HMS Starling (U66)

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HMS Starling (U66)
Starling 1943
Starling 1943
Ship data
flag United KingdomUnited Kingdom (Naval War Flag) United Kingdom
Ship type Sloop , 1948: frigate (F66)
class modified
Black Swan class
Shipyard Fairfield Shipbuilders , Govan
Build number 701
Order July 18, 1941
Keel laying October 14, 1941
Launch October 21, 1942
Commissioning April 1, 1943
Whereabouts scrapped in Queenborough from July 1965
Ship dimensions and crew
length
91.3 m ( Lüa )
width 11.7 m
Draft Max. 3.4 m
displacement 1,350 ts ,
1880 ts max,
 
crew 192 men
Machine system
machine 2 boilers ,
2 Parsons turbines
Machine
performance 		4300 hp
Top
speed 		20 kn (37 km / h)
propeller 2
Armament

from 1946:

Sensors

Radar , sonar

HMS Starling (U66) was a modified Black Swan class sloop of the British Royal Navy and its most successful submarine hunter.

History of the Starling

The ship was built at Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in Govan , Scotland . It was launched on October 21, 1942 and put into service on April 1, 1943. She was the ninth ship in the Royal Navy to be named after the passerine birds .

With the Woodcock , the shipyard built another ship of this class.

During the Battle of the Atlantic , the Starling was the flagship of Captain Frederic John Walker's Second Support Group, a flotilla consisting of six sloops that was not committed to escorting and protecting convoys , but also to the active U. -Boat hunting was used. The other ships in the group were HMS Cygnet , HMS Kite , HMS Wild Goose , HMS Woodpecker and HMS Wren . The Starling was one of the ships that took part in the famous “ six-in-one trip ” (German: “ six on one trip ”) under the command of Walker, in which six German U- Boats (all of the VIIC type) could be sunk on patrol : U-592 on January 31, U-762 on February 8, U-734 and U-238 on February 9, U-424 on February 11 as well U-264 on February 19th.

The sloop was awarded the Battle Honors Biscay 1943/44, Atlantic 1943–45, Arctic 1944 and Normandy 1944.

German submarines sunk by Starling

The Starling participated in the sinking of the following German submarines:

  • 2 June 1943: sinking of 202 U ( type VIIC ) southeast of Cape Farewell , Greenland , by depth charges and cannon of Starling taken 30 survivors on board
  • June 24, 1943: U 119 ( Type XB ) sunk in the Bay of Biscay by Starling , an attempt at ramming results in damage, ten survivors rescued, Walker changes command and takes over Woodpecker until October during the repairs
  • November 6, 1943: Sinking of U 226 (Type VIIC) east of Newfoundland by Starling , Woodcock and Kite
  • And one more thing : Sinking of U 842 ( type IXC40 ) by Starling and Wild Goose while defending the convoy HX 224
  • January 31, 1944: Sinking of U 592 (Type VIIC) southwest of Ireland by Starling , Wild Goose and Magpie
  • February 9, 1944: Sinking of U 734 (Type VIIC) southwest of Ireland by Starling and Wild Goose
  • February 9, 1944: Sinking of U 238 (Type VIIC) southwest of Ireland by Starling , Kite and Magpie
  • February 19, 1944: Sinking of U 264 (Type VIIC) by Starling and Woodpecker
  • March 15, 1944: Sinking of U 653 (Type VIIC) by Starling , Wild Goose and a Fairey Swordfish of the escort carrier Vindex
  • March 29: Sinking of U 961 (Type VIIC) east of Iceland by Starling
  • May 6, 1944: Sinking of U 473 (Type VIIC) southwest of Ireland by Starling , Wren and Wild Goose
  • July 31, 1944: Sinking of U 333 (Type VIIC) west of the Isles of Scilly by Starling and the frigate Loch Killin
  • August 6, 1944: Sinking of U 736 (Type VIIC) in the Bay of Biscay, west of St. Nazaire by Starling and Loch Killin
  • August 11, 1944: Sinking of U 385 (Type VIIC) in the Bay of Biscay by Starling and a Short Sunderland

Whereabouts

The Starling was prepared and re-armed for a mission in the Pacific from mid-February 1945. The armistice led to the decommissioning. From 1946 training ship of the navigation school HMS Dryad until 1955. 1953 Participation in the coronation parade of the Royal Navy. One of the last trips the school frigate made was to Norway and Kiel . After decommissioning in Liverpool in 1956, it was only scrapped from July 1965.

Web links

Commons : HMS Starling  - collection of images, videos and audio files