HMAS Nepal (G25/D14) was an N-class destroyer of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Launched in 1941 as Norseman, the ship suffered significant damage during an air raid on the John I. Thornycroft and Company shipyard, and during repairs was renamed to recognise Nepal's contribution to the British war effort. Although commissioned into the RAN in 1942, the ship remained the property of the Royal Navy.
Most of Nepals wartime service was as part of the British Eastern Fleet, operating in the Indian Ocean. The destroyer was involved in Madagascar campaign in 1942, and the Cockpit and Transom air raids in 1944. In early 1945, Nepal was reassigned to the British Pacific Fleet, and operated with them for the rest of the war.
On her return to Sydney in October 1945, Nepal was decommissioned and returned to the Royal Navy who recommissioned her as HMS Nepal. She was scrapped in 1956.
Design and construction
The N-class destroyer had a displacement of 1,760 tons at standard load, and 2,353 tons at full load. Nepal was long overall and long between perpendiculars, had a beam of , and a maximum draught of . Nepal was capable of reaching . The warship cost £402,939 to build. In July 1942, the destroyer was reassigned to the British Eastern Fleet, and sailed from Scotland to Kenya.
Decommissioning and fate
Nepal arrived in Sydney on 22 October, and was decommissioned and returned to the Royal Navy.
She was reduced to the reserve in early 1951 and was nominated for a Type 15 conversion but no work was carried out before May 1954 when it was cancelled. Nepal was passed to the British Iron & Steel Corporation in January 1956 who allocated her to the Briton Ferry yard of Thos. W. Ward for scrapping where she arrived on 16 January.