HMAS Nizam (G38/D15) was an N-class destroyer of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The destroyer, named after Osman Ali Khan, the last Nizam of Hyderabad, was commissioned into the RAN in 1940, although the ship remained the property of the Royal Navy for her entire career.
Nizam spent the early part of her service in the Atlantic, then was reassigned to the Mediterranean, where she was involved in the Crete and Syria-Lebanon Campaigns, the Tobruk Ferry Service, and the Malta Convoys. During 1942, the destroyer was involved in Operation Vigorous and the Madagascar Campaign. The next year saw the ship involved in patrols of the Indian and South Atlantic oceans, searching for German ships and submarines, and rescuing the survivors of U-boat attacks. After returning to Australia for a refit at the end of 1944, ten sailors were washed overboard in February 1945, with none ever seen again. The rest of World War II was spent operating in the Philippines and New Guinea regions.
After returning to Australia in late 1945, Nizam was decommissioned and returned to the Royal Navy. The ship was not returned to active service, and was broken up for scrap in 1956.
Design and construction
The N-class destroyer had a displacement of 1,773 tons at standard load, and 2,554 tons at full load. Nizam was long overall and long between perpendiculars, had a beam of , and a maximum draught of . Nizam was capable of reaching . Although commissioned into the RAN, the destroyer was on loan from the Royal Navy. and named after Sir Osman Ali Khan, The Last Nizam of Hyderabad. Following mediation between the sailors and the officers, the captain agreed to restore the original arrangements and decided not to charge the sailors, after which the watchkeepers returned to duty. When the campaign turned for the worse, Nizam and made two evacuation runs to ferry troops from the island to Alexandria. During her time based here, Nizam participated in Operation Cockpit, a carrier air raid on Japanese assets in south-east Asia. On 15 August 1945, Nizam received orders to cease hostilities; shortly after this, the ship was attacked by a Japanese fighter, which was shot down. The destroyer left for Australia on 24 September.
Decommissioning and fate
Nizam was decommissioned on 17 October 1945 and returned to the Royal Navy; her ship's company transferred to , and the N-class destroyer was temporarily recommissioned as HMS Nizam for the voyage to England.