Bridgewater-class sloop

	HMS Bridgewater, pictured in January 1943
Class overview
Name	Bridgewater class
Builders	Hawthorn Leslie and Company, Hebburn
Operators	Royal Navy
Preceded by	24 class
Succeeded by	Hastings class
In commission	1929-1946
Completed	2
Retired	2
General characteristics
Type	Sloop
Displacement	1,045 tons
Length	250 ft (76 m)
Beam	34 ft (10 m)
Speed	17 kn (31 km/h)
Armament	2 × 4-inch (102 mm)

The Bridgewater-class sloop was a class composed of two sloops built for the Royal Navy, HMS Bridgewater and HMS Sandwich. The ships were part of the Royal Navy's 1927 Build Programme as replacements for the Flower-class sloop.

Design

The Bridgewater class displaced 1,045 tons and were armed with two 4-inch (102 mm). They could achieve speeds of 17 kn (31 km/h).

Service

Both ships were ordered from Hawthorn Leslie and Company, Hebburn in September 1927. They entered service in 1929 and were based at first on the China Station. Bridgewater was moved to the Cape in 1935, while Sandwich remained in China until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. Both ships were active in the Battle of the Atlantic, Bridgewater being based at Freetown carrying out patrols and escorting convoys until November 1943, when she moved to cover the Western Approaches. For the last two years of the war she was used in submarine training activities. Sandwich was also used in home waters, being based out of Plymouth, Liverpool, and Freetown between 1940 and 1944, though by 1945 her condition had deteriorated so much that she was kept at Bizerta. Both ships were decommissioned after the war, with Sandwich being sold for scrapping in early 1946. Bridgewater was retained for slightly longer, being used for static bomb trials during 1946 and 1947, until being sold and broken up in May 1947.

Ships

Name	Pennant	Ordered	Laid Down	Launched	Commissioned	Fate
Bridgewater	L01/U01	19 September 1927	6 February 1928	14 September 1928	14 March 1929	Sold on 22 May 1947
Sandwich	L12/U12	19 September 1927	9 February 1928	29 September	23 March 1929	Sold on 8 January 1946

Notes

References

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.
Hague, Arnold (1993). Sloops: A History of the 71 Sloops Built in Britain and Australia for the British, Australian and Indian Navies 1926–1946. Kendal, UK: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-67-3.
Lenton, H. T. (1998). British & Empire Warships of the Second World War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-048-7.