HMS Hurst Castle
{{Short description|British castle-class corvettes}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2017}}
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{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=HMS Hurst Castle(K416).jpg |Ship caption=Hurst Castle underway in the Firth of Tay on completion }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United Kingdom |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}} |Ship namesake=Hurst Castle |Ship name=Hurst Castle |Ship ordered=2 February 1943 |Ship awarded= |Ship builder=Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Dundee |Ship laid down=6 August 1943 |Ship launched=23 February 1944 |Ship christened= |Ship completed=9 June 1944 |Ship commissioned= |Ship fate=Sunk by {{GS|U-482 | 2}}, 1 September 1944
}} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class={{sclass2|Castle|corvette}} |Ship displacement=*{{convert|1010|LT|t|lk=on}} (standard)
|Ship length={{convert|252|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|36|ft|9|in|m|1|abbr=on}} |Ship draught={{convert|14|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} |Ship power=*2 Admiralty 3-drum boilers
|Ship propulsion=2 shafts, 2 geared steam turbines |Ship speed={{convert|16.5|kn|lk=in}} |Ship range={{convert|6500|nmi|lk=in|abbr=on}} at {{convert|15|kn}} |Ship complement=99 |Ship sensors=*Type 145 and Type 147 ASDIC |Ship armament=*1 × single QF 4 inch Mk XVI naval gun
}} |
HMS Hurst Castle (K416) was one of 44 {{sclass2|Castle|corvette}}s built for the Royal Navy during World War II. Completed in June 1944, she began escorting convoys in August and was sunk by a German U-boat the following month.
Design and description
The Castle-class corvette was a stretched version of the preceding Flower class, 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
Construction and career
Hurst Castle, the only ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy,Colledge & Warlow, p. 168 was ordered on 2 February 1943 from Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Company and was laid down at their shipyard in Dundee on 6 August.Lenton, p. 299 She was launched on 23 February 1944 and was completed on 9 June. The ship sailed to the anti-submarine training base in Tobermory, Mull, HMS Western Isles, for working up. Hurst Castle was assigned to Escort Group B3 on 3 July and escorted Convoy OS 85/KMS 59 from Britain to Gibraltar on 2 August. The group escorted Convoy SL 167/MKS 58 from Gibraltar to the UK later that month.Goodwin, p. 177
On 30 August Hurst Castle and her sister ship {{HMS|Oxford Castle|K692|2}} departed Derry, Northern Ireland, to rendezvous with Force 33 the following day. After meeting up with the other ships, they were tasked to search for the {{GS|U-482}} which had been spotted by a Royal Air Force Consolidated B-24 Liberator patrol aircraft on the morning of 1 September. At 08:25, Hurst Castle was struck port side aft by a torpedo fired by the submarine; the ship sank in six minutes at {{coord|55|35|N|8|11|W|display=title, inline}} with the loss of 17 ratings. The escort destroyer {{HMS|Ambuscade|D38|2}} rescued all 102 survivors.Goodwin, pp. 178–179; Rohwer, p. 353
Citations
{{Reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{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|authorlink=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|authorlink=Jürgen Rohwer}}
{{Castle class corvette}}
{{September 1944 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hurst Castle}}
Category:Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II
Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean