 HMS Grafton ( H89 ) was a G @-@ class destroyer built for the Royal Navy during the mid @-@ 1930s . During the Spanish Civil War of 1936 – 1939 the ship spent considerable time in Spanish waters , enforcing the non @-@ intervention measures agreed by Britain and France . After the beginning of World War II she was transferred from the Mediterranean Fleet to Great Britain for escort and contraband inspection duties . Grafton was refitting when the Norwegian Campaign began in April 1940 , but the ship escorted convoys to Norway once her refit was completed . She evacuated British troops from the Dunkirk bridgehead in May , but was sunk by a German submarine after she stopped to rescue survivors from another British destroyer . 
