The Grand Fleet was the main battlefleet of the Royal Navy during the First World War. It was established in August 1914 and disbanded in April 1919. Its main base was Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands.
HMS Bamborough Castle was one of 44 Castle-class corvettes built for the Royal Navy during World War II. Completed in mid-1944 she sank the U-boat U-387 on 9 December. Aside from a brief period assigned to the Fishery Protection Squadron in 1946, the rest of her career was spent as part of the fleet reserve until she was scrapped in May 1959.
HMS Launceston Castle (K397) was a Castle-class corvette of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy, named after Launceston Castle in Cornwall. The ship was constructed during the Second World War and saw service primarily as a convoy escort.
HMS Pevensey Castle was a Castle-class corvette of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. The ship was constructed during World War II and saw service during the war as a convoy escort. Following the war, the ship was converted into a weather ship and remained as such until being withdrawn from service in 1981 and scrapped in 1982.
HMS Portchester Castle was a Castle-class corvette built in 1943 and scrapped in 1958. She was the only ship of the Royal Navy to be named after Portchester Castle in Hampshire, and was used for the 1952 film The Cruel Sea, in which she played Saltash Castle. Also seen in ‘The man who never was’ when the body was delivered to the submarine.
The River class was a class of 151 frigates launched between 1941 and 1944 for use as anti-submarine convoy escorts in the North Atlantic. The majority served with the Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy (RCN), with some serving in the other Allied navies: the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), the Free French Naval Forces, the Royal Netherlands Navy and, post-war, the South African Navy.
HMS Allington Castle was one of 44 Castle-class corvette built for the Royal Navy during the Second World War. She was named after Allington Castle in Kent. Completed in 1944, she served as a convoy escort during the war and on fishery patrol duties in 1945–1947, being sold for scrap in 1958.
HMS Alnwick Castle was one of 44 Castle-class corvettes built for the Royal Navy during the Second World War. She was named after Alnwick Castle in Northumberland. Completed in late 1944, the ship served as a convoy escort until the end of the war, helping to sink one German submarine. The corvette was placed in reserve after the war and was sold for scrap in 1958.
HMS Flint Castle (K383) was one of 44 Castle-class corvettes built for the Royal Navy during World War II. Completed at the end of 1943, the ship ran aground while training in January 1944. After repairs were completed the following month, she was briefly assigned to the 39th Escort Group for convoy escort duties in the Atlantic Ocean. Flint Castle was transferred to Escort Group B2 in March and screened convoys to and from Gibraltar until September. That month, she joined Escort Group B3 to escort convoys between Canada and Britain and continued to do so until the end of the war in May 1945. The ship then became an anti-submarine training ship in Rosyth and Campbeltown, Scotland, before moving to Portland at the beginning of 1947. Flint Castle remained there until she was taken out of service in March 1956 and broken up beginning in July 1958.
HMS Hurst Castle (K416) was one of 44 Castle-class corvettes built for the Royal Navy during World War II. Completed in June 1944, she began escorting convoys in August and was sunk by a German U-boat the following month.
HMS Hedingham Castle was a Castle-class corvette of the Royal Navy named after Hedingham Castle in Essex.
A infantry landing ship was one of a number of types of British Commonwealth vessels used to transport landing craft and troops engaged in amphibious warfare during the Second World War. LSIs were operated by the Royal Navy, British Merchant Navy, Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Indian Navy, and Royal Australian Navy. They transported British Commonwealth and other Allied troops in sea assaults and invasions throughout the war.
HMS Buttercup was a Flower-class corvette built for the Royal Navy. She served during the Second World War first as part of the Royal Navy Section Belge (RNSB), and then later as part of the Royal Norwegian Navy. Between 1946 and 1957 she served as HNoMS Nordyn. The Norwegian government then sold her and she became the whaler Thoris until she was broken up in 1969.
HMS Nunney Castle was a Castle-class corvette ordered by the British Royal Navy during the Second World War. The ship was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy before completion and renamed HMCS Bowmanville. Bowmanville served with the Royal Canadian Navy in the final years of the war and was sold for mercantile use in 1946. Renamed Ta Shun, the ship sailed under a Chinese flag, later being renamed Yuan Pei. In 1949, the former corvette was taken over by the Communist-controlled government of China and rearmed and renamed Kuang Chou. Kuang Chou was listed until 1976 and was stricken in 1986.
HMS Hever Castle was a Castle-class corvette constructed for the British Royal Navy in the Second World War. Transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy before completion, the ship was renamed HMCS Copper Cliff and saw service as a convoy escort for the remainder of the war. Following the war, the vessel was sold for mercantile use and renamed Ta Lung, operating under a Chinese flag. In 1949, the ship was taken over by the Communist Chinese government, rearmed and renamed Wan Lee.
HMS Tamworth Castle was a Castle-class corvette that was ordered for the British Royal Navy during the Second World War. Before completion, the ship was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy and renamed HMCS Kincardine, which used the corvette as a convoy escort for the rest of the war. Following the war, the ship was sold for mercantile use to French, then Moroccan interests and was renamed Saada in 1947.
HMS Walmer Castle was a Castle-class corvette constructed for the British Royal Navy during the Second World War. Before completion, the ship was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy and renamed HMCS Leaside. The corvette was used as an ocean convoy escort during the war and was sold for mercantile use following it. The ship was purchased for use as a passenger ship and renamed Coquitlam, then in 1958, Glacier Queen. In 1970 Glacier Queen was acquired for use as a floating hotel in Alaska. The ship sank in 1978 and was raised and scuttled in Alaskan waters in 1979.
HMS Auricula was a Flower-class corvette that served in the Royal Navy and was built by George Brown and Company in 1940. She was named after Auricula. Commissioned in 1941 and sunk by a mine on 6 May 1942.
United Kingdom
