HMS Oxford Castle
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2018}}
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{{Infobox ship image | Ship image = HMS Oxford Castle 1944 IWM FL 17215.jpg | Ship caption = Oxford Castle in March 1944 }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship country = United Kingdom | Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}} | Ship name =Oxford Castle | Ship namesake = Oxford Castle | Ship ordered = | Ship builder = Harland & Wolff, Belfast |Ship yard number = 1238{{cite book|last1=McCluskie|first1=Tom|title=The Rise and Fall of Harland and Wolff|date=2013|publisher=The History Press|location=Stroud|isbn=9780752488615|page=154}} | Ship laid down = 21 June 1943 | Ship launched = 11 December 1943 | Ship completed = 10 March 1944 | Ship commissioned = 10 March 1944 | Ship decommissioned = 1946 | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship struck = | Ship reinstated = | Ship honours = | Ship identification= Pennant number: K692 | Ship fate=Sold for scrap, March 1960 | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption=(as built) | Ship class= {{sclass2|Castle|corvette}} |Ship displacement=*{{convert|1010|LT|t}} (standard) |Ship length={{convert|252|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|33|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} |Ship draught={{convert|13|ft|9|in|m|1|abbr=on}} (deep load) |Ship power=*2 Admiralty 3-drum boilers
|Ship propulsion=1 shaft, 1 triple-expansion engine |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 × QF 4 inch Mk XVI naval gun DP gun
}} |
HMS Oxford Castle (K692) was a {{sclass2|Castle|corvette}} built for the United Kingdom's Royal Navy during the Second World War. Completed in early 1944, she spent the war escorting 20 convoys between the UK and Gibraltar. The ship was placed in reserve in 1946 and remained in that status aside from a brief interlude serving as a training ship in 1950 until she was sold for scrap in 1960.
Design and description
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. The ships 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|13|ft|9|in|m|1}}. They were powered by a four-cylinder triple-expansion steam engine driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by two Admiralty three-drum boilers.Goodwin, p. 2 The engine developed a total of {{convert|2880|ihp|lk=on}} and gave a speed of {{convert|16.5|kn|lk=in}}. The Castles carried fuel oil that gave 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 dual-purpose 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 AA guns.Campbell, 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 272 search radar and a HF/DF radio direction finder rounded out the Castles' sensor suite.Goodwin, p. 3
==Construction and career==
Oxford Castle was ordered on 23 January 1943 and was laid down at Harland & Wolff at their shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland on 21 June. The ship was launched on 11 December 1943, commissioned on 23 February 1944, and completed on 10 March. After several weeks of training in Western Approaches Command's Anti-Submarine Training School at Tobermory, Mull, she arrived at Liverpool on 30 March to join Escort Group B2 on the Gibraltar–UK run. Oxford Castle continued on this duty through the surrender of Germany in May 1945, although she was transferred to B22 Escort Group in September 1944, and then to the Liverpool Escort Pool three months later. The ship arrived at Liverpool on 10 June 1945 after her last convoy dispersed.Goodwin, pp. 247–251
She spend most of the rest of the year at Rosyth and was placed in reserve in February 1946. Oxford Castle was reactivated in 1949 and completed a refit in February 1950. The ship was then assigned to the Anti-Submarine Training Flotilla based at Rosyth until she was again reduced to reserve in 1951. Oxford Castle was offered for sale in November 1956, but there were no takers. The ship was sold for scrap to Thos. W. Ward in March 1960 and arrived at Briton Ferry on 6 September to begin demolition.Colledge, Warlow & Bush, p. 315
References
{{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|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 |last1=Colledge |first1=J. J. |title=Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present |date=2020 |publisher=Seaforth Publishing|isbn=978-1-5267-9327-0 |edition=5th revised and updated|first2=Ben|last2=Warlow|first3=Steve|last3=Bush|name-list-style=amp}}
- {{cite book|author1=Goodwin, Norman |author2=compiled by |title=Castle Class Corvettes: An Account of the Service of the Ships and of Their Ships' Companies|date=2007|publisher=Maritime Books|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|year=1998 |isbn=1-55750-048-7 |author-link=Henry Trevor Lenton}}
{{Castle class corvette}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oxford Castle}}
Category:Castle-class corvettes