HMS Denbigh Castle (K696)
 HMS Denbigh Castle (K696) in 1945 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom
| |
| Name: | HMS Denbigh Castle (K696) |
| Namesake: | Denbigh Castle |
| Ordered: | 19 January 1943 |
| Builder: | J. Lewis & Sons Ltd |
| Launched: | 5 August 1944 |
| Commissioned: | 30 December 1944 |
| Fate: | Torpedoed 13 February 1945 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | Castle-class corvette |
HMS Denbigh Castle (K696) was a Castle-class corvette of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy, one of 44 from the class built.
Built by J. Lewis & Sons Ltd in Aberdeen, Scotland, HMS Denbigh Castle was launched on 5 August 1944 and then commissioned on 30 December 1944.[1] The design of the Castle Class were a follow on from the Flower-Class, built to be more adapt to Arctic operations. The ship was 252 ft long, 37 ft wide and a draft of 13 ft, with a displacement of over 1,060 tons.[2]
Power & armaments
HMS Denbigh Castle was powered by two three-drum boiler engines, through a single shaft giving a drive of 2,750Hp. She could move at 16.5 knots, with a range of 9,000 miles (travelled at 10 knots), using 480 tons of oil.[2]
Armaments included a 4-inch gun, up to ten anti-aircraft guns and depth charges. On top of arms HMS Denbigh Castle was also equipped with radar and sonar (Squid).[3]
Ill-fated
In World War II she served as a convoy escort. On 13 February 1945, HMS Denbigh Castle was being captained by Ltcdr G. Butcher[4] and on duty escorting convoy JW-64 to Murmansk, when she was torpedoed by U-992 in the Barents Sea on her port side. Of her 120-man-crew, 11 hands were lost.[2][note 1]
HMS Denbigh Castle was then towed by Bluebell and a Russian tugboat to the Kola Inlet and beached at Bolshaya Volokovaya Bay near Vaenga,[2] but she capsized into deeper waters and was written off as a total loss.
Notes
- ↑ According to an AB D'Arcy George Shell on board, the number lost was 13.
References
- ↑ "HMS Denbigh Castle (K 696)". uboat.net. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
- 1 2 3 4 "Steel Corvettes". www.leander-project.homecall.co.uk. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
- ↑ "HMS Denbigh Castle (+1945)". www.wrecksite.eu. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
Coordinates: 69°20′N 33°33′E / 69.333°N 33.550°E
