HMS Blankney (L30)

General characteristics Type II
Class and type:	Hunt-class destroyer
Displacement:	1,050 long tons (1,070 t) standard; 1,430 long tons (1,450 t) full load;
Length:	85.3 m (279 ft 10 in) o/a
Beam:	9.6 m (31 ft 6 in)
Draught:	2.51 m (8 ft 3 in)
Propulsion:	2 Admiralty 3-drum boilers; 2 shaft Parsons geared turbines, 19,000 shp (14,000 kW);
Speed:	27 knots (31 mph; 50 km/h); 25.5 kn (29.3 mph; 47.2 km/h) full;
Range:	3,600 nmi (6,700 km) at 14 kn (26 km/h)
Complement:	164
Armament:	6 × QF 4 in Mark XVI guns on twin mounts Mk. XIX; 4 × QF 2 pdr Mk. VIII on quad mount MK.VII; 2 × 20 mm Oerlikons on single mounts P Mk. III; 110 depth charges, 2 throwers, 3 racks;

	HMS Blankney in 1943
History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Blankney
Ordered:	4 September 1939
Builder:	John Brown & Company
Yard number:	569
Laid down:	17 May 1940
Launched:	19 December 1940
Commissioned:	11 April 1941
Honours and; awards:	Atlantic 1941–43, Malta Convoys 1942, Arctic 1942–43, Sicily 1943, Salerno 1943, Normandy 1944, Mediterranean 1944.
Fate:	Scrapped in 1958
Badge:	On a Field Red, a griffin's head erased Gold in front of two hunting horns in saltire White.

Last updated April 05, 2019

HMS Blankney was a Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy and was the first and so far only warship to bear the Name.^[1] She was laid down on 17 May 1940 at John Brown & Company, Clydebank, Scotland, launched on 19 December 1940 and commissioned on 11 April 1941.

The Hunt class was a class of escort destroyer of the Royal Navy. The first vessels were ordered early in 1939, and the class saw extensive service in the Second World War, particularly on the British east coast and Mediterranean convoys. They were named after British fox hunts. The modern Hunt class GRP hulled mine countermeasure vessels maintain the Hunt names lineage in the Royal Navy.

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller powerful short-range attackers. They were originally developed in the late 19th century by Fernando Villaamil for the Spanish Navy as a defense against torpedo boats, and by the time of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, these "torpedo boat destroyers" (TBDs) were "large, swift, and powerfully armed torpedo boats designed to destroy other torpedo boats". Although the term "destroyer" had been used interchangeably with "TBD" and "torpedo boat destroyer" by navies since 1892, the term "torpedo boat destroyer" had been generally shortened to simply "destroyer" by nearly all navies by the First World War.

The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by the English kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years War against the Kingdom of France. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century; the oldest of the UK's armed services, it is known as the Senior Service.

Blankney was one of 33, Type II Hunt Escort Destroyers. The hulls of this second batch had an extra section which with the increased beam, gave stability for a third twin 4" AA gun to be mounted as originally designed and to give additional storage for depth charges (increased from 40 to 110). The class were named after fox hunts located in different parts of Britain and in Blankney's case, this was the Blankney Hunt, a fox-hunting pack based in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire.^[2]

An escort destroyer with United States Navy hull classification symbol DDE was a destroyer (DD) modified for and assigned to a fleet escort role after World War II. These destroyers retained their original hull numbers. Later, in March 1950, the post World War II ASW destroyer (DDK) classification was merged with the DDE classification, resulting in all DDK ships being reclassified as DDE, but again retaining their original hull numbers. On 30 June 1962, the DDE classification was retired, and all DDEs were reclassified as destroyers (DD). Escort destroyers should not be confused with the cheaper, slower, less capable, and more lightly armed World War II destroyer escorts.

Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase and, if caught, the killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds, and a group of unarmed followers led by a "master of foxhounds", who follow the hounds on foot or on horseback.

In 1942 the British Wartime Government introduced a National Savings campaign named "Warship Week" where towns could "adopt" a Royal Navy ship. Blankney was adopted by Nantwich in Cheshire. The town still has two roads named after the destroyer, Blankney Avenue and The Blankney. There is a plaque hanging in Civic Hall, commemorating the towns support for the crew.^[3]

The Churchill war ministry was a Conservative-led coalition government in the United Kingdom that lasted for most of the Second World War. It was led by Winston Churchill, who was appointed by King George VI as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Formed in 1940 in the aftermath of the Norway Debate and within a year of declaring war on Nazi Germany, it persisted until May 1945, when Churchill resigned and an election was called.

Warship Weeks were British National savings campaigns during the Second World War, with the aim of a Royal Navy warship being adopted by a civil community. During the early parts of the war, the Royal Navy not only had lost many capital ships but was facing increasing pressure to provide escorts for convoys in the Atlantic. While there was not a shortage of sailors, ships sunk by enemy action had to be replaced.

Nantwich is a market town and civil parish in Cheshire, England. It is known for having amongst the highest concentrations of listed buildings in England, with particularly good examples of Tudor and Georgian architecture. In 2011, it had a population of 17,424.

Service history

12th escort group

From October 1941 Blankney was a member of the 12th escort group based at Derry, Northern Ireland. In December she was dispatched to reinforce Commander Johnny Walker's U-boat killer group that was escorting convoy HG 76 for passage to Gibraltar.

Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name Daire meaning "oak grove". In 1613, the city was granted a Royal Charter by King James I and gained the "London" prefix to reflect the funding of its construction by the London guilds. While the city is more usually known colloquially as Derry, Londonderry is also commonly used and remains the legal name.

Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares a border to the south and west with the Republic of Ireland. In 2011, its population was 1,810,863, constituting about 30% of the island's total population and about 3% of the UK's population. Established by the Northern Ireland Act 1998 as part of the Good Friday Agreement, the Northern Ireland Assembly holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters, while other areas are reserved for the British government. Northern Ireland co-operates with the Republic of Ireland in some areas, and the Agreement granted the Republic the ability to "put forward views and proposals" with "determined efforts to resolve disagreements between the two governments".

Captain Frederic John Walker, was a Royal Navy officer noted for his exploits during World War II. Walker was the most successful anti-submarine warfare commander during the Battle of the Atlantic and was known more popularly as Johnnie Walker.

On 17 December 1942, the German submarine U-131 was spotted on the surface by a Martlet of 802 NAS flying from the escort carrier Audacity and was forced to dive. After being damaged in a depth charge attack by the sloop Pentstemon, U-131 tried to escape on the surface. The Martlet strafed the boat, but was shot down in the process.

German submarine <i>U-131</i> (1941) German world war II submarine

German submarine U-131 was a Type IXC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.

The Grumman F4F Wildcat is an American carrier-based fighter aircraft that began service with both the United States Navy and the British Royal Navy in 1940, where it was initially known as the Martlet. First used in combat by the British in the North Atlantic, the Wildcat was the only effective fighter available to the United States Navy and Marine Corps in the Pacific Theater during the early part of World War II in 1941 and 1942; the disappointing Brewster Buffalo was withdrawn in favor of the Wildcat and replaced as units became available. With a top speed of 318 mph (512 km/h), the Wildcat was outperformed by the faster 331 mph (533 km/h), more maneuverable, and longer-ranged Mitsubishi A6M Zero. However, the F4F's ruggedness, coupled with tactics such as the Thach Weave, resulted in a claimed air combat kill-to-loss ratio of 5.9:1 in 1942 and 6.9:1 for the entire war.

802 Naval Air Squadron was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm.

U-131 was shelled by the British escort destroyers Exmoor and Blankney, the destroyer Stanley, sloops Pentstemon and Stork. Realizing that the situation was hopeless, the crew scuttled the submarine. All 47 of the crew survived and were taken prisoner.^[4]^[5]

HMS Exmoor was a Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was a member of the first subgroup of the class, and saw service in the Second World War, before being sunk by German E-boats in 1941.

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.

On 18 December, Stanley spotted U-434 on the surface and gave chase. As the submarine dived, Blankney achieved firm ASDIC (sonar) contact and made three depth charge attacks. U-434 was severely damaged, but managed to surface and allow her crew escape before sinking. Blankney rescued the crew before returning to Gibraltar to refuel.

Arctic convoys

At the start of 1942 Blankney was under repair at Gibraltar, before becoming part of the escort for Arctic convoy WS 16. Later she provided Distant Cover for Russian Convoy PQ 17 and the return Convoy PQ 13 from Murmansk to Iceland. In July 1942 Blankney was damaged in a collision and spent three months in Northern Russia under repair, before sailing from Archangel as part of the escort of convoy PQ 14.

Blankney spent the rest of the year under repair at Loch Ewe with a secondary role to provide a local escort for Convoy JW 51B

Operations in the Mediterranean

During Operation Husky. Blankney was able to provide air defence and shore bombardment at the Bark East Landing area with fellow destroyer, Puckeridge.

On 10 March 1944 Blankney, Blencathra, Brecon, Exmoor and the US destroyer USS Madison, sank U-450 in the western Mediterranean South of Ostia, at position 41°11′N12°27′E / 41.183°N 12.450°E / 41.183; 12.450 , in a co-ordinated depth charge attack. All 42 crew members of the submarine were rescued and became prisoners of war.^[6]

On the night of 2 May 1944, U-371 was spotted when she surfaced almost in the middle of the convoy off Djidjelli on the Algerian coast and immediately crash-dived. When the U-boat re-surfaced she was detected by USS Menges, who closed to 3,000 m (3,300 yd). U-371 fired a torpedo, then dived. Menges was hit and the aft third of the vessel destroyed, but she remained afloat.

Blankney in company with the US destroyer escorts USS Pride and USS Joseph E. Campbell, along with the Free French destroyer escorts Sénégalais and L'Alcyon, were tasked to find U-371 and employed a new submarine hunting tactic called "Swamp". This called for the location of a known U-boat to be packed with escort ships and aircraft, to systematically search the area, forcing the U-boat to remain submerged until its batteries or air ran out and was forced to surface.

U-371 lay on the sea-bed at around 240 metres (790 ft) for the rest of the day to evade sonar detection, before the U-boat's commander, was forced to surface and attempt to escape in the darkness. Blankney and the other escorts spotted the submarine and immediately opened fire, scoring several hits. The U-boat returned fire, and managed to hit Sénégalais with a torpedo, causing some damage. The situation for U-371 was hopeless as she was unable to dive and faced massively superior firepower from the attacking destroyers. Most of her crew jumped overboard and were taken prisoner.

D-Day, 6 June 1944

During Operation Neptune Blankney was a member of Force K Gunfire Support Bombarding, assigned to "Gold Beach" during operation the Allied landings in Normandy.

End of the War

Following Operation Neptune, Blankney was deployed in and around the English Channel and the North Sea to guard against any attempts for E-Boats or U-Boats laying naval mines in the Thames estuary. Her war was completed when in August 1945, following VJ Day she returned to the UK where she was laid up in Sheerness as part of the Reserve Fleet.

Fate

Blankney was refited after VJ Day and returned to UK. In May 1946 she was paid off and entered Reserve at Devonport. The ship had another refit in 1948 and was then laid up in Reserve Fleet at Sheerness. During 1952 she was moved to Hartlepool and approval was given for her to be placed on the Disposal List on 22 October 1958. She was sold to BISCO for scrapping by Hughes Bolcow at Blyth and was towed to the breaker's yard 9 March the same year. Her badge can still be seen painted on the side of the Selborne dry dock wall at Simonstown, South Africa.

Royal Mail Stamp

On 7 September 1989 a 22p stamp featuring the Ships Badge was issued (SG616) ^[7]

Commanders

Name	From	To
Lt.Cdr. Philip Frederick Powlett, RN	27 Feb 1941	11 Mar 1943
Lt.Cdr. Douglas Henry Reid Bromley RN	11 Mar 1943	24 Apr 1944
Lt. Bernard Henry Brown, RN	24 Apr 1944	1 Apr 1946

Notes

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References

Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475.
English, John (1987). The Hunts: a history of the design, development and careers of the 86 destroyers of this class built for the Royal and Allied Navies during World War II. England: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-44-4.

External links

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] HMS Blankney, Type II, Hunt-class Escort Destroyer at naval-history.net

[2] The 'Hunt' class destroyer at WW2Today.com

[3] Nantwich Town Council Page on HMS Blankney

[4] "The Type IXC boat U-131 - German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net".

[5] Kemp, pp. 75–76.

[6] U-450 at uboat.net

[7] SG616 at shipstamps.co.uk

History
HMS Blankney in 1943
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Blankney
Ordered:	4 September 1939
Builder:	John Brown & Company
Yard number:	569
Laid down:	17 May 1940
Launched:	19 December 1940
Commissioned:	11 April 1941
Honours and awards:	Atlantic 1941–43, Malta Convoys 1942, Arctic 1942–43, Sicily 1943, Salerno 1943, Normandy 1944, Mediterranean 1944.
Fate:	Scrapped in 1958
Badge:	On a Field Red, a griffin's head erased Gold in front of two hunting horns in saltire White.