as the enemy attackers rained
destruction down on their city, the city where their loved ones and families lived and worked.
On the morning of 22 March, Jackal was ordered to sail up the Hamoaze to re-arm the ship and
then alongside at Devonport dockyard. It was then that the Plymouth crew men asked for a
period of shore leave in order that they check on their families and homes. When the order for
“leaving harbour” stations came, the men refused, locking the watertight doors in the faces of the
ships officers, refusing to obey further orders. Since the Jackal was one of the ships of the 5 th
Flotilla under the command of Lord Mountbatten, he was duly informed and he reiterated the
order for the ship to return to sea. The stand-off continued for several hours, until at last the
commander relented, and the local men were allowed to leave the ship. Sadly some men did
indeed find that their homes had been destroyed and/or family members had been killed or
injured in the air raids.
A sailor and his girlfriend stroll through
the ruins of Plymouth
The story doesn't end there. Two days later, after the Plymouth men had
returned to duty, without any courts martial, the Jackal put in to
Dartmouth. Whilst there, the men who were perceived as the
ringleaders of the “mutiny” left the ship, and were, in the words of
several of the crew “never seen again”. It was assumed that they had
been transferred to other ships. Some have speculated that the men
were sent to Gibraltar, and may even have been executed there.
Unfortunately the files of the incident remain closed, despite
efforts for them to become part of the public record, and the fate
of the men in question remains a mystery.
HMS Jackal was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in April
1941 and took part in several operations. She was badly
damaged by Italian torpedoes at the end of that year, and put in
to Alexandria for repairs. In May 1942 Jackal along with HMS
Jervis, Lively, and Kipling tried to deliver vital supplies to Malta,
they were attacked by German bombers. Lively and Kipling were
sunk and Jackal was badly damaged. Efforts were made by
Jervis to save her, but she was abandoned and she was scuttled
by a torpedo from HMS Jervis on the 12 May.
HMS Jackal as built, pre-war