HMS Hesperus

1939 G and H-class destroyer

HMS Hesperus was an H-class destroyer that had originally been ordered by the Brazilian Navy with the name Juruena in the late 1930s, but was purchased by the Royal Navy after the beginning of World War II in September 1939, commissioned in 1940 as HMS Hearty and then quickly renamed as Hesperus. Hesperus was damaged by German aircraft during the Norwegian Campaign in May 1940 and was assigned to convoy escort and anti-submarine patrols after her repairs were completed.