HMS Essington (K353)

Last updated

HMS Essington FL11759.jpg
HMS Essington on 19 February 1944
History
US flag 48 stars.svgUnited States
Nameunnamed (DE-67)
Ordered10 January 1942 [1]
Builder Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Hingham, Massachusetts
Laid down15 March 1943 [2]
Launched19 June 1943 [2]
Completed7 September 1943 [2]
CommissionedNever
FateTransferred to United Kingdom 7 September 1943 [2]
AcquiredReturned by United Kingdom 19 October 1945
Stricken5 December 1945 [2]
FateSold for scrapping 22 December 1945
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
NameHMS Essington (K353)
Namesake Rear Admiral Sir William Essington (1753-1816), British naval officer who commanded from his flagship HMS Triumph at the Battle of Camperdown in 1797 [3]
Acquired7 September 1943 [2]
Commissioned7 September 1943 [1]
Decommissioned1945
Honours and
awards
Battle honours for Biscay 1943-1944, Atlantic 1943-1945, Arctic 1944, Normandy 1944, and English Channel 1944-1945 [4]
FateReturned to United States 19 October 1945 [2]
General characteristics
Displacement1,400 long tons (1,422 t)
Length306 ft (93 m)
Beam36.75 ft (11.2 m)
Draught9 ft (2.7 m)
Propulsion
  • Two Foster-Wheeler Express "D"-type water-tube boilers
  • GE 13,500 shp (10,070 kW) steam turbines and generators (9,200 kW)
  • Electric motors for 12,000 shp (8,900 kW)
  • Two shafts
Speed24 knots (44 km/h)
Range5,500 nautical miles (10,200 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h)
Complement186
Sensors and
processing systems
Armament
Notes Pennant number K353

The second HMS Essington (K353), and the first ship of the name to see service, was a British Captain-class frigate of the Royal Navy in commission during World War II. Originally constructed as a United States Navy Buckley-class destroyer escort, she served in the Royal Navy from 1943 to 1945.

Contents

Construction and transfer

The ship was laid down as a U.S. Navy destroyer escort designated DE-67 by Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Inc., in Hingham, Massachusetts, on 15 March 1943 and launched on 19 June 1943. She was transferred to the United Kingdom upon completion on 7 September 1943. [2]

Service history

Commissioned into service in the Royal Navy as the frigate HMS Essington (K353) on 7 September 1943 simultaneously with her transfer, the ship began acceptance trials in Casco Bay in Maine. After passing her trials, she proceeded to Bermuda in October 1943 for shakedown and additional crew training. Once that was complete, she proceeded in early November 1943 from Bermuda to St. John's in the Dominion of Newfoundland, where she was assigned to the escort of a convoy bound for the United Kingdom which departed St. John's on 8 November 1943. During the transatlantic passage, she was detached and reassigned to the escort of Convoy MKS 30/SL 139, then under attack in the North Atlantic Ocean by German submarines of the Schill wolfpack, against which she was in combat by 21 November 1943. [4]

After detaching from the escort, Essington proceeded to Belfast, Northern Ireland, where she entered a shipyard in December 1943 to undergo modifications for Royal Navy service. These changes were completed on 25 December 1943, and she was assigned to the 3rd Escort Group with her sister ships HMS Blackwood (K313), HMS Cooke (K471), HMS Domett (K473), and HMS Duckworth (K351), based at Belfast. [4]

Soon after taking up her new duties, Essington was assigned to special duty and departed Belfast along with other ships of her escort group in early January 1944 bound for Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. She departed Scapa Flow on 5 January 1944 as part of the escort for a naval force that had been assigned to the British Eastern Fleet at Colombo, Ceylon, consisting of the battleships HMS Valiant and HMS Queen Elizabeth, the battlecruiser HMS Renown, and the aircraft carriers HMS Illustrious and HMS Unicorn (I72) . The ships arrived at Gibraltar on 7 January 1944 after a rough passage, then proceeded across the Mediterranean Sea to the Suez Canal, arriving at Suez, Egypt, on 12 January 1944. There Essington and the other ships of the 3rd Escort Group were detached from the escort. [4]

On 14 January 1944, Essington and the other ships of the 3rd Escort Group began their return passage to the United Kingdom as escorts for the battleship HMS Ramillies, which was on her way from the Eastern Fleet to prepare for her new assignment of supporting the Allied invasion of Normandy planned for June 1944. The ships crossed the Mediterranean, called at Gibraltar on 20 January 1944, and then proceeded to the United Kingdom, with Essington making an unsuccessful attack during the voyage on a submarine contact in the Western Approaches on 26 January 1944. [4]

In February 1944, the 3rd Escort Group returned to Belfast to resume its normal convoy defense duties in the North Atlantic. Essington deployed with the group on antisubmarine patrol duties in the Northwestern Approaches on 21 February 1944, returning to Belfast on 26 February 1944, and conducted another patrol operation in the Northwestern Approaches from 9 March to 5 April 1944, when Essington began a maintenance period. After the completion of repairs later in April, she deployed for antisubmarine duties in the Southwestern Approaches and English Channel which lasted into May 1944, called at Devonport Dockyard for replenishment, and returned to Belfast on 15 May 1944. [4]

In June 1944, the 3rd Escort Group was assigned to the defense of the Allied beachhead at Normandy from interference by German submarines. Essington and the rest of the escort group deployed in the English Channel for these duties on 7 June 1944, the day after the initial landings. On 29 June 1944 she joined Cooke, Domett, Duckworth and a Royal Air Force Liberator aircraft of No. 244 Squadron in a depth-charge attack that sank the German submarine U-988 in the English Channel west of Guernsey at 49°37′00″N003°41′00″W / 49.61667°N 3.68333°W / 49.61667; -3.68333 (U-988 sunk) . Blackwood was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine during the English Channel deployment, but Essington and the rest of the group returned to Belfast on 6 July 1944. [4]

On 11 July 1944, the 3rd Escort Group departed Belfast for another deployment in defense of the Normandy beachhead and resumed antisubmarine patrols in the English Channel on 12 July 1944. Initially based at Plymouth, the group was rebased at Devonport in August 1944. On 14 August 1944, Essington and Duckworth responded to the sighting of a German submarine by a Liberator aircraft of the Royal Air Force's No. 53 Squadron in the Bay of Biscay west of St. Nazaire, France, and the two frigates depth-charged a bottomed target. They and the Liberator were credited with the sinking of the German submarine U-618, which was lost with all hands, at position 47°22′00″N004°39′00″W / 47.36667°N 4.65000°W / 47.36667; -4.65000 (U-618 sunk) . The 3rd Escort Group returned to Belfast on 22 August 1944. [1] [4]

Essington deployed with the rest of the 3rd Escort Group on antisubmarine patrol duties in the Western Approaches from 1 to 21 September 1944 before returning to Belfast, where Temporary Acting Lieutenant Commander Stanley Lampard, RNVR, relieved Lambert of command of the ship on 29 September 1944. [4]

In October 1944, the 3rd Escort Group was assigned to detached service with the Home Fleet in defence of Arctic convoys bound for the Soviet Union. Essington steamed from Belfast to Loch Ewe, Scotland, for this assignment on 18 October 1944, and from 19 to 27 October 1944 operated in defense of Convoys JW 61 and JW 61A in the North Atlantic Ocean and Barents Sea before arriving at Polyarny in the Soviet Union on 28 October 1944. On 30 October 1944 she steamed out of Polyarny in advance of Convoy RA 61 's departure from the Kola Inlet to attack German submarines gathering to oppose RA 61's passage, and in early November 1944 defended RA 61 itself before returning to Murmansk with the other ships of the 3rd Escort Group on 3 November 1944. The escort group departed Murmansk on 9 November 1944 and returned to Belfast on 16 November 1944. [4]

During December 1944, Essington deployed with the 3rd Escort Group for antisubmarine patrols in the Irish Sea, but her participation was cut short when a fire broke out in her electric switchboard and she had to return to Belfast for repairs. In January 1945 she returned to operations in the Irish Sea, including special operations designed to counter German snorkel-equipped submarines in the vicinity of St. George's Channel. After a maintenance period in Belfast she began antisubmarine patrols in the Southwestern Approaches and the English Channel, continuing them until May 1945, when Germany surrendered. [4]

In May 1945, the Royal Navy decided to assign Essington to duty with the British Pacific Fleet, which required her to receive new communications equipment for her anticipated duties. Her refit to install the equipment began in June 1945 and was still in progress when the armistice with Japan of 15 August 1945 brought World War II to a close and prompted the termination of her refit and cancellation of her transfer to the Pacific. She returned to Belfast that month. [4]

The Royal Navy steamed Essington to the United States in October 1945 and returned her along with her sister ship HMS Calder (K349) to the U.S. Navy on 19 October 1945. [2] [4]

Disposal

The U.S. Navy struck Essington from its Naval Vessel Register on 5 December 1945. She was sold on 22 December 1945 for scrapping. [2]

Citations

Related Research Articles

HMS <i>Kempthorne</i> Frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Kempthorne (K483) was a Captain-class frigate of the Royal Navy and named after Captain John Kempthorne of HMS Mary Rose in 1669.

HMS <i>Conn</i> Frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Conn was a TE ("Buckley") Type Captain class frigate of the Royal Navy. She served during World War II as a convoy escort and anti-submarine warfare vessel in the Battle of the Atlantic and was credited with the destruction of two U-boats during the conflict.

HMS <i>Duckworth</i> (K351) Frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Duckworth (K351) was a Captain-class frigate of the Royal Navy. She served during the Second World War as a convoy escort and anti-submarine warfare vessel in the Battle of the Atlantic and was an effective U-boat killer, being credited with the destruction of five U-boats during the conflict.

USS <i>Asheville</i> (PF-1)

USS Asheville (PF-1) was an Asheville-class patrol frigate of the United States Navy that served during World War II. She was laid down on 10 March 1942 by Canadian Vickers Ltd. in Montreal, Quebec, Canada as the River-class frigate HMS Adur (K296) to serve in the British Royal Navy. She was launched on 22 August 1942 but due to a lack of American vessels for convoy protection she was transferred to the United States Navy prior to completion. On 1 December 1942, she was commissioned in Montreal as USS Asheville (PG-101), a patrol gunboat. She was reclassified PF-1 on 15 April 1943.

HMS <i>Tortola</i> Colony-class frigate

HMS Tortola (K595) was a Colony-class frigate of the United Kingdom that served during World War II. She originally was ordered by the United States Navy as the Tacoma-class patrol frigateUSS Peyton (PF-91) and was transferred to the Royal Navy prior to completion.

HMS <i>Ekins</i> Frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Ekins (K552) was a British Captain-class frigate of the Royal Navy that served during World War II. Originally constructed as a United States Navy Buckley class destroyer escort, she served in the Royal Navy from 1943 to 1945.

HMS <i>Rutherford</i> Frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Rutherford (K558) was a British Captain-class frigate of the Royal Navy in commission during World War II. Originally constructed as a United States Navy Buckley-class destroyer escort, she served in the Royal Navy from 1943 to 1945.

HMS <i>Spragge</i> (K572) Frigate of the Royal Navy

The fourth HMS Spragge (K572) and third ship of the name to enter service was a British Captain-class frigate of the Royal Navy in commission during World War II. Originally constructed as a United States Navy Buckley-class destroyer escort, she served in the Royal Navy from 1944 to 1946.

HMS Tyler (K576) was a British Captain-class frigate of the Royal Navy in commission during World War II. Originally constructed as a United States Navy Buckley-class destroyer escort, she served in the Royal Navy from 1944 to 1945.

HMS Domett (K473) was a British Captain-class frigate of the Royal Navy in commission during World War II. Originally constructed as the United States Navy Evarts-class destroyer escort USS Eisner (DE-269), she served in the Royal Navy from 1943 to 1946.

HMS <i>Hambledon</i> (L37) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

The second HMS Hambledon was a Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy in commission from 1940 to 1945. She was a member of the first subgroup of the class, and saw service throughout World War II.

HMS Blencathra (L24) was a Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy in commission from 1940 to 1948. She was a member of the first subgroup of the class, and saw service through most of World War II.

HMS <i>Exmoor</i> (L08) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

The second HMS Exmoor (L08), ex-HMS Burton, was a Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy in commission from 1941 to 1945. She was a member of the second subgroup of the class, and saw service during much of World War II. She later served in the Royal Danish Navy as HDMS Valdemar Sejr.

HMS <i>Vanquisher</i> Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Vanquisher (D54) was a V-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in World War I and World War II.

HMS <i>Watchman</i> (D26) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Watchman was a W-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in the final months of World War I, in the Russian Civil War, and in World War II.

HMS <i>Windsor</i> (D42) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

The third HMS Windsor (D42) was a W-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in the final months of World War I and in World War II.

HMS <i>Volunteer</i> (D71) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

The fourth HMS Volunteer (D71), later I71, was a Modified W-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in World War II.

HMS <i>Whitehall</i> Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Whitehall, pennant number D94, later I94, was a Modified W-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in the Second World War.

HMS <i>Wivern</i> (D66) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

The second HMS Wivern, was a Modified W-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in World War II.

HMS <i>Crane</i> (U23) Modified Black Swan-class sloop

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.

References