Authorized as one of nine Tribal-class destroyers under the 1936 Naval Estimates,
Punjabi has been the first and only ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy. The ship was ordered on 19 June 1936 from
Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering and was
laid down on 9 June at the company's
Greenock shipyard.
Launched on 1 October 1936,
Punjabi was
commissioned on 29 March 1939 at a cost of
£342,005 which excluded weapons and communications outfits furnished by the
Admiralty.
Punjabi was commissioned for service in the 2nd Tribal Destroyer
Flotilla in the
Home Fleet, which was redesignated at the
6th Destroyer Flotilla in April 1939. While on work-up trials, she was redirected to aid in search and rescue attempts for the
submarine , which had sunk in
Liverpool Bay. She then rejoined the Home Fleet on exercises.
World War II On the outbreak of war in September,
Punjabi deployed with the Flotilla for Home Fleet duties including anti-submarine patrols and convoy defence in the
North Western Approaches and the
North Sea. In October, she made an unsuccessful attempt to salvage a crashed German
flying boat. On 2 December, she sustained structural damage to her bows when she collided with the
merchant vessel south of
Holy Island. She was under repair at
Alexander Stephen and Sons' shipyard in
Govan from 15 December to late February, when she rejoined the flotilla. She was then based at
Scapa Flow on screening and patrol duties. In April she made a number of deployments with the Home Fleet to search for
German warships in the North Sea and off the Norwegian coast. On 8 April, she screened the battleships coming to assist the destroyer , which was under attack by the German
cruiser .
Glowworm eventually rammed
Admiral Hipper, before sinking.
Punjabi was then deployed off
Narvik as a screen for operations during the
Second Battle of Narvik. On 13 April, she engaged a number of German destroyers, receiving six hits and being disabled for an hour before she could resume service. She was temporarily repaired at Skelfjord before returning to
Devonport Dockyard for more thorough repairs. Her mounting in "X" position was replaced with a twin
anti-aircraft mounting. On returning to active service in June she was based at
Plymouth. On 17 June, she took part in the evacuation of allied military and civil personnel from
Saint-Nazaire. She returned again on 20 June to evacuate Polish troops. On 9 August, she deployed with other Home Fleet destroyers in escorting the capital ships of
Force H from
Gibraltar. In September,
Punjabi screened the military convoys for Operation Menace, the
attacks on Dakar on their passage through the North Western Approaches. She also escorted the damaged cruiser back to the UK after she had been torpedoed and damaged off the
Hebrides. The rest of the year was spent on deployments with the Flotilla. On 23 October, ,
Punjabi and shelled and sank the
weather ship in the
Norwegian Sea off
Stadlandet, Norway. In February 1941,
Punjabi returned to Scapa Flow with the Flotilla, before undergoing a refit at
Rosyth in March–April. The work included the fitting of a
RAF ASV type radar outfit modified for shipborne use. At the end of May, she was part of the escort for capital ships of the Home Fleet hunting for the German battleship after the sinking of the
battlecruiser . On 27 July, she and escorted the cruisers and to assess the potential of using
Spitsbergen as a refuelling base for escorts used in the defence of
convoys on passage to and from North Russia.
Arctic Ocean On 1 August,
Punjabi and
Tartar evacuated Norwegian nationals from
Bear Island and carried out an offensive sweep off the Norwegian coast before returning to Scapa Flow. On 30 August,
Punjabi, and escorted the
aircraft carrier and the cruiser during an operation to supply the
Soviet Union with
Hawker Hurricanes and RAF personnel. She then resumed normal flotilla duties before beginning a refit in December at
Hawthorn Leslie and Company's yards at
Newcastle upon Tyne. The refit lasted until the end of January 1942 and involved repairing damage to machines and systems due to excess stress when steaming in heavy weather. In March, she joined other Home Fleet units in providing cover for convoys
PQ 12 and the returning
QP 8. During these operations, it was believed that the had put to sea to intercept the convoys.
Punjabi was one of the ships tasked with supporting the search for her, but
Tirpitz had in fact returned to port.
Punjabi was detached from the search on 11 March and returned to Scapa Flow after encountering problems with her steering gear. In April, she escorted
Convoy PQ 10 back to the UK. On 12 April, she came under attack from , but the attack was unsuccessful. She escorted Convoy PQ 10 to
Iceland and was detached from the convoy on its arrival there on 21 April. ==Sinking==