HMS Bickerton (K466)

Originally this ship was provisionally given the name USS Eisele (this name was reassigned to to DE 34) however the delivery was diverted to the Royal Navy before the launch. The Commanding Officers were Lt. EM Thorpe RN and Cdr. D.G.F.W. MacIntyre, DSO RN (Senior Officer 5th Escort Group).

1 Actions
2 Sinking
3 General Information
4 External links
5 References

[edit] Actions

HMS Bickerton served exclusively with the 5th Escort Group earning battle honours for service in the Arctic (Russian Convoys), North Atlantic, off Normandy and in the English Channel.

On May 6, 1944 the submarine U-765 was sunk in the North Atlantic, in position 52.30N, 28.28W, by depth charges from HMS Bickerton, operating alongside 2 Swordfish aircraft (Sqdn. 825) of the British escort carrier HMS Vindex and the British frigates HMS Bligh and HMS Aylmer.

The submarine U-269 was also sunk in the English Channel south-east of Torquay, in position 50.01N, 02.59W, by depth charges from HMS Bickerton on June 25, 1944.

[edit] Sinking

HMS Bickerton was escorting the second group of escort carriers (HMS Trumpeter and HMS Nabob) from the Home Fleet (Adm Moore), which covered the convoy JW-59 and launched further attacks (Operation Goodwood) on the German battleship Tirpitz in the Altenfjord. Before the group was able to launch an attack on the battleship, the submarine U-354 encountered them on her search for the convoy Northwest of the North Cape in the Barents Sea. At about 01.00 hours on August 22, 1944 U-354 badly damaged HMS Nabob with a FAT torpedo spread and tried to sink her at 01.22 hours with a Gnat, which struck HMS Bickerton. HMS Bickerton was subsequently scuttled by a torpedo from HMS Vigilant at position 71.42N, 19.11E.

[edit] General Information

Pennant (UK): K 466
Pennant (US): DE 75
Built by: Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard Inc. (Hingham, Massachusetts, U.S.A.)
Laid down: May 3, 1943
Launched: July 26, 1943
Commissioned: October 17, 1943
Returned to US Navy: Not Returned
Fate: Scuttled August 22, 1944

[edit] External links

[edit] References

For an excellent book on the subject of a particular example of this type of ship in World War II, see The Captain Class Frigates in the Second World War by Donald Collingwood. published by Leo Cooper (1998), ISBN 085052 615 9.

Captains-class frigate

Buckley class (turbo-electric type)