Grimsby-class sloop

The Royal Navy started to build replacements for the {{sclass2|Flower|sloop|0}} and {{sclass2|Hunt|minesweeper|0||1916}} sloops of the First World War, when the two vessels of the {{sclass|Bridgewater|sloop|4}} were laid down in 1928, with the similar four-ship {{sclass|Hastings|sloop|4}} laid down in 1929 and the eight ships of the {{sclass|Shoreham|sloop|4}} being laid down in 1929–31. All of these ships were designed to combine the convoy-escort role of the Flower class with the minesweeping duties of the Hunt class, being fitted with equipment for both roles. By 1932, however, it became clear that what was needed was ships dedicated to a single role. Development therefore began of the {{sclass|Halcyon|minesweeper}}s as a cheaper mass-production minesweeper, while a new class of sloops would be built that was more closely matched to the escort role.{{Harvard citation no brackets|Campbell|1980|pages=55–56}}{{Harvard citation no brackets|Hague|1993|pages=10–13}}

The new class of escort sloops, the Grimsby class, had a heavier gun armament than its predecessors, with two 4.7-inch (120 mm) Mark IX guns mounted fore and aft replacing the {{convert|4|in|mm|adj=on|0}} guns of the earlier ships. As the 4.7-inch guns were low-angle guns, not suited to anti aircraft use, a single QF 3-inch 20 cwt anti-aircraft gun was mounted in "B" position. Four 3-pounder saluting guns completed the ships' gun armament.{{Harvard citation no brackets|Campbell|1980|page=56}}{{Harvard citation no brackets|Hague|1993|page=13}} The ship was powered by two geared steam turbines driving two shafts, fed by two Admiralty 3-drum boilers. This machinery produced {{convert|2000|shp|kW|lk=in}} and could propel the ships to a speed of {{convert|16.5|kn|lk=in}}.

Eight ships of the class were built for the Royal Navy, being laid down between 1933 and 1935 and completing between 1934 and 1936. The last two ships built for the Royal Navy, {{HMS|Aberdeen|U97|6}} and {{HMS|Fleetwood|U47|6}} had differing armaments, with Aberdeen replacing the 4.7 and 3-inch guns with two 4-inch anti-aircraft guns, and adding a quadruple .50-inch anti-aircraft machine gun mount, while Fleetwood had a main gun armament of two twin 4-inch anti-aircraft mounts, with a short-range anti-aircraft armament of four .50 in machine guns.{{Harvard citation no brackets|Hague|1993|page=42}}

File:Frank Norton - Norton-96311 - Fitting Out H.M.A.S. Yarra at Sydney - 1935.jpg ]]

The Royal Australian Navy also adopted the Grimsby class, with two ships being laid down in 1934–35 and completed in 1935–36, with two more ships laid down in 1938–39 and completed in 1940. The first two ships were armed with three single 4-inch anti-aircraft guns, while the third and fourth ships having one twin and one-single 4-inch mount, with short-range armament a quadruple machine gun mount in all four ships.{{Harvard citation no brackets|Hague|1993|page=55}}

The armament of most of the class was reinforced during the Second World War, with several gaining additional 4-inch guns, with the close in anti aircraft armament being supplemented by the addition of Oerlikon 20 mm cannon. The ships' depth charge complement increased from 15 at the start of the war to 40 for Australian ships and up to 90 for Royal Navy ships, while several ships were also refitted with a Hedgehog anti-submarine projector.

{{Commons category|Grimsby class sloop}}

• List of corvette and sloop classes of the Royal Navy
• List of Royal Australian Navy ships

{{reflist|2}}

• {{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946|editor1-last=Chesneau |editor1-first=Roger |publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=Greenwich, UK |year=1980 |isbn=0-85177-146-7 |chapter=Great Britain (including Empire Forces)|author-first=N. J. M. |author-last=Campbell |pages=2–85}}
• {{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|title=British Destroyers & Frigates: The Second World War and After|year=2008|publisher=Seaforth Publishing|location=Barnsley, UK|isbn=978-1-84832-015-4 |author-link=Norman Friedman}}
• {{cite book|last=Gillet|first=Ross|others=Graham, Colin (illus.)|title=Warships of Australia|year=1977|publisher=Rigby Limited|location= Adelaide, Australia|isbn=0-7270-0472-7}}
• {{cite book|last=Hague|first=Arnold|title=Sloops: A History of the 71 Sloops Built in Britain and Australia for the British, Australian and Indian Navies 1926–1946|year=1993|publisher=World Ship Society|location=Kendal, UK|isbn=0-905617-67-3}}
• {{cite book|last=Lenton|first=H. T.|title=British & Empire Warships of the Second World War |publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=1998 |isbn=1-55750-048-7 |author-link=Henry Trevor Lenton}}
• {{cite book|last=Rohwer|first=Jürgen|title=Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two |publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=2005 |edition=Third Revised |isbn=1-59114-119-2|author-link=Jürgen Rohwer}}
• {{cite book|last1=Shores|first1=Christopher|last2=Massimello|first2=Giovanni |last3=Guest |first3=Russell|title=A History of the Mediterranean Air War 1940–1945: Volume One: North Africa: June 1940 – January 1942|year=2012|publisher=Grub Street|location=London|isbn=978-1-908117-07-6|ref={{SfnRef|Shores et al.|2012}}}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080509130150/http://www.thewellingtontrust.com/index.asp HQS Wellington, home of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners]

{{Grimsby class sloop}}

{{WWII British ships}}

{{WWII Australian ships}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grimsby Class Sloop}}

Category:Military history of Grimsby

Category:Ship classes of the Royal Navy

Category:Sloop classes