HMS Gardiner

Last updated

History
US flag 48 stars.svgUnited States
NameUSS O'Toole (DE-274)
NamesakeU.S. Navy Ensign John Albert O’Toole (1916-1942)
Ordered25 January 1942
Builder Boston Navy Yard, Boston, Massachusetts
Laid down20 May 1943
Launched8 July 1943
Completed28 September 1943
CommissionedNever
FateTransferred to United Kingdom 28 September 1943
AcquiredReturned by United Kingdom 12 February 1946
Fate
  • Sold 10 December 1946 for scrapping
  • Scrapped June 1947
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
NameHMS Gardiner
NamesakeCaptain Arthur Gardiner
Acquired28 September 1943
Commissioned28 September 1943
Decommissioned1945
Identification Pennant number: K478
FateReturned to United States 12 February 1946
General characteristics
Class & type Captain-class frigate
Displacement1,190 long tons (1,210  t) (standard)
Length289 ft 5 in (88.2 m)
Beam35 ft 2 in (10.7 m)
Draught10 ft 1 in (3.1 m)
Installed power6,000  shp (4,500  kW) electric motors
Propulsion2 shafts; 4 diesel engines
Speed20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Range6,000  nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement198
Sensors &
processing systems
Armament

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.

Contents

Description

The Evarts-class ships had an overall length of 289 feet 5 inches (88.2 m), a beam of 35 feet 2 inches (10.7 m), and a draught of 10 feet 1 inch (3.1 m) at full load. They displaced 1,190 long tons (1,210  t ) at (standard) and 1,416 long tons (1,439 t) at full load. [1] The ships had a diesel–electric powertrain derived from a submarine propulsion system [2] with four General Motors 16-cylinder diesel engines providing power to four General Electric electric generators which sent electricity to four 1,500- shaft-horsepower (1,100  kW ) General Electric electric motors which drove the two propeller shafts. The destroyer escorts had enough power give them a speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) and enough fuel oil to give them a range of 6,000 nautical miles (11,000  km ; 6,900  mi ) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph). Their crew consisted of 198 officers and ratings. [3]

The armament of the Evarts-class ships in British service consisted of three single mounts for 50-caliber 3-inch (76 mm)/50 Mk 22 dual-purpose guns; one superfiring pair forward of the bridge and the third gun aft of the superstructure. Anti-aircraft defence was intended to consisted of a twin-gun mount for 40-millimetre (1.6 in) Bofors anti-aircraft (AA) guns atop the rear superstructure with nine 20-millimetre (0.8 in) Oerlikon AA guns located on the superstructure, but production shortages meant that that not all guns were fitted, or that additional Oerlikons replaced the Bofors guns. A Mark 10 Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar was positioned just behind the forward gun. The ships were also equipped with two depth charge rails at the stern and four "K-gun" depth charge throwers. [4]

Construction and career

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. Commissioned into service in the Royal Navy as HMS Gardiner (K478) on 28 September 1943 simultaneously with her transfer, the ship served on patrol and escort duty for the remainder of World War II. [5]

The Royal Navy decommissioned Gardiner by October 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. The ship was sold 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. [6]

Citations

  1. Whitley, p. 152
  2. Friedman, p. 143
  3. Lenton, pp. 199–200
  4. Friedman, p. 478
  5. 1 2 "HMS Gardiner (K 478) of the Royal Navy - British Frigate of the Captain class". uboat.net. Retrieved 7 July 2025.
  6. "O'Toole (DE-527)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. 19 April 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2025.

References