HMS Neptune
The 19th December 1941 was a black day for the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean. Following so soon after the loss of the Prince of Wales and the Repulse in the Far East, it was not surprising that the British worked hard to conceal the scale of the calamity at the time. Details of the losses of HMS Neptune would not be released for six months.
Force K, the Malta based striking squadron which had so successfully taken the fight to the Italian fleet in the Mediterranean, struck calamity when it entered an unmarked minefield. HMS Neptune, leading the small task force hit the first mine and the other light cruisers HMS Aurora and HMS Penelope were hit as well. The destroyer HMS Kandahar went to assist HMS Neptune but struck a mine herself. The remaining destroyer HMS Lively was ordered not to approach HMS Neptune. Soon HMS Neptune had hit a total of four mines and was sinking, only around 30 men from the complement of 762 got off the ship. Only one of them survived.