USS Swasey (DD-273)

Last updated

USS Swasey (DD-273).jpg
HMS Rockingham
History
US flag 48 stars.svgUnited States
NameUSS Swasey
Namesake Charles Swasey
Builder Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Squantum Victory Yard
Laid down27 August 1918
Launched7 May 1919
Sponsored byMs. Mary L. Swasey
Commissioned8 August 1919
Decommissioned10 June 1922
Stricken8 January 1941
FateTransferred to the United Kingdom, 26 November 1940
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
NameHMS Rockingham
Acquired26 November 1940
FateSank while under tow after striking a mine on 27 September 1944
General characteristics
Class and type Clemson-class destroyer
Displacement1,215 long tons (1,234 t)
Length314 ft 4 in (95.81 m)
Beam31 ft 8 in (9.65 m)
Draft9 ft 10 in (3.00 m)
Installed power26,500  hp (19,800 kW)
Propulsion
  • 2 × geared turbines
  • 2 × shafts
Speed35  kn (40 mph; 65 km/h)
Range4,900  nmi (5,600 mi; 9,100 km) at 15 kn (17 mph; 28 km/h)
Complement130 officers and enlisted
Armament

The first USS Swasey (DD-273) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy and transferred to the Royal Navy as HMS Rockingham (G58).

Contents

Service history

USS Swasey

Named for Charles Swasey, Swasey was laid down on 27 August 1918 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Squantum, Massachusetts; launched on 7 May 1919; sponsored by Ms. Mary L. Swasey; and commissioned on 8 August 1919.

Swasey was assigned to the Pacific Fleet and, after completing fitting out and sailing to the west coast, arrived at Pearl Harbor in the fall of 1919. She served there until the summer of 1922, when she returned to San Diego, California.

Swasey was decommissioned at San Diego on 10 June 1922 and assigned to the reserve fleet for the next 17 years. Swasey was reactivated on 18 December 1939 and – after an overhaul and sea trials – transferred to Britain on 26 November 1940 under the Destroyers for Bases Agreement.

Swasey was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 8 January 1941.

HMS Rockingham

Rockingham was modified for trade convoy escort service by removal of three of the original 4 in (102 mm)/50 cals and three of the triple torpedo tube mounts to reduce topside weight for additional depth charge stowage and installation of hedgehog. [1] Rockingham was assigned to Escort Group B-1 of the Mid-Ocean Escort Force for convoys ON 96, SC 105, SC 119, ON 171, HX 230 and HX 236 during the winter of 1942–43. [2]

Rockingham sank on 27 September 1944 while under tow after striking a mine.

Notes

  1. Lenton&Colledge (1968) pp.92-94
  2. Rohwer&Hummelchen (1992) pp.124,135,139,170,185,194,199,202&209

Related Research Articles

USS <i>Claxton</i> (DD-140) Wickes-class destroyer

USS Claxton (DD-140), named for Thomas Claxton, was a Wickes-class destroyer in the United States Navy. Entering service in 1919, the destroyer saw intermittent use during the interwar period. During World War II, Claxton was transferred to the Royal Navy and renamed HMS Salisbury. The ship saw service in the Battle of the Atlantic before sold for scrapping in 1944.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HX convoys</span> Naval convoy series during World War II

HX convoys were transatlantic convoys in the North Atlantic during the First World War and in the Battle of the Atlantic in the Second World War. HX convoys sailed eastwards from Halifax, Nova Scotia in Canada, to Liverpool and other ports in Britain. They were joined the BHX convoys from Bermuda en route. After the United States entered the war, HX convoys began at New York.

USS <i>Twiggs</i> (DD-127) Wickes-class destroyer

The first USS Twiggs (DD–127) was a Wickes-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War I. She was named for Major Levi Twiggs. She was later transferred to the Royal Navy, as HMS Leamington and to the Soviet Navy as Zhguchy, before returning to Britain to star in the film The Gift Horse, which depicts the St. Nazaire Raid.

USS <i>Hunt</i> (DD-194) Clemson-class destroyer

USS Hunt (DD-194) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy following World War I. She also served in the United States Coast Guard, as USCGD Hunt (CG-18). She was later transferred to the Royal Navy as HMS Broadway (H90).

USS <i>Welborn C. Wood</i> Clemson-class destroyer

USS Welborn C. Wood (DD-195) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. She served with the United States Coast Guard as USCGD Wood. She was later transferred to the Royal Navy as HMS Chesterfield.

USS <i>Branch</i> (DD-197) Clemson-class destroyer

USS Branch (DD-197) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy that entered service in 1920. After a short active life, Branch was placed in reserve in 1922. The ship was activated again for World War II before being transferred to the Royal Navy in 1940. Renamed HMS Beverley, the destroyer served in the Battle of the Atlantic as a convoy escort and was torpedoed and sunk on 11 April 1943.

USS <i>Herndon</i> (DD-198) Clemson-class destroyer

USS Herndon (DD-198) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy. Herndon served in the United States Coast Guard as CG-17. She was later transferred to the Royal Navy as HMS Churchill and still later to the Soviet Navy as Deyatelny.

USS <i>Aulick</i> (DD-258) Clemson-class destroyer

The second USS Aulick (DD-258) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy and transferred to the Royal Navy where she served as HMS Burnham (H82) during World War II.

USS <i>Laub</i> (DD-263) Clemson-class destroyer

The first USS Laub (DD-263) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy and transferred to the Royal Navy where she served as HMS Burwell (H94) during World War II. She was named for Henry Laub.

USS <i>Shubrick</i> (DD-268) Clemson-class destroyer

The third USS Shubrick (DD-268) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy. The destroyer was later transferred to the Royal Navy, where she served as HMS Ripley (G79) during World War II.

HMS <i>Orwell</i> (G98) O-class destroyer converted to Type 16 frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Orwell was an O-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that entered service in 1942 and was broken up in 1965.

HMS <i>Warwick</i> (D25) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Warwick (D25) was an Admiralty W-class destroyer built in 1917. She saw service in both the First and Second World Wars, before being torpedoed and sunk in February 1944.

HMS <i>Beaufort</i> (L14) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Beaufort was a Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was laid down on 17 July 1940 at Cammell Laird, Birkenhead. She was launched on 9 June 1941 and commissioned on 3 November 1941. During the Second World War the ship served in the Mediterranean Sea, escorting convoys and covering landings. She was transferred to the Royal Norwegian Navy in 1952 and scrapped in 1965.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mid-ocean escort force</span>

Mid-Ocean Escort Force (MOEF) referred to the organisation of anti-submarine escorts for World War II trade convoys between Canada and Newfoundland, and the British Isles. The allocation of United States, British and Canadian escorts to these convoys reflected preferences of the United States upon United States' declaration of war and the organisation persisted through the winter of 1942–43 despite withdrawal of United States ships from the escort groups. By the summer of 1943, United States Atlantic escorts were focused on the faster CU convoys and the UG convoys between Chesapeake Bay and the Mediterranean Sea; and only British and Canadian escorts remained on the HX, SC and ON convoys.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Local Escort Force</span> World War II-era escort group in the Royal Canadian Navy

Western Local Escort Force (WLEF) referred to the organization of anti-submarine escorts for World War II trade convoys from North American port cities to the Western Ocean Meeting Point near Newfoundland where ships of the Mid-Ocean Escort Force (MOEF) assumed responsibility for safely delivering the convoys to the British Isles.

HMS <i>Wrestler</i> Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Wrestler (D35) was a V and W-class destroyer built by the Royal Navy during the First World War and active from 1939 to 1944 during the Second World War. She was the first Royal Navy ship to bear that name, and the only one to do so to date.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CU convoys</span> Convoys during naval battles of the Second World War

The CU convoys were a World War II series of fast trans-Atlantic convoys to the British Isles. The earliest convoys of the series were tankers sailing directly from petroleum refineries at Curaçao to the United Kingdom. Most convoys of the series assembled in New York City and included fast freighters and troopships, with tankers arriving from Aruba via TAG convoys to Guantánamo Bay and GN convoys from Guantánamo to New York.

HMS <i>Douglas</i>

HMS Douglas was an Admiralty type flotilla leader of the British Royal Navy. Built by Cammell Laird, Douglas commissioned in 1918, just before the end of the First World War. During the Second World War, Douglas served with Force H out of Gibraltar and as a convoy escort. She was sold for scrap in March 1945.

HMS <i>Brocklesby</i> (L42) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Brocklesby was a Type I Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She served during the Second World War, spending much of the time in the English Channel and Mediterranean, taking part in the Dieppe Raid in 1942, and the Allied landings in Sicily and at Salerno in 1943. After the war, she was used as a sonar trials ship until 1963, and was sold for scrap in 1968.

HMS <i>Sturdy</i> (1919) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Sturdy was an S-class destroyer, which served with the Royal Navy. Launched in 1919, the destroyer visited the Free City of Danzig the following year but then spent most of the next decade in the Reserve Fleet. After a brief period of service in Ireland in 1931, Sturdy was divested of armament in 1934 and equipped with a single davit to rescue ditched aircraft, and acted as plane guard to the aircraft carrier Courageous. The ship subsequently took part in the 1935 Naval Review. Re-armed as a minelayer, the destroyer was recommissioned the following year and reactivated at the start of the Second World War. Sturdy was then employed escorting convoys in the Atlantic Ocean, but ran aground off the coast off the Inner Hebrides island at Tiree in 1940. The vessel was split in two by the waves. The crew evacuated, apart from three sailors who died, and the destroyer was lost.

References

56°29′N0°57′W / 56.483°N 0.950°W / 56.483; -0.950