HMS Lancaster Castle

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HMS Lancaster Castle 1945 IWM FL 14523.jpg
Lancaster Castle in March 1945
History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
NameHMS Lancaster Castle
Namesake Lancaster Castle
Builder Fleming & Ferguson
Laid down10 September 1943
Launched14 April 1944
Commissioned15 September 1944
Decommissioned1947
Identification Pennant number: K691
FateScrapped, 6 September 1960
General characteristics
Class and type Castle-class corvette
Displacement1,060 long tons (1,077 t)
Length252 ft (77 m)
Beam37 ft (11 m)
Draught10 ft (3.0 m)
Installed power2,750 hp (2.05 MW)
Propulsion
  • 2 × water-tube boilers
  • 1 × 4-cylinder triple-expansion steam engine
  • Single screw
Speed16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph)
Range9,500 nmi (17,600 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement112
Sensors and
processing systems
  • Type 272 radar
  • Type 144Q sonar
  • Type 147B sonar
Armament

HMS Lancaster Castle was a Castle-class corvette of the Royal Navy. It served on convoy defence duties from 1944 to 1945, it was put in reserve in 1946 and eventually scrapped in 1960.

History

Lancaster Castle was ordered on 19 December 1942 from Fleming and Ferguson, a Scottish shipbuilding company in Paisley, Renfrewshire. It was laid down on 10 November 1943 as Job Number 1546. It was launched on 14 April 1944, becoming the first Royal Navy ship to carry the name, and was commissioned on 15 September 1944. [1]

In November 1944, Lancaster Castle joined 31st Escort Group. The other ships in the group were Berkeley Castle, Carisbrooke Castle, Dumbarton Castle, and Hadleigh Castle. In December, the group deployed to the Atlantic North West Approaches for convoy defence duties. They continued in this role through to March 1945 when they were detached for Russian convoy defence with Home Fleet units. A notable incident in this period was on 20 March 1945 when escorting convoy JW 65, they came under attack by six U-Boats, resulting in the loss of HMS Lapwing and the American merchant ships Horace Bushnel and Thomas Donaldson. [2] [1]

On 1 April 1945 they were detached from their escort of convoy RA 65 on arrival at Scapa Flow and continued convoy defence duties with 31st Escort Group in British coastal waters. On 8 May, following the cessation of hostilities with Germany, the Lancaster Castle was released from convoy defence duties and deployed in home waters for the support of occupation forces and the collection of surrendered U-Boats. [1]

In 1946, the Lancaster Castle was paid-off and put in reserve at Portsmouth. The ship later refitted at Cardiff before being transferred to the Reserve Fleet Division in Harwich in 1949. After this closed in 1953, it was transferred to Hartlepool where it was laid-up before being put on the Disposal List in 1957. It was offered to Norway but was declined, and so was sold for demolition in Gateshead. It arrived for scrapping on 6 September 1960. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Mason, Geoffrey B. (2002). "HMS LANCASTER CASTLE (K 691)". Naval History. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  2. ↑ "Ships hit from convoy JW-65". uboat.net. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
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