In real life, Matchless was the fourth of the M-class destroyers built and commissioned. She initially saw service with the Malta Convoys, including the famed Operation Pedestal where they successfully averted the fall of the besieged island.
Later, she served with the Arctic Convoys, including the battle of the North Cape where Scharnhorst was sunk. In August 1944, she was briefly paid off into reserve but reactivated later that same month for Mediterranean duties, where she served for the rest of the war. She was sold to Turkey in 1957 and renamed TCG Kiliç (Kilich) Ali Pasha (D350), serving with them until 1971.
