HMS Cranstoun (K511) was a Captain-class frigate of the British Royal Navy that served in the last two years of World War II. The ship was laid down as a Buckley-class destroyer escort at the Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard at Hingham, Massachusetts on 9 June 1943, with the hull number DE-82, and launched on 28 August 1943. The ship was transferred to the UK under Lend-Lease on 13 November 1943,[3] and named after Captain James Cranstoun, an officer who served in the American Revolutionary and French Revolutionary Wars.
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Cranstoun |
| Builder | Bethlehem Hingham Shipyard |
| Laid down | 9 June 1943 |
| Launched | 28 August 1943 |
| Commissioned | 13 November 1943 |
| Decommissioned | 3 December 1945 |
| Stricken | 7 February 1946 |
| Honours and awards |
|
| Fate | Sold for scrapping, 20 November 1947 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Captain-class frigate |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | |
| Beam | 36 ft 9 in (11.20 m) |
| Draught | 9 ft (2.7 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph) |
| Range | 5,500 nmi (10,200 km) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement | 186 |
| Electronic warfare & decoys |
|
| Armament |
|
| Service record | |
| Commanders: | |
| Victories: | U-1063 (15 April 1945) |
Service history
editCranstoun served as a convoy escort, and was attached to the Nore Command, and then the 19th Escort Group.[4]
At 21:14 on the evening of 15 April 1945 Cranstoun and Loch Killin, while part of the escort to Convoy TBC 128, detected the U-1063 in Bigbury Bay, Devon. The two ships mounted a coordinated attack, with Loch Killin using her Squid anti-submarine mortar three times and Cranstoun her Hedgehog mortar once, to force the U-boat to the surface. Burges then also joined the attack, as the U-boat was illuminated by the ship's searchlights and fired on with 20 mm and 40 mm guns. U-1063 attempted to escape, but Loch Killin attacked with depth charges and sank her. Only 17 of the crew survived.[5]
Cranstoun was returned to the U.S. Navy on 3 December 1945, struck from the Navy List on 7 February 1946, and sold for scrapping on 20 November 1947.[3]
References
edit- ^ Tynan, Roy (2006). "Captain Class Frigate - Battle Honours". captainclassfrigates.co.uk. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur (2011). "Allied Warships of WWII : HMS Cranstoun". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
- ^ Collingwood, Donald (1998). The Captain Class Frigates in the Second World War. Barnsley: Leo Cooper. ISBN 0-85052-615-9.
- ^ Phillips, Stephen (2003). "Into the Lion's Den: The Loss of U-1063". ubootwaffe.net. Archived from the original on 30 July 2007. Retrieved 9 April 2011.