Hunt class (1939)
The Hunt-class was a series of British destroyers escorted during World War II . The English word hunt means hunt , but is used here in the sense of pack of dogs and goes back to fox hunting . The ships were named after well-known British hunting packs. The ships were mainly used in the British home waters and in the Mediterranean.
history
Until the late 1930s, British destroyers had been designed so that they could perform the full range of tasks of a destroyer in use. In 1938 it was decided to build a new class of destroyers, which should primarily carry out escort duties. The sloops of the Black Swan-class sloop were not sufficiently suitable for this task because their weapons too weak and their speed was too low. In December 1938, the chief of naval construction was instructed to prepare a new draft. Compared to corvettes and frigates, it should be larger, faster and more heavily armed and have a strong anti -submarine defense. On June 8, 1939, after many changes, the first two Hunt-class ships were laid down at Cammell Laird . A total of 86 Hunt-class escort destroyers were built, some of which came into service with the allied Polish, Norwegian, Greek and Free French navies.
(See info box for ship details).
Type development
The draft Hunt class was based on the Sloop Bittern , length 80 meters, weight: 1,190 tons, engine output: 3300 shp (2500 kW), speed 18.75 knots, Main Armament: three 4-inch twin guns Mk XVI . The Hunt class should have the same armament; a miscalculation did not allow this, so that these ships received only two double guns. The drive was increased to 19,000 shp (14,000 kW). This increased the speed to 27 knots (50 km / h). The class escort destroyers were quick and inexpensive to build.
When the first versions were used in the Mediterranean and the North Sea region, they turned out to be too short for use on the high seas, which resulted in additional stability problems. In particular, there was insufficient stability to set up the planned three twin guns. The fuel supplies were also too small. The first 20 versions built were therefore converted and came into service with the Royal Navy as the Hunt I class with two 102 mm twin guns and a 2 pdr (40 mm) quadruple flak.
The Hunt Type II , ordered in the first war building program, improved stability by widening the deck and moving the bridge and compass platform further forward. Now the originally planned three 102 mm twin guns could also be set up. The number of depth charges has been increased from 40 to 110. 36 ships of this type II were ordered, three of which ( Blencathra , Brocklesby and Liddesdale ) were still armed according to the type I model.
The Hunt Type III was specially designed for use in the Mediterranean region. The aft tower was removed and instead two torpedo tubes were installed in the midship area. The searchlight was moved to the rear bunker deck. Of this class, 28 ships were completed.
The last two ships designated as Hunt Type IV were built according to a pre-war design by Thornycroft . This version was longer and had better protection for the crew when defending the ship. The midship area was changed to accommodate a triple torpedo tube set. The machine guns were armed with two 20-mm Oerlikon cannons , one each on the bridge cam, and two two-barreled 0.5-inch Vickers machine guns amidships. It was quickly determined that the Vickers machine guns were unsatisfactory and they were again replaced by Oerlikon Mark V cannons in double mounts.
Post war history
In the Royal Navy, the Hunt-class ships usually remained in reserve after the Second World War. Her last ship in the class was the HMS Brocklesby , which was converted into a sonar test ship in 1951 and was used in this function until June 1963. It was not sold until 1968 for demolition, which began in Faslane that same year .
Of the 86 built ships ordered by the Royal Navy, ten were put into service by allied navies during the war, and others were given to them after temporary use. They continued to serve in the Greek and Norwegian navies, while the exiled Polish navy had to return the two remaining ships. The only French hunt destroyer La Combattante was lost shortly before the end of the war.
After World War II, some Hunt escort destroyers were made available to other countries. Norway and Greece received additional units. Other users became the Chinese, Egyptian, Indian, Danish, Ecuadorian and Israeli navies through the hijacking of an Egyptian ship.
The German Navy was the last foreign navy to take over three Hunt-class ships. During the construction of the German Federal Navy, they were used as class 138 school frigates for training, which were renamed as
- Gneisenau (F 212) ex HMS Oakley II (L98) ( ex.HMS Tickham ),
- Raule (F 217) ex HMS Albrighton (L12) and
- Brommy (F 218) ex HMS Eggesford (L15)
1958/59 next four former sloops of Black Swan class came into service. They were decommissioned between 1965 and 1967. The Gneisenau remained as "companion (Mob)" (A 1460) until 1972 in the reserve flotilla , was sold in 1977 and then scrapped in the Netherlands. The Brommy and the Raule were made into target ships . The Raule was scrapped after being shot at in Hamburg in 1971, and the Brommy sunk in 1977 in the Biscaya .
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Hunt class type I. |
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| Technical specifications | |
| Ship type : | Escort destroyer |
| Units: | 20th |
| Displacement : | 1000 ts standard; 1450 ts max. |
| Length: | 85.3 m |
| Width: | 8.8 m |
| Draft : | 3.8 m |
| Drive : | 2 Admirality 3-drum boiler 2 Parsons steam turbines with single gear 19,000 HP (13,965 kW ) |
| Fuel supply: | 240 t heating oil |
| Speed : | 29 kn (54 km / h) |
| Range : | 2000 nm at 12 kn (3704 km) |
| Crew : | 147 |
| Armament: | 2 × 2 4-inch guns Mk XVI 1 × 4 Ordnance 2 pdr flak 2 × Oerlikon 20 mm flak 30 depth charges , 2 launchers |
Type I.
Contrary to the original design, the Type 1 destroyer escorts only carried four 102 mm multi-purpose guns in two double mounts with protective shields. The originally planned third double carriage had to be dispensed with for reasons of stability. 20 ships of this type were built. Four of the ships were lost in the war. After the war, the release of a ship to China was reversed after the collapse of the Chinese national government on the mainland. Two ships were sold to Egypt in 1949/50, one of which was captured by Israel, and two more were sold to Ecuador in 1954. The remaining ships were sold for demolition in the UK between 1956 and 1959.
- HMS Atherstone (L05), Cammell Laird completed in March 1940, initially three 102 mm twin guns, scrapped in 1957
- † HMS Berkeley (L17), Cammell Laird June 1940, heavily damaged by German aircraft on August 19, 1942 off Dieppe during Operation Jubilee and then sunk by HMS Albrighton (L12)
- HMS Cattistock (L35), Yarrows scrapped July 1940, 1957
- HMS Cleveland (L46), Yarrows September 1940, stranded on June 28, 1957 en route to dismantling
- HMS Cotswold (L54), Yarrows scrapped November 1940, 1957
- HMS Cottesmore (L78), Yarrows December 1940 sold 1950 Egypt ( Ibrahim el Awal , 1951 Mohamed Ali el Kebir , last Port Said ), was until the 1980s a training ship
- HMS Eglinton (L87), Vickers-Armstrong Tyne scrapped August 1940, 1956
- † HMS Exmoor (L61) , Vickers Armstrong Tyne October 1940, on 25 February 1941 by German speedboat S 30 before Lowestoft sunk
- HMS Fernie (L11), John Brown May 1940, initially three 102mm twin guns, scrapped in 1956
- HMS Garth (L20), John Brown scrapped July 1940, 1956
- HMS Hambledon (L37), Swan Hunter June 1940, initially three 102 mm twin guns, scrapped in 1957
- HMS Holderness (L48), Swan Hunter scrapped August 1940, 1956
- HMS Mendip (L60) , Swan Hunter awarded to National China in October 1940, January 1948 ( Lin Fu ), reclaimed from Great Britain in 1949 and sold to Egypt on November 15, 1949 ( Mohamed Ali el Kebir , 1951 Ibrahim el Awal ), October 31 Captured by Israel in 1956 ( Haifa , K38), 19 ?? scrapped (QF 4-inch naval gun Mk XVI preserved in the Haifa Naval Museum)
- HMS Meynell (L82) , Swan Hunter December 1940, sold to Ecuador on October 18, 1954 ( Presidente Velasco , D 02), scrapped in 1978
- HMS Pytchley (L92), Scotts scrapped October 1940, 1956
- HMS Quantock (L58), Scotts February 1941, 1955 to Ecuador ( Presidente Alfaro , D 01), scrapped in 1976
- † HMS Quorn (L66), White September 1940, sunk by a German negro one-man torpedo on August 3, 1944 in the Seine Bay , 130 dead
- HMS Southdown (L25), White scrapped November 1940, 1956
- † HMS Tynedale (L96), Stephens December 1940, sunk by U 593 off Bougie (Algeria) on December 12, 1943 , 73 dead
- HMS Whaddon (L45), Stephens scrapped February 1941, 1959
Type II
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Hunt class type II |
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| Technical specifications | |
| Ship type: | Escort destroyer |
| Units: | 36 |
| Displacement: | 1050 ts standard; 1625 ts max. |
| Length: | 85.3 m |
| Width: | 9.6 m |
| Draft: | 3.78 m |
| Drive: | as before |
| Fuel: | 265–328 t of heating oil |
| Speed: | 29 kn |
| Range: | 3600 nm at 14 knots (6670 km) |
| Crew: | 168 |
| Armament: | 3 × 2 4-inch guns Mk XVI 1 × 4 Ordnance 2 pdr Flak 2 (sp.4) × Oerlikon 20 mm Flak 30–60 depth charges , 2 launchers |
The hull of the Type II was revised and widened compared to the Type I. The destroyers escort could now carry the originally planned three double carriages. The 40 mm 2pdr Flakvierling came behind the chimney. The depth charge armament has been reinforced. 36 ships of this type were built. Three ships were taken over by the Polish Navy upon completion. During the war Greece took over two ships and Norway one from the service of the Royal Navy. Eight Type II ships were lost during the war, including one of the Polish ones. Poland had to return the other two to Great Britain in 1946. After the war ten ships were handed over to allies (three each to India and Denmark, two to Norway and one each to Greece and the German Navy). Those that remained with the Royal Navy were scrapped between 1948 and 1968.
- HMS Avon Vale (L06), John Brown scrapped February 1941, 1958
- HMS Badsworth (L03) , Cammell Laird August 1941, 1944 to Norway ( Arendal ), scrapped 1962
- HMS Beaufort (L14), Cammell Laird November 1941, 1946 to Norway ( Haugesund ), scrapped in 1965
- ORP Slazak ex HMS Bedale (L26) , Hawthorn Leslie , loaned to Poland from June 1942 to 1946, sold to India on April 27, 1953 ( Godavari , D 92), scrapped in 1979
- HMS Bicester (L34), Hawthorn Leslie scrapped June 1942, 1956
- HMS Blackmore (L43) , Stephens April 1942, 1952 to Denmark ( Esbern Snare ), scrapped in 1966
- HMS Blankney (L30), John Brown scrapped April 1941, 1959
- HMS Blencathra (L24), Cammell Laird December 1940, Type I armament, scrapped 1959
- HMS Brocklesby (L42), Cammell Laird April 1941, Type I armament, scrapped in 1968
- HMS Bramham (L51) , Stephens June 1942, 1943 to Greece ( Themistoklis ), scrapped 1966
- HMS Calpe (L71) , Swan Hunter December 1941, scrapped on February 28, 1952 at Denmark ( Rolf Krake ), 1966
- HMS Chiddingfold (L31), Scotts October 1941, scrapped June 18, 1954 at India ( Ganga ), 1975
- HMS Cowdray (L52), Scotts July 1942, on loan to Greece from March to June 1944 ( Admiral Hastings ); however, since the Greek Navy mutinied, it was never put into service for Greece; Scrapped in 1959
- HMS Croome (L62), Stephens scrapped June 1941, 1957
- † HMS Dulverton (L63), Stephens September 1941, on 13 November 1943 by German Dornier Do 217 with Hs-293 -Gleitbombe off the island of Kos badly damaged, abandoned and HMS Belvoir sunk (L32), 77 dead
- † HMS Eridge (L68) , Swan Hunter February 1941, badly damaged by Italian speedboat on August 29, 1942 off Daba (Egypt), was towed to Alexandria, served as a barge until it was scrapped in 1946
- HMS Exmoor (II) (L08) (ex HMS Burton ), Swan Hunter October 1941, 1952 scrapped to Denmark ( Valdemar Sejr ), 1966
- HMS Farndale (L70), Swan Hunter scrapped April 1941, 1962
- † HMS Grove (L77), Swan Hunter February 1942, sunk by U 77 on June 12, 1942 off Sollum (Egypt), 110 dead
- † HMS Heythrop (L85), Swan Hunter June 1941, on March 20, 1942 about 60 km northeast of Bardia (Libya) torpedoed by U 652 , 15 dead, later sunk in tow by HMS Eridge (L68)
- HMS Hursley (L84), Swan Hunter April 1942, loaned to Greece from 1943 to 1959 ( Kriti ), scrapped in 1960
- † HMS Hurworth (L28), Vickers-Armstrong Tyne October 1941, sunk on October 22, 1943 after being hit by a mine off the island of Kalymnos , 113 dead
- HMS Lamerton (L88), Swan Hunter August 1941, scrapped April 27, 1953 to India ( Gomati ), 1975
- HMS Lauderdale (L95), Thornycroft December 1941, February / March 1942 for testing at the RCN in Canada, loaned to Greece from May 4, 1946 to November 12, 1959 ( Aigaion ), scrapped in 1960
- HMS Ledbury (L90), Thornycroft scrapped February 1942, 1958
- HMS Liddesdale (L100), Vickers-Armstrong Tyne March 1941, Type I armament, scrapped 1948
- HMS Middleton (L74), Vickers-Armstrong Tyne scrapped January 1942, 1957
- † ORP Kujawiak ex HMS Oakley (I) (L72) , Vickers-Armstrong Tyne June 1941, loaned to the exiled Polish Navy on May 30, 1941, sunk on June 16, 1942 after being hit by a mine off Malta
- HMS Oakley (II) (L98) (ex HMS Tickham ), Yarrows May 1942, sold to the Federal Republic of Germany on October 2, 1958 ( Gneisenau ), scrapped in 1972
- † HMS Puckeridge (L108), White July 1941, sunk by U 617 on September 6, 1943 approx. 60 km east of Gibraltar , 62 dead
- ORP Krakowiak ex HMS Silverton (L115) , White, loaned to Poland from May 1941 to 1946, scrapped in 1959
- † HMS Southwold (L10), White October 1941, sunk on March 24, 1942 after being hit by mines off Malta, 6 dead
- HMS Tetcott (L99), White scrapped December 1941, 1956
- HMS Wheatland (L122), Yarrows scrapped November 1941, 1959
- HMS Wilton (L128), Yarrows scrapped February 1942, 1959
- HMS Zetland (L59), Yarrows June 1942, 1952 to Norway ( Tromsø ), scrapped in 1965
Type III
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Hunt class Type III |
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| Technical specifications | |
| Ship type: | Escort destroyer |
| Units: | 28 |
| Displacement: | 1050 ts standard; 1590 ts max. |
| Length: | 85.3 m |
| Width: | 9.6 m |
| Draft: | 3.73 m |
| Drive: | as before |
| Speed: | 27 kn (48 km / h) |
| Range: | 2350 nm at 20 kn and 272 t of fuel (4350 km), several units of 328 t |
| Crew: | 168 |
| Armament: | 2 × 2 4-inch guns Mk XVI 1 × 4 Ordnance 2 pdr Flak 3 (sp.5) × Oerlikon 20 mm Flak 1 × 2 torpedo tubes Ø 533 mm 30–70 depth charges , 2 launchers |
The Type III units entered service in 1941. A 102 mm double mount was dispensed with and a twin- barreled torpedo set was placed between the quadruple flak and the aft deckhouse. The space of the rear gun was used for light anti-aircraft weapons and depth charges. A total of 28 Type III ships were built. Seven were commissioned by allied navies (four Greece, two Norway, one France) and were never in service with the Royal Navy. Six British, one Norwegian and the French ship were war casualties. After the war ended, four British and one Greek ships were singled out and scrapped because of their considerable damage. In 1946 two more ships were made available to Greece and in 1958 two ships were handed over to the German Navy. The remaining seven Type III ships of the Royal Navy were scrapped between 1953 and 1961.
- † HMS Airedale (L07), John Brown finished January 1942, badly damaged on June 15, 1942 by German Junkers Ju 87 approx. 160 km northeast of Derna (Libya); abandoned and sunk by HMS Aldenham (L22) and HMS Hurworth (L07)
- HMS Albrighton (L12) , John Brown February 1942, sold to the Federal Republic of Germany on May 14, 1959 , Raule , scrapped in 1969.
- † HMS Aldenham (L22), Cammell Laird February 1942, sank on December 14, 1944 after being hit by a mine approx. 50 km northwest of Zadar , 122 dead
- HMS Belvoir (L32), Cammell Laird scrapped March 1942, 1957
- † HMS Blean (L47), Hawthorn Leslie August 1942, sunk by U 443 approx. 100 km west of Oran on December 11, 1942 , 89 dead
- HMS Bleasdale (L50), Vickers-Armstrong Tyne scrapped April 1942, 1956
- Pindos ex HMS Bolebroke (L65) , Swan Hunter, loaned to Greece from April 1942 to 1959 ( Pindos ), scrapped in 1960
- † Adrias ex HMS Border (L67) , Swan Hunter, August 1942 to Greece; returned to Alexandria after a mine hit on October 22, 1943 off the island of Kalymnos , not repaired, scrapped in 1945
- HMS Catterick (L81), Vickers Barrow June 1942, sold to Greece in 1946 ( Hastings ), scrapped in 1963
- † HMS Derwent (L83), Vickers Barrow April 1942, not repaired after air torpedo hit by German Junkers Ju 88 in the port of Tripoli on March 19, 1943 (6 dead), scrapped in 1946
- HMS Easton (L09), White scrapped December 1942, 1953
- HMS Eggesford (L15) , White January 1943, 1957 sold to the Federal Republic of Germany , Brommy , badly damaged in a storm off Dover in 1962, 1972 to 1977 target ship for speedboats, scrapped in 1979.
- † Eskdale (L36) , Cammell Laird July 1942 Norway ( Eskdale ) in service km on April 14, 1943 22 northeast of the peninsula, The Lizard by German speedboats S 65 , S 90 and S 112 sunk
- † Glaisdale (L44) , Cammell Laird. In service for Norway in June 1942 (on loan), bought by Norway in 1946 (KNM Narvik ), scrapped in 1961
- † HMS Goathland (L27), Fairfields November 1942, no longer repaired after being hit by a mine on July 24, 1944 31 km northeast of Courseulles ( Normandy ), scrapped in 1946
- † La Combattante ex HMS Haldon (L19) , Fairfields, loaned to the Free French Armed Forces (FFL) in December 1942 as La Combattante , sank in The Wash after being hit by a mine on February 23, 1945 (other sources cite torpedo hit by U 5330 as the reason)
- Kanaris ex HMS Hatherleigh (L53) , Vickers-Armstrong Tyne on loan to Greece from August 1942 to 1959 as Kanaris , scrapped in 1960
- HMS Haydon (L75), Vickers-Armstrong Tyne scrapped October 1942, 1958
- † HMS Holcombe (L56), Stephens September 1942, sunk on December 12, 1943 by U 593 off Bougie (Algeria), 84 dead
- † HMS Limbourne (L57), Stephens October 1942, sunk on October 22, 1943 in front of the Île-de-Batz by the German Elbing destroyer T 22 together with the cruiser Charybdis , 42 dead
- HMS Melbreak (L73), Swan Hunter scrapped October 1942, 1956
- Miaoulis ex HMS Modbury (L91) , Swan Hunter. On loan to Greece from November 1942 to 1959, scrapped in 1960
- † HMS Penylan (L89), Vickers Barrow August 1942, sunk on December 3, 1942 by the German speedboat S 115 10 km south of the Start Point in the English Channel , the Hunt destroyer with the shortest service life
- † HMS Rockwood (L39), Vickers Barrow November 1942, badly damaged by German Hs-293 glide bomb on November 11, 1943 off the island of Kos ; Towed back to Great Britain in stages, not repaired, scrapped in 1946
- HMS Stevenstone (L16), White scrapped March 1943, 1959
- HMS Talybont (L18), White May 1943, last new build of a Hunt destroyer, scrapped in 1961
- HMS Tanatside (L69), Yarrows September 1942, 1946 sold to Greece ( Adrias (II) ), scrapped in 1964
- † HMS Wensleydale (L86), Yarrows October 1942, no longer repaired after collision with the armored landing ship HMS LST-367 on November 21, 1944, scrapped in 1946
Type IV
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Hunt Class Type IV |
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| Technical specifications | |
| Ship type: | Escort destroyer |
| Units: | 2 |
| Displacement: | 1175 ts standard; 1750 ts max. |
| Length: | 90.22 m |
| Width: | 10.2 m |
| Draft: | 3.58 m |
| Drive: | as before |
| Speed: | 26 kn |
| Range: | 3500 nm at 14 kn (6480 km) |
| Crew: | 170 |
| Armament: | 3 × 2 4-inch guns Mk XVI 1 × 4 Ordnance 2 pdr flak 2 × Oerlikon 20 mm flak 1 × 3 torpedo tubes Ø 533 mm 50 depth charges, 4 launchers light anti-aircraft armament changed several times |
Thornycroft developed his own larger draft of an escort vehicle before the war, of which two ships were ordered as Type IV as part of the Hunt class in 1940 . They were reclassified to frigates as early as 1947. With regard to the Brissenden , at the end of the 1950s, a sale to Kuwait and conversion to an emir's yacht was considered.
- HMS Brecon (L76), completed December 1942, scrapped in 1962
- HMS Brissenden (L79), finished February 1943, scrapped in 1965
HMS Brissenden
Individual evidence
- ↑ David and Hugh Lyon; Siegfried Greiner: Warships from 1900 to today, technology and use . Buch und Zeit Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Cologne 1979, p. 72-73 .
- ^ Service History HMS Berkeley
- ^ Service History HMS Quorn ; here lenses blast boat
- ^ Service History HMS Tynedale
- ^ Service History HMS Dulverton
- ^ Service History HMS Grove
- ^ Service History HMS Heythrop
- ^ Service History HMS Hurworth
- ^ Service History HMS Puckeridge
- ^ Service History HMS Southwold
- ^ Service History HMS Airedale
- ^ Service History HMS Aldenham
- ^ Service History HMS Aldenham
- ^ Service History HMS Derwent
- ^ Service History HMS Goathland
- ^ Service History HMS Holcombe
- ^ Service History HMS Limbourne
- ↑ Service History HMS Penylan
- ^ Service History HMS Rockwood
- ^ Service History HMS Wensleydale
- ↑ Service History HMS Brissenden
literature
- John English: The Hunts. A history of the design, development and careers of 86 destroyers of this class built for the Royal and Allied Navies during World War II. World Ship Society, Cumbria 1987, ISBN 0-905617-44-4 .
- Mike J. Whitley: Destroyer in World War II. Motorbuchverlag, 2nd edition, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-613-01426-2 .
Web links
- Hunt destroyer on uboat.net (English)
- Documentation of the Federal Archives: "The seven school frigates (class 138) of the Federal Navy"
- Hunt type 1 escort destroyers
- Hunt type 2 escort destroyers
- Hunt type 3 escort destroyers (Engl.)
- "HUNT" 4th type escort destroyers (1942–1943)
- KRAKOWIAK escort destroyers (1941–1942)
- GLAISDALE escort destroyers (1942)
- BADSWORTH escort destroyers (1941–1942 / 1944–1952)
- ADRIAS escort destroyers (1942, 1942/1946)
- KRITI escort destroyers (1941–1942 / 1943–1946)
- LA COMBATTANTE escort destroyer (1942)
- LIN FU escort destroyer (1940/1948)
- MOHAMMED ALI frigates (1940 / 1949–1950)
- GODAVARI frigates (1941–1942 / 1953)
- PRESIDENTE ALFARO frigates (1940–1941 / 1954)
- ESBERN SNARE frigates (1941–1942 / 1954)
- GNEISENAU frigate (1942/1958)
- RAULE frigates (1942–1943 / 1959)
- HAIFA frigate (1940/1956)