HMS Wild Goose (U45)

HMS Wild Goose (U45)

Wild Goose in April 1943

Ship data flag  United Kingdom Ship type Sloop class modified Black Swan class Shipyard Yarrow Shipbuilders , Scotstoun near Glasgow Build number 1862 Order April 13, 1940 Keel laying January 28, 1942 Launch October 14, 1942 Commissioning March 11, 1943 Whereabouts scrapped in Bo'ness on February 27, 1956

Ship dimensions and crew length 91.3 m ( Lüa ) width 12.0 m Draft Max. 3.4 m displacement 1,350 ts   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 3 × 2 102mm L / 45 Mk.XIX guns 2 / ´44: 4 × 2 - Oerlikon 20 mm MK 2 - Oerlikon-20-mm-Mk.II / IV 1 × 24 Hedgehog 178mm launcher 110 depth charges , 8 launchers Sensors Radar , sonar

HMS Wild Goose (U45) was a modified Black Swan class sloop of the British Royal Navy . She was one of several ships of this class that took part in the famous " six-in-one trip " (English: "six on one voyage") under the command of Frederic John Walker in January / February In 1944 six German submarines (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 11th and U-264 on February 19th.

history

The ship was built by Yarrow Shipbuilders in Scotstoun near Glasgow . On 28 January 1942, took place keel was laid on 14 October 1942, was launched in and put into service on March 11 1943rd With Flamingo and Black Swan , the shipyard had already built the first sloops for this cash register. In addition to the Wild Goose , three more ships were built for the Royal Navy and two similar sloops for the Royal Indian Navy .

The Sloop was the Royal Navy's first ship to be named after the wild goose . She was awarded the Battle Honors Atlantic 1943–44, Biscay 1943, Normandy 1944, Artic 1944 and English Channel 1945 during World War II . When it was commissioned, the Wild Goose was assigned to the 2nd Escort Group.

Wild Goose involvement in submarine sinking

• June 24, 1943: sinking of U 449 ( type VII C , 49 deaths) northwest of Cape Ortegal by water bombs together with the sister ships Wren , Woodpecker and Kite the Escort Group.
• July 30, 1943: Sinking of U 462 ( Type XIV , 1 dead) in the Bay of Biscay , by a Handley Page Halifax and depth charges from Wren , Kite , Woodpecker and Woodcock . 64 crew members of the U-tanker were rescued and taken prisoner.
• July 30, 1943: Sinking of U 504 ( Type IX C , 53 dead) in the North Atlantic off Cape Ortegal with the Kite and Woodpecker by depth charges.
• November 6, 1943: Sinking of U 226 (Type VII C, 51 dead) in the North Atlantic, east of Newfoundland , by depth charges together with Starling , Woodcock and Kite .

• January 31, 1944: Sinking of U 592 (Type VII C, 49 dead) southwest of Ireland together with Starling and Magpie .
• February 8, 1944: U 762 (Type VIIC, 51 dead) sunk together with Woodpecker in the North Atlantic by depth charges .
• February 9, 1944: Sinking of U 734 (Type VIIC, 49 dead) together with Starling southwest of Ireland.
• February 11, 1944: U 424 (Type VIIC, 50 dead) sunk by depth charges together with Woodpecker southwest of Iceland .
• March 15, 1944: U 653 (Type VIIC, 51 dead) was sunk together with Starling and a Fairey Swordfish of the escort carrier Vindex .
• May 6, 1944: Sinking of U 473 (weather boat type VIIC, 23 dead) southwest of Ireland together with Starling and Wren by depth charges and artillery. Wild Goose rescued some of the 30 surviving crew members of the sunken boat.

• February 27, 1945: Sinking of U 327 ( Type VII C / 41 , 46 dead) in the western English Channel by depth charges together with the frigates Labuan and Loch Fada .

Post-war use

After the end of the war in Europe, the Wild Goose was overhauled from June 12 to September 1945 in Leith. The planned use in the Far East was discontinued at the end of the war. Assigned to the reserve, the sloop came back into service in 1946 and was assigned to the station in the Persian Gulf , where it remained in service until 1955, interrupted by overhauls.

Whereabouts

The ship, classified as a frigate since 1948 (identification F45 ), was sold for demolition in February 1956, which took place in Bo'ness on the Firth of Forth .

Web links

• Private homepage for HMS Wild Goose (engl.)
• "Modified BLACK SWAN" sloops (1942-1946)
• HMS WILD GOOSE (U 45) - Modified Black Swan-class Sloop

Individual evidence

1. ↑ HMS WILD GOOSE (U 45) - Modified Black Swan-class Sloop
2. ↑ at uboat.net The HMS Wild Goose, with image (Engl.)