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HMS Hadleigh Castle

Field	Value
section1	{{Infobox ship/image
image	HMS Hadleigh Castle 1943 IWM FL 13713.jpg
image_caption	Hadleigh Castle in September 1943
section2	{{Infobox ship/career
country	United Kingdom
flag
name	Hadleigh Castle
namesake	Hadleigh Castle
builder	Smiths Dock Company
laid_down	4 April 1943
launched	21 June 1943
commissioned	18 September 1943
decommissioned	1946
identification	Pennant number: K355
fate	Scrapped, January 1959
section3	{{Infobox ship/characteristics
header_caption	(as built)
class
displacement	*1010 LT (standard)
length	252 ft
beam	33 ft
draught	13 ft (deep load)
power	*2 Admiralty 3-drum boilers
*{{convert	2880	ihp	lk	in	abbr=on}}
propulsion	1 shaft, 1 triple-expansion engine
speed	16.5 kn
range	6500 nmi at 15 kn
complement	99
sensors	*Type 145 and Type 147 ASDIC
armament	*1 × QF 4 in DP gun
*2 × twin, 2 × single [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon	{{convert	20	mm	1	abbr	on}}]] AA guns

2880 ihp
Type 272 search radar
HF/DF radio direction finder
2 × twin, 2 × single 20 mm AA guns
1 × 3-barrel Squid anti-submarine mortar
1 × depth charge rail and 2 throwers; 15 depth charges HMS Hadleigh Castle (K355) was the lead ship for her class of corvettes built for Britain's Royal Navy during the Second World War. Completed in 1943, she helped to escort several convoys to Canada later that year and into early 1944. The ship was switched to the UK-Gibraltar run in April 1944 and remained on that assignment until after the surrender of Germany in May 1945. Hadleigh Castle was stationed in Gibraltar for most of the rest of the year and into 1946. She was reduced to reserve in 1946 and mostly remained in that status until she was sold for scrap in 1958.

Design and description

The Castle-class corvette was a stretched version of the preceding , enlarged to improve seakeeping and to accommodate modern weapons. The ships displaced 1010 LT at standard load and 1510 LT at deep load. The ships had an overall length of 252 ft, a beam of 36 ft The engine developed a total of 2880 ihp and gave a speed of 16.5 kn. The Castles carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of 6500 nmi at 15 kn. The ships' complement was 99 officers and ratings.

The Castle-class ships were equipped with a single QF 4 in Mk XVI 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 20 mm Oerlikon AA guns. 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.

Construction and career

Hadleigh Castle was ordered on 19 December 1942 and was laid down at Smiths Dock at their shipyard in Middlesbrough on 4 April 1922. The ship was launched on 21 June 1943, and completed on 18 September. After several weeks of training in Western Approaches Command's Anti-Submarine Training School at Tobermory, Mull, she joined Escort Group C4. She was part of the escort of Convoy ON 215 from the Clyde to Canada from December 1943 to January 1944. Hadleigh Castle demonstrated the Squid to the US Navy later that month. On the return voyage escorting Convoy HX 277 she joined Escort Group B5 in February. The group made one more round trip to Canada, escorting Convoys ON 225 and HX 282 in February–March, with Hadleigh Castles captain (nautical)| commanding the group. After those convoys, a new officer took over the group and it was retasked with the UK-Gibraltar run. This lasted until September when the group was reorganized and redesignated as the 31st Escort Group. Its mission was to patrol the Western Approaches and support other escort groups as needed. Hadleigh Castle was refitted in Bristol from 22 January – 24 February 1945 and resumed her duties until the end of May 1945.

The ship was deployed to Gibraltar from 28 June to mid-1946 when she returned to the UK and was placed in reserve. Hadleigh Castle was refitted in 1949–1950 at Birkenhead and was placed in reserve again at Harwich upon its completion. The ship was sold for scrap in 1958 and arrived at Gateshead in January 1959 to begin demolition.

References

Bibliography

References

and a deep [[draft (hull). draught]] of {{convert. 13. ft. 9. in. m. 1. They were powered by a four-cylinder [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion. triple-expansion steam engine]] driving one [[propeller shaft]] using steam provided by two [[Admiralty three-drum boiler]]s.Goodwin, p. 2
Lenton, p. 297
Campbell, p. 63; Lenton, p. 297
Goodwin, p. 3
Goodwin, pp. 163–170
Goodwin, p. 170
Colledge, Warlow & Bush, p. 186

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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