HMS Black Swan, was the name ship of the Black Swan-class sloops of the Royal Navy. This class was admired for its sea-going qualities.
HMS Zebra was a Z-class destroyer. She was to have been named HMS Wakeful but was renamed in January 1943 before launching. The destroyer was launched on 18 March 1944 at William Denny & Brothers shipyard in Dumbarton, Scotland and commissioned on 13 October 1944. She was 'adopted' by the civil community of Urmston, then in the county of Lancashire.
The C class was a class of 32 destroyers of the Royal Navy that were launched from 1943 to 1945. The class was built in four flotillas of 8 vessels, the "Ca", "Ch", "Co" and "Cr" groups or sub-classes, ordered as the 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th Emergency Flotillas respectively. The sub-class names are derived from the initial 2 letters of the member ships' names, although the "Ca" class were originally ordered with a heterogeneous mix of traditional destroyer names. A fifth flotilla, the "Ce" or 15th Emergency Flotilla, was planned but were cancelled in favour of the Weapon-class destroyers after only the first two ships had been ordered. The pennant numbers were all altered from "R" superior to "D" superior at the close of World War II; this involved some renumbering to avoid duplications.
HMS Grenville was the second ship of this name to serve with the Royal Navy in the Second World War. Grenville and seven other U-class destroyers were ordered as part of the Emergency Programme. She was launched at Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd., Wallsend-on-Tyne on 12 October 1942 and commissioned on 27 May 1943.
HMS Undine was a U-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service during World War II. On 27 March 1945, HMS Undine detached from RN Fast Carrier TF57 to rescue the airmen of a downed RN TBF Avenger aircraft also rescued a USN Corsair pilot adrift for two days south of the Sakishima Gunto in the Philippine Sea.
HMS Termagant was a T-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that saw service during the Second World War. She was built by William Denny and Brothers, of Dumbarton and launched on 22 March 1943. She was scrapped in 1965.
HMS Magpie, pennant number U82, was a Royal Navy Modified Black Swan-class sloop launched in 1943 and broken up in 1959. She was the seventh Royal Navy ship to bear the name. She was reclassified as a frigate in 1947, receiving a new pennant number F82. The ship was the only vessel commanded by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who took command on 2 September 1950, when he was 29.
The Bittern-class sloop was a three-ship class of long-range escort vessels used in the Second World War by the Royal Navy.
HMS Mermaid was a Modified Black Swan-class sloop of the Royal Navy. Mermaid saw service as a convoy escort during the Second World War, taking part in the sinking of two German submarines while escorting Arctic convoys to and from the Soviet Union.
HMS Oakley was a Type II Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was originally to have been named Tickham, however she was renamed after her sister ship Oakley was transferred to Poland and was renamed ORP Kujawiak (L72). She entered service in May 1943, carrying out convoy escort, patrol and anti-shipping attacks for most of the rest of the Second World War. She was adopted by the Civil community of Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire as part of Warship Week in 1942. In 1957, she was sold to the West German Navy, serving as a training ship for the German Naval Gunnery school until scrapped in 1972.
HMS Flamingo was a Black Swan-class sloop of the Royal Navy. She saw service as a convoy escort during the Second World War, seeing extensive service in the Mediterranean and Far East in 1945.
HMS Fleetwood was a Grimsby-class sloop of the Royal Navy. Built at Devonport Dockyard in the 1930s, Fleetwood was launched in March 1936 and commissioned in November that year. She served in the Red Sea until the outbreak of the Second World War. Fleetwood served as a convoy escort during the war, which she survived, and sank the German submarines U-528 and U-340. Post-war, the ship served as a radar training ship, remaining in use until 1959, when she was scrapped.
HMS Swift was an S-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy in the Second World War. The ship belonged to the January 1941 order of the Royal Navy from the War Emergency program. The destroyer was launched from the shipyard J. Samuel White in Cowes on 15 June 1943 and was put into service on 12 December 1943.
HMS Lapwing (U62) was a modified Black Swan-class sloop of the Royal Navy.
HMS Actaeon was a modified Black Swan-class sloop built for the Royal Navy during the Second World War. She was completed too late for service in that conflict, but served on the South Africa station in the post-war era.
HMS Opossum was a modified Black Swan-class sloop of the Royal Navy. She was laid down by William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton on 28 July 1943, launched on 30 November 1944 and commissioned on 16 June 1945, with the pennant number U33.
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 Crane was a modified Black Swan-class sloop of the Royal Navy. She was laid down by William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton on 13 June 1941, launched on 9 November 1942 and commissioned on 10 May 1943, with the pennant number U23. She saw active service during the Second World War, initially performing convoy escort roles in the Atlantic before supporting the Normandy landings. In the final months of the war, Crane joined the British Pacific Fleet and saw service during the Battle of Okinawa. Post-war, Crane remained in south-east Asia and took part in hostilities during the Korean War. She was redeployed to the Middle East during the Suez Crisis before returning to Asia for service during the Malayan Emergency. Crane was withdrawn from service in the early 1960's and was scrapped in 1965.
HMS Snipe was a modified Black Swan-class sloop of the Royal Navy. She was laid down by William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton on 21 September 1944, launched on 20 December 1945 and commissioned on 9 September 1946, with the pennant number U20.
HMS Serapis was an S-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy. The ship was built by Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company from 1941 to 1943, and was launched on 25 March 1943 and completed on 25 December 1943.
United Kingdom
