HMS Impulsive
HMS Impulsive was an I-class destroyer of the Royal Navy, built by J. Samuel White and Company at Cowes. She was laid down in March 1936, launched on 1 March 1937 and completed on 29 January 1938. She was the only Royal Navy ship to bear the name Impulsive.
As an I-class ship, Impulsive displaced about 1,370 tons standard and 1,888 tons deep load, was 323 feet long, and had a crew of around 145. She was powered by two geared steam turbines and could reach around 32 knots in trials (design speed was 35 knots).
Her armament included four 4.7-inch guns, two quadruple 0.5-inch machine gun mounts, two quintuple 21-inch torpedo tubes, and depth charges. In late 1938–1939 she was modified to carry mines, with rails and an electric winch, and stern sponsons to prevent mines from hitting the propellers; she could carry up to 72 mines.
In World War II, Impulsive took part in the Dunkirk evacuation in May 1940, making four trips and rescuing 2,919 troops. After Dunkirk she laid mines and escorted Arctic convoys. On 13 May 1941 she rescued 278 survivors from HMS Salopian. On 16 September 1942 she sank German submarine U-457 in the Barents Sea northeast of Murmansk, commanded by Lt. Cmdr. William Scott Thomas.
After the war she was sold for scrap and broken up at Sunderland in January 1946.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 23:25 (CET).