John Charles Allen

HMS Duchess
HMS Duchess was a D-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s. The ship was initially assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet before she was transferred to the China Station in early 1935. She was temporarily deployed in the Red Sea during late 1935 during the Abyssinia Crisis, before returning to her duty station where she remained until mid-1939. Duchess was transferred back to the Mediterranean Fleet at Malta just before the Second World War began. Duchess arrived there on 12 October and remained in the Mediterranean for the next two months.

In December the ship, along with her sisters HMS Delight, HMS Duncan and HMS Dainty, 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 124 of her crew including Telegraphist John Charles Allen from Sherwood, Nottingham. Duchess’s commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander Robert C. M. White perished in his sea cabin when the sliding door jammed. (Wikipedia)

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