 Stork in July 1943 | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Bittern class |
| Builders | |
| Operators |  Royal Navy |
| Preceded by | Kingfisher class |
| Succeeded by | Egret class |
| Built | 3 |
| Lost | 1 |
| Retired | 2 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Type | Sloop-of-war |
| Displacement | 1190 Tons |
| Length | 266 ft (81 m) |
| Beam | 37 ft (11 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 18.75-knot (34.73 km/h) |
| Complement | 125 |
| Armament |
|
The Bittern-class sloop was a three-ship class of long-range escort vessels used in the Second World War by the Royal Navy.
The Bittern class were built as light, long-range escort ships with limited anti-air capability. They were fitted with Denny-Brown fin stabilisers and a HACS fire control system.
Three ships were built: HMS Enchantress (originally called Bittern, but renamed before launching in 1934), HMS Stork and HMS Bittern. Enchantress was the first in the class, and was built as an armed Admiral's yacht. The as-completed armament was two single 4.7-inch guns forward and four 3-pounder saluting guns. Anti-aircraft armament and a third, aft, 4.7-inch gun was installed at the outbreak of war.
Stork was unarmed on completion, but with provision for six 4-inch guns, plus AA and ASW weaponry; she served as a survey vessel in the Far East. Her main armament was added at the outbreak of war.
Bittern completed as designed, with the same armament as Stork [1]
The design served as the basis for the Egret and Black Swan-class sloops.
| Ship | Builder | Laid Down | Launched | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enchantress | John Brown Shipbuilding & Engineering Company Limited, Clydebank | 9 March 1934 | 21 December 1934 | Sold 1946 |
| Stork | William Denny & Brothers, Dumbarton | 19 June 1935 | 21 April 1936 | Broken up 1958 |
| Bittern | J S White & Company, Cowes | 27 August 1936 | 14 July 1937 | Sunk by bombing off Namsos, Norway, 30 April 1940 |
Enchantress served as convoy escort throughout the war, and was credited with the destruction of an Italian submarine. She survived the war and was sold into civilian service in 1946, being renamed Lady Enchantress. She was broken up in 1952. Stork was completed as an unarmed survey vessel, and was only armed after the outbreak of war. She also served as a convoy escort, and was senior ship in 36th Escort Group under Cdr. FJ Walker. She was credited with the destruction of four U-boats. Stork remained in service until being broken up in 1958. The third ship in the class was launched as Bittern, and completed as designed. She was involved in the Norwegian campaign, but was lost to air attacks at Namsos in 1940.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship of the British Royal Navy with a single gun deck that carried up to 18 guns. The rating system of the Royal Navy covered all vessels with 20 or more guns; thus, the term encompassed all unrated warships, including gun-brigs and cutters. In technical terms, even the more specialised bomb vessels and fire ships were classed by the Royal Navy as sloops-of-war, and in practice these were employed in the role of a sloop-of-war when not carrying out their specialised functions.
The Town class consisted of 10 light cruisers built for the Royal Navy during the 1930s. The Towns were designed within the constraints of the London Naval Treaty of 1930. The ships were built in the sub-classes, Southampton, Gloucester and Edinburgh, each sub-class adding more weaponry.
The Grimsby class were a class of 13 sloops laid down between 1933 and 1940. Of these, eight were built in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy, four in Australia for the Royal Australian Navy and one for the Royal Indian Navy. Main armament was initially two 4.7-inch (120 mm) guns for RN ships and three 4-inch (100 mm) for Australian ships, but armament varied considerably between ships, and was increased later.
HMS Aberdeen was a Grimsby-class sloop in the British Royal Navy. Built in Devonport Dockyard, Plymouth, UK by Thornycroft, she was launched on 22 January 1936.
HMS Dundee was a Shoreham-class sloop of the Royal Navy. The ship was built at Chatham Dockyard, entering service in 1933.
The Egret-class sloops were a three ship class of a long-range escort vessels used in the Second World War by the Royal Navy. They were an enlarged version of the Bittern class with an extra twin 4-inch gun mounting. They were fitted with Denny Brown stabilisers and the Fuze Keeping Clock anti-aircraft fire control system.
HMIS Hindustan (L80) was a Folkestone-class sloop which served in the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) during World War II. Her pennant number was changed to U80 in 1940.
HMS Bideford was a Royal Navy Shoreham-class sloop. She was named after the town of Bideford in Devon and was launched on 1 April 1931.
The third HMS Penzance (L28) was a Hastings-class sloop launched in 1930, and torpedoed and sunk in 1940 whilst on convoy protection duty by the German submarine U-37 with the loss of 90 of her 104 crew. She was named after the Cornish port of Penzance and was the third Royal Navy ship to bear that name.
HMS Stork (L81) was a Bittern-class sloop of the Royal Navy. She was active during the Second World War, serving in convoy escort groups, and was a successful anti-submarine warfare vessel, being credited with the destruction of four U-boats.
HMS Grimsby was a sloop of the British Royal Navy, the lead ship of her class. Grimsby was built in the 1930s, entering service in 1934. Serving most of her pre-war service at Hong Kong, Grimsby was deployed on convoy escort duties along the East coast of the Britain and in the Mediterranean Sea during the Second World War, and was sunk by dive bombers off Tobruk on 25 May 1941.
HMS Lowestoft was a Grimsby-class sloop of the Royal Navy. Built at Devonport Dockyard in the 1930s, Lowestoft was launched in 1934 and commissioned later that year. She served on the China Station, based at Hong Kong until the outbreak of the Second World War. Lowestoft served as a convoy escort during the war, both in the North Atlantic and off the west coast of Africa.
HMS Alacrity was a modified Black Swan-class sloop of the Royal Navy. She was built for service as a convoy escort during the Second World War, but was completed too late to see action. She did subsequently take part in the Korean War between 1950 and 1952. She was scrapped in 1956.
HMS Enchantress (L56) was a Bittern-class sloop, built for the British Royal Navy. She was the lead ship of her class, being laid down as Bittern, but renamed as Enchantress before being launched by Lady Jean Alice Elaine Cochrane. She was active during the Second World War, serving mainly as a convoy escort, and was a successful anti-submarine warfare vessel, being credited with the destruction of an Italian submarine in 1942.
HMS Deptford was a Grimsby-class sloop of the British Royal Navy. Built at Chatham Dockyard in the 1930s, Deptford was launched in 1935 and commissioned later that year. The ship saw early service on the Persian Gulf station, but the outbreak of the Second World War saw Deptford serving as a convoy escort in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean, sinking a German U-boat in 1941. She survived the war and was scrapped in 1948.
HMS Londonderry was a Grimsby-class sloop of the Royal Navy. Built at Devonport Dockyard in the 1930s, Londonderry was launched in early 1935 and commissioned later that year. She served in the Red Sea and the South Atlantic until the outbreak of the Second World War. Londonderry served as a convoy escort during the war, which she survived. The ship was sold for scrap in 1948.
HMS Shoreham was the lead ship of the Shoreham-class of sloops built for the British Royal Navy. Completed in 1931, Shoreham served pre-war in the Persian Gulf. In the Second World War she served in the Gulf and Red Sea, the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. She survived the war and was sold for commercial use in 1946 and was scrapped in 1950.
HMS Lapwing (U62) was a modified Black Swan-class sloop of the Royal Navy.
HMS Modeste was a modified Black Swan-class sloop of the British Royal Navy. She was built by Chatham Dockyard, during the Second World War, being launched on 29 January 1944 and commissioned on 3 September 1945. Post war, Modeste served with the British Far East Fleet, and took part in the Suez Crisis. She was paid off into reserve for the last time in 1958 and scrapped in 1961.
HMS Amaranthus (K17) was a Flower-class corvette of the Royal Navy. She took part in the Second World War, being involved in escorting convoys from West Africa to the United Kingdom from May 1941 onwards.
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