HMS Onslaught (G04)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Onslaught.

HMS Onslaught during the Second World War
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Onslaught
Ordered	3 September 1939
Builder	Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan
Laid down	14 January 1941
Launched	9 October 1941
Commissioned	19 June 1942
Identification	Pennant number: G04 later D04
Fate	Transferred to Pakistan, 6 March 1951
Pakistan
Name	Tughril
Acquired	6 March 1951
Identification	Pennant number F204 changed to 261 in 1963
Fate	Scrapped 1977
General characteristics
Class and type	O-class destroyer
Displacement	1,540 long tons (1,560 t)
Length	345 ft (105 m) o/a
Beam	35 ft (11 m)
Draught	13 ft 6 in (4.11 m)
Propulsion	2 × Pearson geared steam turbines, 40,000 shp (30,000 kW) 2 Admiralty 3-drum boilers 2 shafts
Speed	37 knots (43 mph; 69 km/h)
Range	3,850 nmi (7,130 km) at 20 kn (23 mph; 37 km/h)
Endurance	472 tons oil
Complement	175+
Armament	4 × single QF 4.7-inch (120-mm) Mark IX guns on mounting CP Mk.XVIII 1 × single QF 4 in gun Mk.V on mounting HA Mk.III 1 × quad QF 2-pdr "pom-pom" mount Mk.VII 6 × single 20 mm Oerlikon guns 1 × quad 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes for Mk.IX torpedoes 4 × throwers and 2 × racks for 70 depth charges 2 × Squid ASW Mortars (after 1957)

HMS Onslaught was an O-class destroyer of the Royal Navy which entered service in 1941. She was originally to have been named Pathfinder, but this was changed during construction. She was adopted by the Isle of Wight as part of the Warship Week campaign in 1942. After the Second World War she was sold to Pakistan and scrapped in 1977.

Service history

Second World War service

On 19 June 1942 Onslaught was commissioned for service in the 17th Destroyer Flotilla, as part of the Home Fleet. She took part in convoy escort duties throughout the war, including the Arctic convoys and the Battle of the Atlantic. She also undertook patrol duties in the English Channel during the Normandy landings in 1944.

Postwar service

Onslaught remained in commission after VJ Day and in September 1945 was deployed for training duties at Portsmouth Gunnery School, HMS Excellent. In December she was detached to take part in Operation Deadlight, the destruction of surrendered U-Boats in the Northwestern Approaches. Between 1946 and 1949 she was used as a submarine target ship in the Clyde. The ship was paid off early in 1950 and put on the Disposal List. She was transferred to the Pakistan Navy on 3 March 1951 and renamed PNS Tugril.

In 1957 the ship was converted at Liverpool to a Type 16 anti-submarine frigate and remained on the Active List until 1975. She was scrapped in 1977.

References

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
• Connell, G. G. (1982). Arctic Destroyers: The 17th Flotilla. London: William Kimber. ISBN 0-7183-0428-4.
• English, John (2001). Obdurate to Daring: British Fleet Destroyers 1941–45. Windsor, UK: World Ship Society. ISBN 978-0-9560769-0-8.
• Friedman, Norman (2006). British Destroyers & Frigates: The Second World War and After. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-86176-137-6.
• Lenton, H. T. (1998). British & Empire Warships of the Second World War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-048-7.
• Raven, Alan; Roberts, John (1978). War Built Destroyers O to Z Classes. London: Bivouac Books. ISBN 0-85680-010-4.
• Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939-1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
• Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War 2. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-326-1.