HMS Pevensey Castle (K449)

History
United Kingdom
Name	Pevensey Castle
Namesake	Pevensey Castle
Builder	Harland & Wolff
Yard number	1239 [1]
Laid down	21 June 1943
Launched	11 January 1944
Completed	10 June 1944 [1]
Commissioned	10 June 1944
Decommissioned	February 1946
Identification	Pennant number: K449
Fate	Converted to a weather ship in 1959
United Kingdom
Name	Weather Monitor (1962) Admiral Beaufort (1976)
Acquired	1959
Fate	Scrapped, 1982
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type	Castle-class corvette
Displacement	1,010 long tons (1,030 t) (standard) 1,510 long tons (1,530 t) (deep load)
Length	252 ft (76.8 m)
Beam	33 ft (10.1 m)
Draught	14 ft (4.3 m)
Installed power	2 Admiralty 3-drum boilers 2,880  ihp (2,150 kW)
Propulsion	1 shaft, 1 triple-expansion engine
Speed	16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph)
Range	6,500  nmi (12,000 km; 7,500 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	99
Sensors and processing systems	Type 145 and Type 147 ASDIC Type 272 search radar HF/DF radio direction finder
Armament	1 × QF 4 in (102 mm) DP gun 2 × twin, 2 × single 20 mm (0.8 in) AA guns 1 × 3-barrel Squid anti-submarine mortar 1 × depth charge rail and 2 throwers; 15 depth charges

HMS Pevensey Castle was a Castle-class corvette built for the United Kingdom's Royal Navy 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 Following the war, the ship was converted into a weather ship and remained as such until being withdrawn from service in 1981 and scrapped in 1982.

Construction and career

Pevensey Castle, named for the castle in Pevensey, was built by Harland & Wolff in Belfast, and launched on 11 January 1944. The ship was commissioned in June 1944.

World War II

In World War II, as part of 30th Escort Group under the command of Denys Rayner, Pevensey Castle shared in the sinking of the German submarine U-1200 ^[2] south of Ireland on 11 November 1944, along with sister ships Launceston Castle, Portchester Castle and Kenilworth Castle.

Weather ship

In 1960/61 she was converted at Blyth to the weather ship Weather Monitor. She was upgraded at the Manchester Dry Docks Company in 1976 and renamed Admiral Beaufort

Fate

She was withdrawn from service in 1981 and scrapped at Troon in 1982.

References

1. McCluskie, Tom (2013). The Rise and Fall of Harland and Wolff. Stroud: The History Press. p. 154. ISBN   9780752488615.
2. U-1200 at uboat.net

Bibliography

• Campbell, N. J. M. (1980). "Great Britain (including Empire Forces)". In Chesneau, Roger (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 2–85. ISBN   0-85177-146-7.
• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN   978-1-86176-281-8.
• Goodwin, Norman; compiled by (2007). Castle Class Corvettes: An Account of the Service of the Ships and of Their Ships' Companies. Liskeard, UK: Maritime Books. ISBN   978-1-904459-27-9.
• Lenton, H. T. (1998). British & Empire Warships of the Second World War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN   1-55750-048-7.

External links

• Pevensey Castle at weatherships.co.uk