HMS Denbigh Castle

The Castle-class corvette was a stretched version of the preceding {{sclass2|Flower|corvette|4}}, enlarged to improve seakeeping and to accommodate modern weapons. The ships displaced {{convert|1010|LT|t|lk=on}} at standard load and {{convert|1510|LT|t}} at deep load. They had an overall length of {{convert|252|ft|m|1}}, a beam of {{convert|36|ft|9|in|m|1}} and a deep draught of {{convert|14|ft|m|1}}. They were powered by a pair of triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by two Admiralty three-drum boilers. The engines developed a total of {{convert|2880|ihp|lk=on}} and gave a maximum speed of {{convert|16.5|kn|lk=in}}. The Castles carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of {{convert|6500|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|15|kn}}. The ships' complement was 99 officers and ratings.Lenton, p. 297

The Castle-class ships were equipped with a single QF 4 inch Mk XVI naval gun forward, but their primary weapon was their single three-barrel Squid anti-submarine mortar. This was backed up by one depth charge rail and two throwers for 15 depth charges. The ships were fitted with two twin and a pair of single mounts for Oerlikon 20 mm cannon light AA guns.Chesneau, p. 63; Lenton, p. 297 Provision was made for a further four single mounts if needed. They were equipped with Type 145Q and Type 147B ASDIC sets to detect submarines by reflections from sound waves beamed into the water. A Type 277 search radar and a HF/DF radio direction finder rounded out the Castles' sensor suite.Goodwin, p. 3

Denbigh Castle, the only ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy,Colledge, p. 94 was ordered on 19 December 1942 and laid down by John Lewis & Sons at their shipyard in Aberdeen, Scotland, on 30 September 1943. The ship was launched on 5 August 1944 and completed on 30 December 1944. She arrived at Tobermory, Mull, Scotland, on 12 January 1945 to begin training at the Royal Navy's Anti-Submarine Training School, {{HMS|Western Isles}}. Having completed training, Denbigh Castle arrived at Scapa Flow on 29 January to join the 7th Escort Group.Goodwin, p. 139

Commanded by Lieutenant Commander Graham Butcher, the ship escorted Convoy JW 64 to Murmansk at the beginning of February. On the 7th, Denbigh Castle claimed to have shot down a German torpedo bomber.Goodwin, p. 140 Almost a week later, the ship was torpedoed by U-992 as the convoy entered the Kola InletRohwer, p. 392 at 00:13 on 13 February; the corvette's radar had picked up the submarine at a range of {{convert|2500|yd}}, but had not identified her due to the confused radar returns and darkness. The torpedo struck the bow and the crew thought that the ship had struck a mine. The explosion killed eleven ratings and threw the four-inch gun onto the Squid platform behind it. The remaining bow structure sagged downwards, although Denbigh Castle was in no danger of sinking. The destroyer {{HMS|Serapis|G94|2}} transferred her medical officer over and the corvette {{HMS|Bluebell|K80|2}} came alongside around 00:45 to receive casualties, and Butcher ordered as many ratings aboard her as he thought he could spare. Bluebell began towing Denbigh Castle at 02:05 and reached a maximum speed of {{convert|2|kn}}, Serapis screening the ships during the tow.Goodwin, pp. 140, 480–81

The {{ship|Soviet salvage ship|Buresvestnik}} came alongside at 04:30 to transfer a {{convert|100|t|LT|adj=on}} salvage pump as the corvette was still taking on water. At 05:01, Butcher ordered all remaining hands aboard the Soviet ship because Denbigh Castle was slowly sinking by the bow, only the officers remaining aboard. Buresvestnik{{'}}s captain, not wanting the corvette to founder in the channel, took over the tow at 06:15, by which time her stern was nearly out of the water. Denbigh Castle was beached at 07:30 at Bolshaya Volokovaya Bay near Vaenga; Buresvestnik then pushed her stern around. The ship began to slowly list with the ebbing tide and the officers abandoned her at 09:05; five minutes later she capsized and slid into deeper water. The intense cold made later efforts to retrieve or destroy secret documents and equipment still aboard extremely difficult, but the diving team from the light cruiser {{HMS|Bellona|63|2}} did manage to demolish the radar office. In recognition of her service, Denbigh Castle was awarded the battle honour Arctic 1945.Goodwin, pp. 139, 141–42

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{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}}
• {{Cite Colledge2006}}
• {{cite book|last1=Goodwin|first1=Norman |title=Castle Class Corvettes: An Account of the Service of the Ships and of Their Ships' Companies|date=2007|publisher=Maritime Books|location=Liskeard, UK|isbn=978-1-904459-27-9}}
• {{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}}
• {{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}}

• [http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/3438.html HMS Denbigh Castle on uboat.net]
• [http://www.worldnavalships.com/castle_class_corvettes.htm Castle Class Corvettes on www.worldnavalships.com]
• [http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?138090 HMS Denbigh Castle on www.wrecksite.eu]
• [http://www.leander-project.homecall.co.uk/Corvettes.html Steel Corvettes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302150145/http://www.leander-project.homecall.co.uk/Corvettes.html |date=2 March 2012 }}

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{{Castle class corvette}}

{{February 1945 shipwrecks}}

{{Good article}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Denbigh Castle}}

Category:Castle-class corvettes

Category:1944 ships

Category:Shipwrecks in the Barents Sea

Category:Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II

Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Arctic Ocean

Category:Maritime incidents in February 1945

Category:Ships built in Aberdeen