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HMS Oxford Castle

Field	Value
section1	{{Infobox ship/image
image	HMS Oxford Castle 1944 IWM FL 17215.jpg
image_caption	Oxford Castle in March 1944
section2	{{Infobox ship/career
country	United Kingdom
flag
name	Oxford Castle
namesake	Oxford Castle
builder	Harland & Wolff, Belfast
yard_number	1238
laid_down	21 June 1943
launched	11 December 1943
completed	10 March 1944
commissioned	10 March 1944
decommissioned	1946
identification	Pennant number: K692
fate	Sold for scrap, March 1960
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 Oxford Castle (K692) was a 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 , 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 fuel oil that gave 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

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.

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.

References

Bibliography

References

(2013). "The Rise and Fall of Harland and Wolff". The History Press.
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. 247–251
Colledge, Warlow & Bush, p. 315

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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