HMS Blackwood (K313)
|
|
|---|---|
 HMS Blackwood |
|
| Technical specifications | |
| Ship type : | frigate |
| Displacement : | 1,085 ts standard 1,430 ts maximum |
| Length: | 88.2 m (over all) |
| Width: | 10.7 m |
| Draft : | 3.4 m |
| Drive : | 4 GM Model 16-278A diesel engines 6,000 hp 2 bolts |
| Fuel supply: | |
| Speed : | 18 kn (33.3 km / h ) |
| Range : | 4,150 nm at 12 kn |
| Crew : | 156 |
| Armament: | 3 x 3 inch -MK-22 guns 4 × 10 mm -MK-4- Flak 4 × Mk-6- water bomb thrower 2 × Mk-9-Wasserbombenabrollvorrichtungen |
The HMS Blackwood (K313) was a captain class frigate of the British Royal Navy that was used during World War II . It was named after Vice Admiral Sir Henry Blackwood (1770-1832), who took part in the Battle of Trafalgar (1805) under Nelson as commander of the HMS Euryalus .
The keel of the Evarts class ship with the hull number DE-4 planned as a destroyer escort for the US Navy was laid on September 22, 1942 in the naval shipyard in Boston ( USA ). It was launched on November 23, 1942, but was not accepted into the US Navy, but handed over to the Royal Navy on March 27, 1943 under the Lend Lease Act . The ship, newly classified as a frigate , was named HMS Blackwood .
Under the command of Lieutenant LT Sly, RNR , the frigate was part of the Royal Navy's 4th Escort Group. On November 23, 1943, she is said to have sunk the German submarine U 648 in the North Atlantic together with HMS Bazely and HMS Drury . According to recent research, the attacks that were previously blamed for the destruction of U 648 were directed against various other submarines and did not cause any significant damage. Two days later, however, the frigate sank together with the Bazely at position 40 ° 31 ′ N , 22 ° 7 ′ W U 600 with depth charges . During the landing in Normandy , the Blackwood was used to shield the landing fleet. On June 15, 1944, she received a torpedo hit by U 764 . The bow was blown off by the explosion, but the ship initially remained buoyant. It sank 23 nautical miles southeast of Portland Bill while being towed into a port the following day . 58 crew members died in the torpedo or in the sinking.
The wreck lies at the position 50 ° 12 ′ 30 " N , 2 ° 14 ′ 28" W at a depth of 56 meters. Divers found that the hull of the wreck is largely intact and the upper deck is well preserved. There is serious damage and a large field of debris in the stern area, obviously due to depth charges that exploded during the sinking. The wreck of the HMS Blackwood has been protected as a "Protected Place" since 2006 by the " Protection of Military Remains Act " of 1986. It may be viewed from the outside by divers, but it is forbidden to enter or collect souvenirs.