HMS Tyler

Not to be confused with USS Tyler (1857).

HMS Tyler (K576) was a British Captain-class frigate of the Royal Navy in commission during World War II. Originally constructed as a United States Navy Buckley-class destroyer escort, she served in the Royal Navy from 1944 to 1945.

History
United States
Name	unnamed (DE-567)
Builder	Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Hingham, Massachusetts
Laid down	6 October 1943
Launched	20 November 1943
Completed	14 January 1944
Commissioned	never
Fate	Transferred to United Kingdom 14 January 1944
Acquired	Returned by United Kingdom 12 November 1945
Stricken	8 January 1946
Fate	Sold 23 May 1946 for scrapping Scrapped summer 1946
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Tyler (K576)
Namesake	Admiral Sir Charles Tyler (1760–1835), British naval officer who was commanding officer of HMS Tonnant at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805
Acquired	14 January 1944
Commissioned	14 January 1944
Decommissioned	1945
Fate	Returned to United States 12 November 1945
General characteristics
Displacement	1,400 long tons (1,422 t)
Length	306 ft (93 m)
Beam	36.75 ft (11.2 m)
Draught	9 ft (2.7 m)
Propulsion	Two Foster-Wheeler Express "D"-type water-tube boilers GE 13,500 shp (10,070 kW) steam turbines and generators (9,200 kW) Electric motors for 12,000 shp (8,900 kW) Two shafts
Speed	24 knots (44 km/h)
Range	5,500 nautical miles (10,200 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h)
Complement	186
Sensors and processing systems	SA & SL type radars Type 144 series Asdic MF Direction Finding antenna HF Direction Finding Type FH 4 antenna
Armament	3 × 3 in (76 mm) /50 Mk.22 guns 1 × twin Bofors 40 mm mount Mk.I 7–16 × 20 mm Oerlikon guns Mark 10 Hedgehog antisubmarine mortar Depth charges QF 2-pounder naval gun
Notes	Pennant number K576

Construction and transfer

Allocated to the United Kingdom on 10 June 1943, the ship was laid down as the unnamed U.S. Navy destroyer escort DE-567 by Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Inc., in Hingham, Massachusetts, on 6 October 1943 and launched on 20 November 1943. She was transferred to the United Kingdom upon completion on 14 January 1944.

Service history

Commissioned into service in the Royal Navy as the frigate HMS Tyler (K567) on 14 January 1944 simultaneously with her transfer, the ship was assigned to patrol and escort duty in the English Channel and also supported the invasion of Normandy in the summer of 1944.

During 1945, Tyler alternated between escort duty in the North Atlantic Ocean and patrols and escort missions in the English Channel. On 21 January 1945, she picked up the sole survivor of the Norwegian merchant ship Galatea, which the German submarine U-1051 had torpedoed and sunk off Bardsey Island in St. George's Channel in position 52°40′00″N 005°23′00″W. On 27 January 1945 she joined the British frigates HMS Bligh (K467) and HMS Keats (K482) in a depth charge attack which sank the German submarine U-1172 in St. George's Channel in position 52°24′00″N 005°42′00″W.

After the end of World War II, Tyler steamed to the United States, arriving at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 31 October 1945. The Royal Navy formally returned her to the U.S. Navy on 12 November 1945.

Disposal

The U.S. Navy struck Tyler from its Naval Vessel Register on 8 January 1946. She was sold on 23 May 1946 for scrapping to Hugo Neu of New York City and later resold to the Northern Metal Company of Philadelphia. She was scrapped in the summer of 1946.

References

•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive Tyler (DE-567) HMS Torrington (K-576)
• uboat.net HMS Tyler (K 576)
• Destroyer Escort Sailors Association DEs for UK
• Captain Class Frigate Association HMS Tyler K576 (DE 567)

External links

• Photo gallery of HMS Tyler (K576)