HMS Portchester Castle was a Castle-class corvette built in 1943 and scrapped in 1958. She was the only ship of the Royal Navy to be named after Portchester Castle in Hampshire, and was used for the 1952 film The Cruel Sea, in which she played Saltash Castle. Also seen in ‘The man who never was’ when the body was delivered to the submarine.
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Portchester Castle |
| Ordered | 6 February 1943 |
| Builder | Swan Hunter, Wallsend |
| Laid down | 17 March 1943 |
| Launched | 21 June 1943 |
| Identification | Pennant number: K362 |
| Fate | paid off 1947 and broken up 14 May 1958 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Castle-class corvette |
| Displacement | 1,060 tons |
| Length | 252 ft (77 m) |
| Beam | 37 ft (11 m) |
| Draught | 10 ft (3.0 m) |
| Installed power | 2,750 hp (2.05 MW) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 16.5 kn (30.6 km/h) |
| Range | 9,500 nmi (17,600 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h) |
| Complement | 112 |
| Sensors and processing systems |
|
| Armament |
|
Construction and career
editShe was launched on 21 June 1943 at Swan Hunter shipyard in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Sinking of U-484
editOn 9 September 1944 Portchester Castle and Helmsdale sank the German submarine U-484 in the North Atlantic north-west of Ireland, in position 55°45′N 11°41′W / 55.750°N 11.683°W.[1]
Sinking of U-1200
editAs one of four ships in 30th Escort Group under the command of Denys Rayner, Portchester Castle shared in the sinking of the German submarine U-1200[2] south of Ireland (in position 50°24′N 09°10′W / 50.400°N 9.167°W) on 11 November 1944, along with her sister ships Launceston Castle, Pevensey Castle and Kenilworth Castle.[1]
Decommissioning
editShe was paid off in 1947.
Film appearances
editIn 1951 Portchester Castle was employed to represent the fictitious HMS Saltash Castle in the film The Cruel Sea (1953). The ship was also seen in the film The Man Who Never Was (1955) and The Navy Lark (1959). In both Sea and Lark she is shown wearing the pennant number F362 rather than her own K362.
Fate
editShe was scrapped at Troon, Scotland on 14 May 1958.[3]
References
editCitations
edit- ^ a b "HMS Portchester Castle at u-boat.net". Retrieved 26 April 2009.
- ^ "U-1200 at u-boat.net". Retrieved 26 April 2009.
- ^ "HMS Portchester Castle at Battleships-Cruisers website". Retrieved 26 April 2009.
Sources
edit- 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.
- Rayner, D.A., Escort: The Battle of the Atlantic, London:William Kimber, pp. 224–229