HMS Launceston Castle
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Launceston Castle |
| Namesake | Launceston Castle |
| Builder | Blyth Shipbuilding and Drydock Company |
| Laid down | 27 May 1943 |
| Launched | 27 November 1943 |
| Commissioned | 20 June 1944 |
| Decommissioned | 1947 |
| Identification | pennant number K397 |
| Fate | Scrapped 3 August 1959 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Castle-class corvette |
HMS Launceston Castle (K397) was a Castle-class corvette of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy, named after Launceston Castle in Cornwall. The ship was constructed during the Second World War and saw service primarily as a convoy escort.
Design
[edit]The Castle-class corvettes were an improved and enlarged derivative of the earlier Flower-class corvettes, which was intended to be built by shipyards that could not build the larger and more capable frigates. The greater length of the Castles gave made them better seaboats than the Flowers, which were not originally designed for ocean escort work. Large numbers (96 in total) were ordered in late 1942 and early 1943 from shipyards in the United Kingdom and Canada, but Allied successes in the Battle of the Atlantic meant that the requirement for escorts was reduced, and many ships (including all the Canadian ones) were cancelled.[1][2]
The Castles were 252 feet 0 inches (76.81 m) long overall, 234 feet 0 inches (71.32 m) at the waterline and 225 feet 0 inches (68.58 m) between perpendiculars. Beam was 36 feet 6 inches (11.13 m) and draught was 13 feet 5 inches (4.09 m) aft at full load.[3] Displacement was about 1,060 long tons (1,080 t) standard and 1,590–1,630 long tons (1,620–1,660 t) full load.[4] Two Admiralty Three-drum water tube boilers fed steam to a vertical triple expansion engine rated at 2,750 indicated horsepower (2,050 kW) which drove a single propeller shaft. This gave a speed of 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph).[4] 480 tons of oil were carried, giving a range of 6,200 nautical miles (11,500 km; 7,100 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).[5]
The ships had a main gun armament of a single QF 4-inch Mk XIX dual-purpose gun, backed up by two twin and two single Oerlikon 20 mm cannon.[5] Anti-submarine armament consisted of a single triple-barrelled Squid anti-submarine mortar with 81 depth charges backed up by two depth charge throwers and a single depth charge rail, with 15 depth charges carried. Type 272 or Type 277 surface search radar was fitted, as was high-frequency direction finding (HF/DF) gear. The ships' sonar outfit was Type 145 and Type 147B.[6]
Service history
[edit]Launceston Castle was ordered on 19 January 1943, one of 14 Castle-class corvettes ordered that day (of which three were cancelled and two completed as rescue ships). The ship was laid down at Blyth Shipbuilding's Blyth, Northumberland shipyard as Yard number 295 on 27 May 1943, with the ship's machinery being built by White's Marine Engineering Company at Hebburn.[7][8][9] Launceston Castle was launched on 27 November 1943 and completed on 20 June 1944, and was allocated the Pennant number K397.[7] She was the first Royal Navy ship to be called Launceston Castle.[10]
In the Second World War she served as a convoy escort. Launceston Castle served in the 30th Escort Group commanded by Denys Rayner RNVR carrying his flag on board HMS Pevensey Castle. She sank the German submarine U-1200[11] south of Ireland on 11 November 1944, supported by her sister ships Pevensey Castle, Kenilworth Castle and Portchester Castle.
In 1953 she took part in the Fleet Review to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.[12]
References
[edit]- ^ Friedman 2008, p. 156
- ^ Brown 2012, p. 136
- ^ Friedman 2008, p. 324
- ^ a b Gardiner & Chesneau 1980, p. 63
- ^ a b Elliott 1977, p. 205
- ^ Brown 2007, pp. 126–127
- ^ a b Friedman 2008, p. 344
- ^ Goodwin 2007, p. 215
- ^ "Launceston Castle". Shipping and Shipbuilders. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
- ^ Colledge & Warlow 2006, p. 195
- ^ "The Type VIIC U-boat U-1200 - German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net".
- ^ Souvenir Programme, Coronation Review of the Fleet, Spithead, 15 June 1953, HMSO, Gale and Polden
Bibliography
[edit]- Brown, David K. (2007). Atlantic Escorts: Ships, Weapons & Tactics in World War II. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84415-702-0.
- Brown, David K. (2012). Nelson to Vanguard: Warship Design and Development 1923–1945. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-149-6..
- Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
- Elliott, Peter (1977). Allied Escort Ships of World War II: A Complete Survey. London: Macdonald and Jane's. ISBN 0-356-08401-9.
- Friedman, Norman (2008). British Destroyers & Frigates: The Second World War and After. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-015-4.
- Gardiner, Robert; Chesneau, Roger, eds. (1980). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
- Goodwin, Norman (2007). Castle Class Corvettes: An Account of the Service of the Ships and of their Ships' Companies. Liskeard, UK: Maritime Books. ISBN 978-1-904459-279.
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