HMS Starling (U66)
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| Career (UK) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS Starling |
| Namesake: | Starling |
| Builder: | Fairfields |
| Laid down: | 21 October 1941 |
| Launched: | 14 October 1942 |
| Completed: | 1 April 1943 |
| Reclassified: | As a frigate in 1947 |
| Fate: | Broken up July 1965 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Modified Black Swan class sloop |
| Displacement: | 1,350 tons |
| Length: | 299 ft 6 in (91.3 m) |
| Beam: | 38 ft 6 in (11.7 m) |
| Draught: | 11 ft (3.4 m) |
| Propulsion: | Geared turbines, 2 shafts 4,300 hp (3.21 MW) |
| Speed: | 20 knots (37 km/h) |
| Range: | 7,500 nmi (13,900 km) at 12 kn (22 km/h) |
| Complement: | 192 |
| Armament: | 6 × 4-inch (102 mm) AA guns (3 × 2) 4 × 2 pdr AA pom-pom 12 × 20 mm Oerlikon AA (6 × 2) |
| Service record | |
| Part of | 2nd Support Group |
| Commanders | Frederick John Walker |
| Operations | Battle of the Atlantic |
For other ships of the same name, see HMS Starling.
HMS Starling (U66) was a Modified Black Swan-class sloop of the Royal Navy. She was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company at Govan, Scotland, launched on 14 October 1942, and commissioned on 1 April 1943.
In the Second Battle of the Atlantic in World War II, Starling was the flagship of Captain Frederick John Walker's Second Support Group, a flotilla of six sloops not tied down to convoy protection, but free to hunt down U-boats wherever found. The other ships of the group were HMS Cygnet, HMS Kite, HMS Wild Goose, HMS Woodpecker, and HMS Wren.
Starling participated in the sinking of fifteen U-boats:
- U-202 was sunk south-east of Cape Farewell, Greenland, by depth charges and gunfire from Starling on 2 June 1943.
- U-119 was sunk in the Bay of Biscay by Starling on 24 June 1943.
- U-226 was sunk east of Newfoundland by Starling, HMS Woodcock and Kite on 6 November 1943.
- U-842 was sunk by Starling and Wild Goose on 6 November 1943.
- U-592 was sunk south-west of Ireland by Starling, Wild Goose and HMS Magpie on 31 January 1944.
- U-734 was sunk south-west of Ireland by Wild Goose and Starling on 9 February 1944.
- U-238 was sunk south-west of Ireland by Kite, Magpie and Starling on 9 February 1944.
- U-264 was sunk by Woodpecker and Starling on 19 February 1944.
- U-653 was sunk by a Fairey Swordfish from the escort carrier HMS Vindex, Starling and Wild Goose on 15 March 1944.
- U-961 was sunk east of Iceland by Starling on 29 March 1944.
- U-473 was sunk south-west of Ireland by Starling, Wren and Wild Goose on 6 May 1944.
- U-333 was sunk west of the Scilly Isles by Starling and the frigate HMS Loch Killin on 31 July 1944.
- U-736 was sunk in Bay of Biscay, w. of St. Nazaire by Starling and Loch Killin on 6 August 1944.
- U-385 was sunk in the Bay of Biscay by Starling and a Short Sunderland plane on 11 August 1944.
- U-482 was sunk in the North Channel by sloops Starling, Amethyst, Peacock, Hart, and frigate Loch Craggie on 16 January 1945.
Starling was scrapped in 1965.
