HMS Squirrel (J301)

For other ships of the same name, see HMS Squirrel.
HMS Squirrel underway in Belfast Lough on completion.
Career (United Kingdom)
Name: HMS Squirrel
Ordered: 30 April 1942[1]
Builder: Harland and Wolff, Belfast[2]
Yard number: 1206[3]
Laid down: 20 August 1943[1]
Launched: 20 April 1944[1]
Completed: 16 August 1944[3]
Commissioned: 16 August 1944[1]
Fate: Hit a mine and subsequently scuttled, 24 July 1945[1][4]
General characteristics
Class and type:Algerine-class minesweeper
Length:235'[2]
Beam:35'6"[2]

HMS Squirrel was an Algerine-class minesweeper of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1944, and scuttled off Phuket Island, Thailand in 1945 after being damaged by a mine.

Squirrel was taking part in minesweeping operations off the west coast of the Malay peninsula on 24 July 1945.[5] The operations were supported by the British East Indies Fleet, which defeated a Japanese kamikaze attack on HMS Ameer at the time.[5] However, one ship was lost - the Squirrel hit a mine off Phuket Island during the attack, and was scuttled by Royal Naval gunfire two and a half hours later.[4] Seven men were lost in the attack.[1][4]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "HMS Squirrel (J 301)". uboat.net. Retrieved August 1, 2011.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "NMM, vessel ID 376280". Warship Histories, vol x. National Maritime Museum. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 McCluskie, Tom (2013). The Rise and Fall of Harland and Wolff. Stroud: The History Press. p. 153. ISBN 9780752488615.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Brown, David (1995). Warship Losses of World War Two. London: Arms and Armour. p. 155. ISBN 1854092782.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Suicide Plane Attack Fails". The Southeast Missourian. Associated Press. 30 July 1945. p. 1. Retrieved 1 August 2011.

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