HMS Swale (K217)

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HMS Swale (K217) was a Royal Navy frigate of the River class, built by Smith’s Dock Co Ltd on the Tees in north-east England. Commissioned on 14 June 1942, she played an active role in the Battle of the Atlantic, and was accredited with the sinking of two U-boats. After the war, she was briefly loaned to the South African Navy and eventually scrapped on 26 February 1955.

HMS Swale K 217

HMS Swale experienced some of the worst days of the Second Battle of the Atlantic. In March 1943 she was SO of the Escort Group [EG] B5, escorting the slow convoy SC 122 [1] from New York to Liverpool. Of the 51 merchant ships in the convoy, 10 returned to port unable to ride a violent storm, and three days later another 8 were sunk by U-boats.

Swale was to have better fortunes two months later. Escorting slow convoy ONS 7 [2] bound for Halifax, Canada, she sank U-657 [3] off Cape Farewell, Greenland on the night of 17 May. The U boat had earlier torpedoed the 5,196 GRT steamer Aymeric, the last British cargo ship in the Atlantic to be sunk that month, claiming the lives of 53 men. Under the command of Commander John Jackson [4], Swale moved 6,000 m astern of the doomed Aymeric and made asdic contact. After a succession of depth charge and hedgehog attacks, she was rewarded with the sound of several loud explosions and the appearance of burning oil on the surface. The convoy continued to Canada without further loss.

On 6 April 1944 while escorting slow convoy SC 156 from Halifax, Canada to Loch Ewe, Scotland, Swale sank U-302 [5] with depth charges northwest of the Azores after the U-boat had penetrated the escort screen and sunk the Norwegian merchantmen Ruth 1 and South America.