HMS Gardiner

For other ships with the same name, see USS O'Toole.

History
United States
Name	USS O'Toole (DE-274)
Namesake	U.S. Navy Ensign John Albert O’Toole (1916-1942), killed in action during the Operation Torch amphibious landings in North Africa on 8 November 1942
Ordered	25 January 1942 [1]
Builder	Boston Navy Yard, Boston, Massachusetts
Laid down	20 May 1943
Launched	8 July 1943 [2]
Completed	28 September 1943
Commissioned	Never
Fate	Transferred to United Kingdom 28 September 1943
Acquired	Returned by United Kingdom 12 February 1946
Fate	Sold 10 December 1946 for scrapping Scrapped June 1947
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Gardiner
Namesake	Captain Arthur Gardiner ( ? -1758), British naval officer killed in action as commanding officer of HMS Monmouth during the capture of the French ship Foudroyant in 1758 [3] [4]
Acquired	28 September 1943
Commissioned	28 September 1943 [1]
Decommissioned	1945 [5]
Fate	Returned to United States 12 February 1946
General characteristics
Class and type	Captain-class frigate
Displacement	1,140 long tons (1,158 t)
Length	289.5 ft (88.2 m)
Beam	35 ft (11 m)
Draught	9 ft (2.7 m)
Propulsion	Four General Motors 278A 16-cylinder engines GE 7,040 bhp (5,250 kW) generators (4,800 kW) GE electric motors for 6,000 shp (4,500 kW) Two shafts
Speed	20 knots (37 km/h)
Range	5,000 nautical miles (9,260 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h)
Complement	156
Sensors and processing systems	SA & SL type radars Type 144 series Asdic MF Direction Finding antenna HF Direction Finding Type FH 4 antenna
Armament	3 × 3 in (76 mm) /50 Mk.22 guns 1 × twin Bofors 40 mm mount Mk.I 7–16 × 20 mm Oerlikon guns Mark 10 Hedgehog antisubmarine mortar Depth charges QF 2-pounder naval gun
Notes	Pennant number K478

HMS Gardiner (K478) 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 O'Toole (DE-274), she served in the Royal Navy from 1943 to 1946.

Construction and transfer

The ship was laid down as the U.S. Navy destroyer escort USS O'Toole (DE-274), the first ship of the name, by the Boston Navy Yard in Boston, Massachusetts, on 20 May 1943 and launched on 8 July 1943. O'Toole was transferred to the United Kingdom under Lend-Lease upon completion on 28 September 1943.

Service history

Commissioned into service in the Royal Navy as HMS Gardiner (K478) on 28 September 1943 ^[1] simultaneously with her transfer, the ship served on patrol and escort duty for the remainder of World War II.

The Royal Navy decommissioned Gardiner in 1945 ^[5] after the end of the war and returned her to the U.S. Navy at the Boston Naval Shipyard on 12 February 1946.

Disposal

The United States sold Gardiner to the Atlas Steel and Supply Company on 10 December 1946 for scrapping. In 1947, she was resold to the Kulky Steel and Equipment Company of Alliance, Ohio, and finally was scrapped in June 1947.

Citations

1. uboat.net HMS Gardiner (K 478)
2. Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive O'Toole (DE 274) HMS Gardiner (K-478)
3. FRIGATES IN MIXED ESCORT GROUPS
4. Sotheby's Catalogue Notes and Provenance
5. According to uboat.net HMS Gardiner (K 478), the Royal Navy had removed Gardiner from its active list by October 1945, indicating her decommissioning prior to that.

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .The entry can be found here. (Gardiner)
• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .The entry can be found here. (O'Toole)
• Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive O'Toole (DE-274) HMS Gardiner (K-478)
• uboat.net HMS Gardiner (K 478)

External links

• Photo gallery of HMS Gardiner (K478)