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HMS Itchen (K227)

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History
United Kingdom
NameItchen
NamesakeRiver Itchen, Hampshire
BuilderFleming & Ferguson Ltd., Paisley
Laid down14 July 1941
Launched29 July 1942
Commissioned28 December 1942
FateSunk by U-666 on 23 September 1943 at 53°25′N 39°42′W / 53.417°N 39.700°W / 53.417; -39.700
General characteristics
Class and typeRiver-class frigate
Displacement
  • 1,370 long tons (1,390 t)
  • 1,830 long tons (1,860 t) (deep load)
Length
  • 283 ft (86.26 m) p/p
  • 301.25 ft (91.82 m)o/a
Beam36.5 ft (11.13 m)
Draught9 ft (2.74 m); 13 ft (3.96 m) (deep load)
Propulsion2 × Admiralty 3-drum boilers, 2 shafts, reciprocating vertical triple expansion, 5,500 ihp (4,100 kW)
Speed20 knots (37.0 km/h)
Range440 long tons (450 t; 490 short tons) oil fuel; 7,200 nautical miles (13,334 km) at 12 knots (22.2 km/h)
Complement107
Armament

HMS Itchen (K227) was a River-class frigate of the Royal Navy (RN). Itchen was built to the RN's specifications as a Group I River-class frigate. She served in the North Atlantic during World War II.

As a River-class frigate, Itchen was one of 151 frigates launched between 1941 and 1944 for use as anti-submarine convoy escorts, named after rivers in the United Kingdom. The ships were designed by naval engineer William Reed, of Smith's Dock Company of South Bank-on-Tees, to have the endurance and anti-submarine capabilities of the Black Swan-class sloops, while being quick and cheap to build in civil dockyards using the machinery (e.g. reciprocating steam engines instead of turbines) and construction techniques pioneered in the building of the Flower-class corvettes. Its purpose was to improve on the convoy escort classes in service with the Royal Navy at the time, including the Flower class.

After commissioning in December 1942, Itchen participated in anti-submarine warfare exercises off Tobermory, Mull and Lough Foyle until mid September 1943 where she was assigned as convoy escort.[1]

On 19 September 1943, Itchen was involved in the U-boat attack on Convoys ONS 18/ON 202. At 21:51 on 20 September, HMCS St. Croix was hit and sunk, with 81 survivors being picked up by Itchen. During this, at 22:53 on 20 September, the German submarine U-305 fired a torpedo at Itchen but missed and HMS Polyanthus was sunk screening the rescue. At 02:01 on the morning of 23 September, U-666 fired a torpedo at Itchen which hit the ship after 70 seconds. The frigate blew up with loss of 230 lives and 3 survivors.[2] These ships were some of the first victims of the newly developed GNAT torpedo. The survivors were picked up by SS Wisła.[3][4]

Discover more about HMS Itchen (K227) related topics

Frigate

Frigate

A frigate is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat.

List of River-class frigates

List of River-class frigates

The River class was a ship class of British-designed frigates built and operated during World War II. One hundred and fifty-one frigates were built, and these were operated by seven different nations during the war.

Anti-submarine warfare

Anti-submarine warfare

Anti-submarine warfare is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are typically carried out to protect friendly shipping and coastal facilities from submarine attacks and to overcome blockades.

Black Swan-class sloop

Black Swan-class sloop

The Black Swan class and Modified Black Swan class were two classes of sloop of the Royal Navy and Royal Indian Navy. Twelve Black Swans were launched between 1939 and 1943, including four for the Royal Indian Navy; twenty-five Modified Black Swans were launched between 1942 and 1945, including two for the Royal Indian Navy; several other ships were cancelled.

Flower-class corvette

Flower-class corvette

The Flower-class corvette was a British class of 294 corvettes used during World War II by the Allied navies particularly as anti-submarine convoy escorts in the Battle of the Atlantic. Royal Navy ships of this class were named after flowers.

Corvette

Corvette

A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloop-of-war.

Lough Foyle

Lough Foyle

Lough Foyle, sometimes Loch Foyle, is the estuary of the River Foyle, on the north coast of Ireland. It lies between County Londonderry in Northern Ireland and County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland. Sovereignty over the waters has been in dispute since the Partition of Ireland.

Convoys ONS 18/ON 202

Convoys ONS 18/ON 202

ONS 18 and ON 202 were North Atlantic convoys of the ONS/ON series which ran during the battle of the Atlantic in World War II. They were the subject of a major U-boat attack in September 1943, the first battle in the Kriegsmarine's autumn offensive, following the withdrawal from the North Atlantic route after Black May.

German submarine U-305

German submarine U-305

German submarine U-305 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 30 August 1941 at the Flender Werke yard at Lübeck as yard number 305, launched on 25 July 1942 and commissioned on 17 September under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Rudolf Bahr.

HMS Polyanthus (K47)

HMS Polyanthus (K47)

HMS Polyanthus was a Flower-class corvette of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 30 November 1940 from Leith Docks on the Firth of Forth, at an estimated cost of £55,000. Polyanthus was sunk by the German submarine U-952 using new German weapons technology on 20 September 1943 about 1,000 miles southwest of Reykjavík during convoy escort duty in the Battle of the North Atlantic.

German submarine U-666

German submarine U-666

German submarine U-666 was a Type VIIC U-boat built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine for service during World War II. She was laid down on 16 September 1941 by Deutsche Werft, Hamburg as yard number 815, launched on 18 July 1942 and commissioned on 26 August 1942 under Kapitänleutnant Herbert Engel. Oberleutnant zur See Ernst Wilberg took over command on 10 December 1943.

G7es torpedo

G7es torpedo

The G7es (T5) "Zaunkönig" ("wren") was a passive acoustic torpedo employed by German U-boats during World War II. It was called the GNAT by the British.

Source: "HMS Itchen (K227)", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, January 12th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Itchen_(K227).

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References
  1. ^ "HMS Itchen (K 227) of the Royal Navy - British Frigate of the River class - Allied Warships of WWII - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  2. ^ "HMS Itchen (K 227) (British Frigate) - Ships hit by German U-boats during WWII - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  3. ^ "HMCS St. Croix (I 81) (Canadian Destroyer) - Ships hit by German U-boats during WWII - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  4. ^ Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval Historical Center, Department of the Navy. 1991. p. 293. ISBN 9780160020551.
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