the ship for service on the China Station. Duchess arrived in Hong Kong in January 1935 where she joined the 8th Destroyer Flotilla. The ship was attached to the Mediterranean Fleet in the Red Sea from September to November during the Abyssinian Crisis. She made a number of goodwill visits during her time on the station as well as conducting anti-piracy patrols. During a typhoon at Hong Kong on 2 September 1937, a merchant ship crushed Duchesss stern when it dragged its anchors. Her repairs were not completed until 14 October. The ship remained on the station until late August 1939, when the imminent start of the Second World War caused the Admiralty to order her to take up her war station with the Mediterranean Fleet at Malta. Duchess arrived there on 12 October and remained in the Mediterranean for the next two months. In December the ship, along with her sisters , and , was assigned to escort the battleship HMS Barham back to the UK, and they departed Gibraltar on 6 December. During the morning of 12 December, Barham collided with Duchess off the Mull of Kintyre in heavy fog. The destroyer capsized and her depth charges exploded, killing 136 of her crew including her commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander Robert C. M. White, who was trapped in his sea cabin when the sliding door jammed. Notes References External links HMS Duchess at Uboat.net HMS Duchess's wartime service on naval-history.net Ships built on the River Tyne C and D-class destroyers World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom 1932 ships Maritime incidents in December 1939 Ships sunk in collisions World War II shipwrecks in the Irish Sea Maritime incidents in Scotland History of Argyll and Bute 1939 disasters in the United Kingdom