HMS Capel (K470)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Capel.

HMS Capel, formerly USS Wintle underway after being Christened
History
United Kingdom
Name	Capel
Namesake	Admiral Sir Thomas Bladen Capel
Builder	Boston Navy Yard
Laid down	11 March 1943
Launched	22 April 1943
Commissioned	16 August 1943
Fate	Torpedoed and sunk, 26 December 1944
General characteristics
Type	Captain-class frigate
Displacement	1,140 long tons (1,158 t)
Length	289 ft 5 in (88.21 m)
Beam	35 ft 1 in (10.69 m)
Draught	10 ft 6 in (3.20 m)
Propulsion	4 × General Motors Model 16-278A diesel engines with electric drive, 6,000 shp (4,474 kW) 2 screws
Speed	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Range	5,000 nmi (9,300 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	156
Armament	3 × single 3"/50 Mk.22 dual purpose guns 1 × twin 40 mm AA gun 10 × 20 mm AA guns 1 × Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar 4 × K-gun depth charge projectors 2 × depth charge tracks

HMS Capel was a Captain-class frigate, built in the United States as a Evarts-class destroyer escort, and transferred to the Royal Navy under the terms of Lend-Lease, which served in World War II.

The ship was laid down as USS Wintle (DE-266) on 11 March 1943 by the Boston Navy Yard, Boston, Massachusetts, and launched on 22 April 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Mary Clyde Wintle. On 14 June 1943 the ship was allocated to the United Kingdom; and she was transferred to the Royal Navy and commissioned as HMS Capel on 16 August 1943. The ship was named after Admiral Sir Thomas Bladen Capel (1776-1853).

Undated wartime photo of HMS Capel at sea

Service history

Capel was attached to 1st Escort Group based at Belfast from 9 April 1944.

After patrols in the area between the Scottish Isles and the Irish Sea, Capel was anchored in Moelfre Bay, Anglesey to await "D-Day". She sailed on 5 May 1944 to join the massive anti-submarine screen patrolling the western end of the English Channel, in order to protect the Normandy landings of 6 June 1944. Capel returned to Belfast on 18 June to rest.

After the port of Cherbourg was captured and cleared the Capel and her Escort Group escorted convoys across the Channel, to and from Cherbourg with rest periods spent at Plymouth. In late 1944 the group shifted operations to the eastern end of the Channel, patrolling the convoy route to the newly liberated port of Antwerp.

At 14.14 hours on 26 December 1944 Capel and the rest the Escort Group were patrolling 10 nmi (19 km; 12 mi) east-northeast of Cherbourg when the U-486 sighted the group and fired three T5 torpedoes; one of which hit Capel and another Affleck.

Affleck was towed to port, but declared a total loss, while Capel sank at position 49°50′N1°41′W / 49.833°N 1.683°W / 49.833; -1.683 . The survivors were picked up by American MTBs and taken to Cherbourg. Her commander, Lieutenant Bevil Grenfell Heslop, RN, DSC, eight officers, and 67 men were lost.

Crew List

Below is a comprehensive list of all 79 crew members aboard HMS Capel. ^[1]

Name	Rank	Age	Country	Service
Appleby, Thomas	Petty Officer	27	British	Royal Navy
Armitage, Tom	Stoker 1st Class	32	British	Royal Navy
Ashfield, Leslie Cecil	Able Seaman	20	British	Royal Navy
Beach, Cyril	Able Seaman	22	British	Royal Navy
Bishop, Thomas Alan	Able Seaman	22	British	Royal Navy
Bowyer, Thomas Henry Charles	Stoker 1st Class	31	British	Royal Navy
Brackenbury, Alfred	Able Seaman	41	British	Royal Fleet Reserve
Bunce, George Edward	Able Seaman	24	British	Royal Navy
Burn, Ronald Dennis	Leading Signalman	25	British	Royal Navy
Busson, Francis Henry	Able Seaman	19	British	Royal Navy
Church, George Leslie	Stoker 1st Class	30	British	Royal Navy
Clarkson, Leslie	Leading Stoker	26	British	Royal Navy
Crookes, Francis Henry	Able Seaman	31	British	Royal Navy
Davis, Sidney William	Telegraphist	20	British	Royal Navy
Dowden, Cyril Edgar	Able Seaman	19	British	Royal Navy
Earnsby, Frederick William	Able Seaman	20	British	Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve
East, Walter Percival	Coder	22	British	Royal Navy
Fletcher, James Bertram	Ordinary Seaman	18	British	Royal Navy
Fountain, John Henry	Able Seaman	24	British	Royal Navy
Francis, Charles	Able Seaman	23	British	Royal Navy
French, Jack	Able Seaman	23	British	Royal Navy
Frowheim, Arthur William Desmond	Stoker 1st Class	25	British	Royal Navy
Gibb, George	Able Seaman	25	British	Royal Navy
Gibbs, Leslie John	Stoker 1st Class	27	British	Royal Navy
Gladwin, Edward Edward Barrie	Able Seaman	24	British	Royal Navy
Gladwin, Ronald	Able Seaman	33	British	Royal Navy
Gray, Cyril Raymond	Able Seaman	21	British	Royal Navy
Hall, Francis Raymond	Stoker 1st Class	19	British	Royal Navy
Harfield, Jack Francis Walter	Sub-Lieutenant	21	British	Royal Navy
Harrison, Dennis George	Able Seaman	26	British	Royal Navy
Harvey, Arthur Henry	Petty Officer	29	British	Royal Navy
Helliwell, Arthur	Lieutenant (E)	41	British	Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve
Hendley, Basil Eric	Able Seaman	19	British	Royal Navy
Heslop, Bevil Grenfell	Sub-Lieutenant (E)	23	British	Royal Navy
Heywood, Joseph	Sub-Lieutenant (E)	28	British	Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve
Holt, Bernard Henry	Ordnance Artificer 3rd Class	20	British	Royal Navy
Hughes, Robert	Leading Cook (S)	29	British	Royal Navy
Johnston, Edward Archibald James	Leading Stoker	26	British	Royal Navy
Jones, Robert Murray	Stoker 1st Class	20	British	Royal Navy
Kniveton, Harry	Stoker 1st Class	19	British	Royal Navy
Langley, Roy Charles	Stoker 1st Class	18	British	Royal Navy
Lewis, George	Able Seaman	22	British	Royal Navy
Lodge, Robert William	Able Seaman	25	British	Royal Navy
McElvaney, Ronald	Able Seaman	20	British	Royal Navy
Norman, Cecil George	Petty Officer	36	British	Royal Navy
Page, John Alfred	Able Seaman	22	British	Royal Navy
Payne, Charles Ronald	Able Seaman	20	British	Royal Navy
Peacock, Raymond Leslie	Stoker 1st Class	30	British	Royal Navy
Phillips, Anthony Thomas	Leading Seaman	23	British	Royal Navy
Phillips, Francis	Leading Seaman	23	British	Royal Navy
Phillips, John	Able Seaman	25	British	Royal Navy
Phillips, Sydney Alan	Sub-Lieutenant	21	British	Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve
Rendel, Reginald Aubrey	Sub-Lieutenant	22	British	Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve
Robinson, Ernest	Able Seaman	25	British	Royal Navy
Simpson, Robert Frederick Pegrum	Stoker 1st Class	20	British	Royal Navy
Smith, Eric Stuart	Lieutenant	33	British	Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve
Smith, Norman Harry Wrigthing	Able Seaman	21	British	Royal Navy
Smith, Ronald	Leading Stoker	24	British	Royal Navy
Spencer, Robert	Petty Officer Telegraphist	31	British	Royal Navy
Springford, Cyril	Able Seaman	20	British	Royal Navy
Stacey, Herbert	Stoker 1st Class	20	British	Royal Navy
Stephenson, Harry	Able Seaman	20	British	Royal Navy
Tanner, Ralph Trevelyan Cameron	Able Seaman	20	British	Royal Navy
Taylor, John	Stoker 1st Class	30	British	Royal Navy
Taylor, Norman Alonza	Able Seaman	21	British	Royal Navy
Tingley, Frank Albert	Able Seaman	21	British	Royal Navy
Trangmar, William	Stoker 1st Class	19	British	Royal Navy
Tubbs, Thomas Frederick	Able Seaman	22	British	Royal Navy
Waddington, Edward	Stoker 1st Class	30	British	Royal Navy
Walker, Frederick Arthur	Ordnance Mechanic 4th Class	25	British	Royal Navy
Walker, John	Lieutenant	33	New Zealander	Royal New Zealand Navy
Watts, William Frederick	Able Seaman	24	British	Royal Navy
Webber, Edward	Able Seaman	44	British	Royal Navy
Whelan, John Edward	Able Seaman	24	British	Royal Navy
White, Dennis	Able Seaman	19	British	Royal Navy
White, Thomas Edward	Able Seaman	20	British	Royal Navy
Wilkinson, Charles	Able Seaman	23	British	Royal Navy
Williams, John Henry	Signalman	19	British	Royal Navy
Yarham, Walter	Stoker 1st Class	29	British	Royal Navy

References

• The Captain Class Frigates Association
• uboat.net HMS Capel
• Photo gallery of HMS Capel at NavSource Naval History
•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .The entry can be found here.

1. "Crewlist from HMS Capel (K 470) (British frigate) - Ships hit by German U-boats during WWII - uboat.net". uboat.net. Retrieved 1 September 2025.