12 Aug 1942 // Light cruiser HMS Cairo, taking part in the Operation Pedestal convoy to resupply Malta, was torpedoed and badly damaged by Italian submarine Axum off Bizerte, Tunisia. 24 of her crew were killed. She could not be towed to port for repair so it was decided to scuttle her. [1/2]

12 Aug 1942 // Destroyer HMS Foresight was torpedoed and crippled by an Italian SM.79 aircraft during Axis air attacks on the Operation Pedestal convoy carrying supplies to Malta. Four men were killed. She was scuttled on the following day. (Imperial War Museum FL 4063) #RoyalNavy #WW2 #NavalHistory

12 Aug 1941 // Corvette HMS Picotee was torpedoed and sunk by U.568 south of Iceland while escorting a convoy. Hit by one torpedo, she broke in two and sank rapidly, her own depth charges detonating as she went down. All 66 crew were lost. (Imperial War Museum A 4594) #RoyalNavy #WW2 #NavalHistory

11 Aug 1942 // Aircraft carrier HMS Eagle was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U.73 south of Cape Salinas, Majorca. She was taking part in Operation Pedestal, the convoying of supplies to Malta. 131 men died and 929 were rescued. (Imperial War Museum image A 7840) #RoyalNavy #WW2 #NavalHistory

11 Aug 1673 (O.S.) // The Battle of Texel: the Dutch fleet defeated a combined fleet of the English and their French allies off the Dutch coast. 15 Royal Navy vessels were lost during the battle, 11 of them being fireships which (like their Dutch counterparts) were mostly used without effect. [1/5]

10 Aug 1976 // Offshore patrol vessel HMS Reward sank in the Firth of Forth with no loss of life after being in collision with container ship MV Plainsman. She was subsequently raised and scrapped. (Image of the Reward as a rescue tug in 1945: Imperial War Museum A 28784) #RoyalNavy

10 Aug 1917 // Q-ship HMS Dunraven sank off Ushant while under tow. She had been damaged in action with German submarine UC.71 on 8 Aug (one man killed). Two VCs were awarded to Dunraven's ship's company following this engagement. (Imperial War Museum: Art.IWM ART 5130) #RoyalNavy #WW1 #NavalHistory

10 Aug 1512 // Carrack Regent (formerly Grace Dieu), flagship of Admiral Sir Thomas Knyvett, was alongside French ship Cordelière at the Battle of St Mathieu and was about to board when the Cordelière's magazine exploded. The resulting fire destroyed both ships and killed over 1700 men. [1/2]

9 Aug 1942 // Heavy cruiser HMAS Canberra received heavy damage from Japanese cruiser gunfire during the beginning of the Battle of Savo Island. Under pressure of time she could not be repaired, and was scuttled by USS Ellet. 84 of Canberra's crew died. [1/2] #RoyalAustralianNavy #WW2 #NavalHistory

9 Aug 1915 // Destroyer HMS Lynx was on patrol in the Moray Firth when, at 6:30am, she hit a mine. She broke in two and sank about 20 miles east of Berriedale. 70 of her 96 crew were lost. The mine had been laid by German minelayer Meteor. (Imperial War Museum Q 75124) #RoyalNavy #WW1 #NavalHistory

8 Aug 1944 // Corvette HMCS Regina was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U.667 off Trevose Head, Cornwall, while rescuing survivors of Liberty Ship Ezra Weston, also sunk by U.667. She sank very quickly with 30 men lost. (Image: Wikimedia Commons) #RoyalCanadianNavy #WW2 #NavalHistory

8 Aug 1922 // Cruiser HMS Raleigh ran aground in fog at L'Anse Amour, Labrador. 12 men died from drowning and exposure. Her captain and navigating officer were both severely reprimanded for negligence. The wreck was demolished with explosives in 1926. (IWM image Q 114786) #RoyalNavy #NavalHistory

7 Aug 1942 // Submarine HMS Thorn was sunk with all hands (60 men) by Italian torpedo boat Pegaso south of Crete. The Pegaso was escorting the steamer Istria from Benghazi to Piraeus when a German Ju88 providing air cover spotted the submarine's periscope and attacked with gunfire. [1/2]

6 Aug 1943 // Submarine HMS Parthian was lost with all hands (65 men) on or around this date while on patrol in the southern Adriatic. The cause of her loss is unknown but it is likely that she was mined off the Italian coast near Brindisi. (Imperial War Museum A 14912) #RoyalNavy #WW2 #NavalHistory

6 Aug 1918 // Destroyer HMS Comet was escorting SS Gordonia from Malta to Taranto when, at 2am on 4 August, the steamer ran into her from behind. Four men were killed, her stern was wrecked, and she was flooded as far forward as the engine room bulkhead. (Imperial War Museum image Q 75088) [1/3]

6 Aug 1914 // Cruiser HMS Amphion became the first Royal Navy warship sunk in the First World War when she sank after striking a mine in the Thames Estuary. The mine had been laid by German minelayer SMS Königin Luise, sunk by Amphion and her accompanying destroyers on the previous day. [1/4]

5 Aug 1778 // Determined to remove the British from Rhode Island, the Americans and French began co-ordinated movements from the late summer of 1778 to cut off the British garrison at Newport. American and French troops advanced on land, and were soon reinforced by a French squadron at sea. [1/6]

3 Aug 1944 // Destroyer HMS Quorn was sunk by a German manned torpedo off the coast of Normandy. Loss of life was heavy: 130 of her crew died, many succumbing to exposure after spending up to 8 hours in the water awaiting rescue. (Imperial War Museum A 7063) #RoyalNavy #WW2 #NavalHistory

3 Aug 1901 // Navigational error caused torpedo boat destroyer HMS Viper to strike rocks off Alderney in fog during exercises. She initially refloated, but then grounded again, broke in two, and was wrecked. All the crew escaped safely in her boats. (Imperial War Museum image Q 40517) [1/2]

3 Aug 1861 // Paddle sloop HMS Driver ran aground and was wrecked on Mayaguana, Bahamas, while sailing from Bermuda to Jamaica under the command of Cdr Horatio Nelson (no relation). She struck the ground without warning and in good weather, and could not be refloated. No lives were lost. [1/5]

2 Aug 1918 // Destroyer HMS Ariel sank after a German mine detonated her forward magazine in the Heligoland Bight, with the loss of 49 of her crew. HMS Vehement, part of the same flotilla, had been sunk by a mine about 30 minutes earlier. (Imperial War Museum Q 38184) #RoyalNavy #WW1 #NavalHistory

2 Aug 1918 // Destroyer HMS Vehement was scuttled after a German mine detonated her forward magazine, killing 48 of her crew, in the Heligoland Bight. HMS Ariel, part of the same flotilla, was sunk by another mine shortly afterwards. (Imperial War Museum Q 75522) #RoyalNavy #WW1 #NavalHistory

2 Aug 1808 // Gun brig HMS Tigress (16 guns) was captured by a squadron of Danish gun boats in the Great Belt between Langeland and Agersø with the loss of two of her crew. (C. W. Eckersberg, 'Danish gunboats attacking HMS Tigress at Agersø', c.1808: Wikimedia Commons) #RoyalNavy #NavalHistory

30 July 1803 // 16-gun sloop HMS Calypso sank in the Atlantic north of the Azores after being run down in a violent storm by a merchantman from the Jamaica convoy she was escorting to England. All 120 people on board were lost. (National Maritime Museum image PAF7972) #RoyalNavy #NavalHistory

29 July 1944 // Landing Ship HMS Prince Leopold (Belgian passenger ferry, requisitioned 1940) was torpedoed by German submarine U.621 off Portsmouth. Attempts were made to tow her to Southampton but she capsized and sank. 17 lives were lost. (IWM image FL 7075) #RoyalNavy #WW2 #NavalHistory

29 July 1940 // Destroyer HMS Delight, ordered urgently from Portsmouth to the Clyde after refit, had called at Portland and was detected by German radar at Cherbourg as she sailed from Portland harbour. Shortly after 6.30pm she came under German air attack 20 miles southwest of Portland Bill. [1/3]

She was replaced by another HMS Wren (1943-56), which had a strong connection with the Women's Royal Naval Service, having been partly funded by contributions by Wrens to a fund set up in memory of the 22 Wrens who died in the torpedoing of SS Aguila in 1941. (Imperial War Museum A 15037) [2/2]

27 July 1940 // Destroyer HMS Wren was sunk by German dive bombers while providing anti-aircraft cover for minesweepers off Aldeburgh, Suffolk. Several near-misses caused bulkheads to collapse and she sank quickly with 37 lives lost. (Imperial War Museum: FL 9040) [1/2] #RoyalNavy #WW2 #NavalHistory

27 July 1940 // Destroyer HMS Codrington was sunk by German air attack (with 3 men wounded but no lives lost) while docked for maintenance at Dover. A sad end for a ship which, during the Dunkirk evacuations, had brought over 5000 men safely home. (IWM: FL 8171) #RoyalNavy #WW2 #NavalHistory

26 July 1945 // Minesweeper HMS Vestal was heavily damaged and set ablaze in a Japanese kamikaze air attack off Phuket, Thailand, with 20 of her crew killed. She was subsequently scuttled. This was the last loss of a #RoyalNavy ship to enemy action in #WW2. (IWM image FL 21022) #NavalHistory