HMS Loring

HMS Loring on 26 August 1944
History
United States
Name	unnamed (DE-520)
Builder	Boston Navy Yard, Boston, Massachusetts
Laid down	18 July 1943
Launched	30 August 1943
Completed	November 1943
Commissioned	never
Fate	Transferred to United Kingdom November 1943
Acquired	Returned by United Kingdom, 7 January 1947
Fate	Sold for scrap by 27 March 1947
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Loring (K565)
Namesake	Admiral Sir John Wentworth Loring
Acquired	November 1943
Commissioned	November 1943
Decommissioned	By October 1945
Identification	Pennant number: K565
Fate	Returned to United States, 7 January 1947
General characteristics
Class & type	Captain-class frigate
Displacement	1,190 long tons (1,210  t) (standard)
Length	289 ft 5 in (88.2 m)
Beam	35 ft 2 in (10.7 m)
Draught	10 ft 1 in (3.1 m)
Installed power	6,000  shp (4,500  kW) electric motors
Propulsion	2 shafts; 4 diesel engines
Speed	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Range	6,000  nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	198
Sensors & processing systems	SA & SL type radars Type 144 series Asdic MF Direction Finding HF Direction Finding
Armament	3 × single 3 in (76 mm)/50 Mk 22 guns 1 × twin Bofors 40 mm 9 × single 20 mm Oerlikon guns 1 × Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar 2 × Depth charge rails and four throwers

HMS Loring (K565) 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 DE-520, she served in the Royal Navy from 1943 to 1945.

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 by the Boston Navy Yard in Boston, Massachusetts, on 18 July 1943 as the unnamed U.S. Navy destroyer escort DE-520 and launched on 30 August 1943. ^[5] The United States transferred the ship to the United Kingdom under Lend-Lease upon completion sometime in November 1943 and commissioned into service in the Royal Navy as HMS Loring (K565), sources vary on the exact date. ^[6] simultaneously with her transfer. She served on patrol and escort duty in the eastern North Atlantic for the remainder of World War II. ^[7]

The Royal Navy decommissioned Loring by October 1945 after the conclusion of the war and returned her to the U.S. Navy while the ship was still in the United Kingdom on 7 January 1947. ^[8] Loring was subsequently sold for scrap and departed Preston on 27 March 1947, bound for Greece to begin breaking up. ^[9]

Citations

1. Whitley, p. 152
2. Friedman, p. 143
3. Lenton, pp. 199–200
4. Friedman, p. 478
5. Lenton, p. 203
6. Sources contradict one another on the date of transfer other than to agree it happened sometime in November 1943. The uboat.net HMS Loring (K 565) page says that the ship's first commanding officer took command on 1 November 1943, which suggests that 1 November 1943 was the transfer date, but also states that the ship's commissioning date in the Royal Navy, which also usually corresponds to the transfer date, was 15 November 1943. NavSource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive HMS Loring (DE-520 / K-565) places the transfer date on 20 November 1943. The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: Loring article claims a transfer date of 27 November 1943.
7. "Loring". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
8. "HMS Loring (K 565) of the Royal Navy - British Frigate of the Captain class". uboat.net. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
9. Colledge, Warlow & Bush, p. 253

References

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben & Bush, Steve (2020). Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present (5th revised and updated ed.). Seaforth Publishing. ISBN   978-1-5267-9327-0.
• Friedman, Norman (2005). U.S. Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History (Revised ed.). Naval Institute Press. ISBN   1-55750-442-3.
• Lenton, H. T. (1998). British & Empire Warships of the Second World War. Naval Institute Press. ISBN   1-55750-048-7.
• Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Naval Institute Press. ISBN   1-59114-119-2.
• Whitley, M. J. (2000). Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. Cassell & Co. ISBN   1-85409-521-8.

External links

• Captain Class Frigate Association HMS Loring K565 (DE 520)