By: HISTORY.com Editors

1941

Lord Mountbatten, cousin to a king, sunk by German dive-bombers

Published: November 16, 2009Last Updated: May 27, 2025

On May 23, 1941, Captain Lord Louis Mountbatten, second cousin of King George VI of Britain and the only man other than the king to hold rank in all three military services simultaneously, is among those thrown into the Mediterranean Sea when his destroyer, the HMS Kelly, is sunk.

Mountbatten’s ship was among several British cruisers, destroyers, and battleships sunk off Crete by German dive-bombers. The Kelly was attacked by 24 bombers alone; 130 crewmembers were killed. Mountbatten was still on the bridge of the ship when it finally flipped over; nevertheless, he managed to swim to shore and take control of the rescue operation. He would ultimately accept, as senior Allied officer present, the surrender of Japanese land forces within Southeast Asia by General Sieshiro Itagaki.

Side note: Just a day before the sinking of the Kelly, the battleship Valiant was damaged but not sunk during an equally vicious German air attack, also off Crete, which succeeded in sinking two cruisers and four destroyers. Among the crewmen of the Valiant was Lord Mountbatten’s nephew, Prince Philip of Greece.

Mountbatten survived the terror of war against the Axis powers, only to be killed by an Irish Republic Army bomb, planted on his boat, on August 26, 1979.

The IRA Assassination of Lord Mountbatten: Facts and Fallout

The murder of the British royal and World War II hero signaled a dark period ahead for relations between England and Northern Ireland.

By: Lesley Kennedy

Timeline

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1777

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1785

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1900

William Carney becomes first Black American to earn the Medal of Honor

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1911

New York Public Library dedicated

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1915

Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary

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1921

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1934

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1945

Nazi SS Chief Heinrich Himmler dies by suicide

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1949

Federal Republic of Germany is established

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1960

Deadly tsunami hits Hawaii

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1979

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2015

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