River class frigate
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other naval ship classes of the same name, see River class.
 HMS Swale K 217, a River class frigate, later transferred to the Royal South African Navy. |
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| General Characteristics |  |
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| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 283 ft (86.25 m) p/p ; 301.25 ft (91.82 m) o/a |
| Beam: | 36.5 ft (11.1 m) |
| Draught: | 9 ft (2.75 m); 13 ft (4 m) full load |
| Propulsion: |
2 x Admiralty 3-drum boilers, 2 shafts, reciprocating vertical triple expansion, 5,500 ihp |
| Speed: | 20 kts (37km/h) (20.5 kts in turbine ships) |
| Range: |
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| Complement: |
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| Armament: | |
RN all groups;
RCN group;
RAN group I;
RAN group II;
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The River class frigates were a class of 151 frigates launched between 1941 and 1944 for use as anti-submarine convoy escorts in the North Atlantic.
The majority served with the Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy, with the some serving in the other Allied navies; the Royal Australian Navy, the Free French Navy, the Royal Netherlands Navy and, post-war, the South African Navy. Ten Canadian built ships were assigned to the United States Navy to cover for a shortage of suitable convoy escorts until American built ships became available. In the event, only two were transferred, the remaining eight were used by the Canadians.
After World War II they found employment in many other navies the world over, many Canadian ships were sunk as breakwaters.
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[edit] Design
The Rivers were designed by naval engineer William Reed 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 (eg reciprocating steam engines instead of turbines) and construction techniques pioneered in the building of the Flower-class corvettes.
The River-class design was used as the basis for the United States Navys Tacoma class (known to the Royal navy as the Colony class frigate), and the hull design was later elaborated into the Loch class frigate, and subsequently the Bay class frigate
[edit] Ships
[edit] Royal Navy group I
- HMS Ballinderry
- HMS Bann (to Royal Indian Navy 1946 as Tir)
- HMS Chelmer
- HMS Dart
- HMS Derg
- HMS Ettrick (to Canada as HMCS Ettrick)
- HMS Exe
- HMS Itchen (sunk by U-666 on 23 September 1943)
- HMS Jed
- HMS Kale
- HMS Ness
- HMS Nith (to Royal Egyptian Navy 1948 as Domiat)
- HMS Ribble (i) (to the Netherlands as HNLMS Johan Maurits van Nassau)
- HMS Rother
- HMS Spey (to Royal Egyptian Navy 1948 as Rasheed)
- HMS Swale (to South Africa as HMSAS Swale)
- HMS Tay
- HMS Test (to Royal Indian Navy 1946 as Neza)
- HMS Teviot (to South Africa as HMSAS Teviot)
- HMS Trent (to Royal Indian Navy 1946 as Khukri)
- HMS Tweed (sunk by U-305 on 7 January 1944)
- HMS Waveney
- HMS Wear
[edit] Royal Navy group II
- HMS Adur (to the Canada as HMCS Nadur; to United States as Asheville)
- HMS Aire (Tamar, 1946; Aire, 1946)
- HMS Annan (i) (to Canada as HMCS Annan; to United States as USS Natchez)
- HMS Annan (ii) (to Canada as Annan; to Royal Danish Navy 1945 as KMD Niels Ebbesen)
- HMS Avon (to Portuguese Navy 1949 as Nuno Tristao)
- HMS Awe (to Portuguese Navy 1949 as Diogo Gomes)
- HMS Barle
- HMS Braid (to the Free French as L'Aventure)
- HMS Cam
- HMS Cuckmere (torpedoed by U-233 on 11 December 1943 and never repaired)
- HMS Deveron (to Royal Indian Navy 1946 as Dhanush, to Pakistani Navy 1948 as Zulfiquar)
- HMS Dovey (ex- Lambourne)
- HMS Evenlode
- HMS Fal (to Burmese Navy 1947 as Mayu)
- HMS Findhorn
- HMS Frome (to Free French as L'Escarmouche, later Ailette)
- HMS Glenarm (HMS Strule, 1944; to Free French as Croix de Lorraine)
- HMS Halladale
- HMS Helford
- HMS Helmsdale
- HMS Inver
- HMS Lagan (torpedoed by U-270 on 20 September 1943 and never repaired)
- HMS Lochy
- HMS Lossie (to United States as Lossie)
- HMS Meon (to Canada as Meon)
- HMS Monnow (to Canada as HMCS Monnow; to Royal Danish Navy 1945 as KDM Holger Danske)
- HMS Mourne (sunk by U-767 on 15 June 1944)
- HMS Moyola (to the Free French as Tonkinois; later La Confiance)
- HMS Nadder (to Royal Indian Navy 1946 as Shamsher; to Pakistani Navy 1948 as Shamsher)
- HMS Nene (to Canada as HMCS Nene)
- HMS Odzani
- HMS Parret
- HMS Plym
- HMS Ribble (ii) (to Canada as HMCS Ribble)
- HMS Shiel
- HMS Taff
- HMS Tavy
- HMS Tees
- HMS Teme (to Canada as HMCS Teme)
- HMS Torridge (to Free French as La Surprise; to Royal Morrocan Navy 1964 as Al Mauona)
- HMS Towy
- HMS Usk (to Royal Egyptian Navy 1948 as Abikir)
- HMS Windrush (to Free French as La Découverte)
- HMS Wye
[edit] Royal Australian Navy group I
- HMAS Barcoo
- HMAS Barwon
- HMAS Burdekin
- HMAS Diamantina
- HMAS Gascoyne
- HMAS Hawkesbury
- HMAS Lachlan (to Royal New Zealand Navy 1948)
- HMAS Macquarie (ex- Culgoa)
[edit] Royal Australian Navy group II
- HMAS Condamine
- HMAS Culgoa (ex- Macquarrie)
- HMAS Murchison
- HMAS Shoalhaven
[edit] Royal Canadian Navy group
- HMCS Antigonish
- HMCS Beacon Hill (ex- Royal Mount)
- HMCS Buckingham
- HMCS Cap de la Madeleine
- HMCS Cape Breton
- HMCS Capilano
- HMCS Carlplace (to Dominican Navy 1946 as Presidente Trujillo, later Mella)
- HMCS Charlottetown
- HMCS Chebogue
- HMCS Coaticook
- HMCS Dunver (ex- Verdun of Canada, ex- Verdun)
- HMCS Eastview
- HMCS Fort Erie (ex- La Tuque)
- HMCS Glace Bay (ex- Lauzon; to Chilean Navy 1946 as Esmerelda, later Bacquedano)
- HMCS Grou
- HMCS Hallowell (to Israeli Navy 1949 as Misnak, to Royal Ceylon Navy 1958 as H.M.Cy.S. GAJABAHU,1972 S.L.N.S. GAJABAHU)
- HMCS Inch Arran
- HMCS Joliette (to Chilean Navy 1946 as Iquique)
- HMCS Jonquiere
- HMCS Kirkland Lake (ex- St Jerome)
- HMCS Kokanee
- HMCS La Hulloise
- HMCS Lanark
- 'HMCS 'Lasalle
- HMCS Lauzon (ex- Glace Bay)
- HMCS Levis
- HMCS Longueuil
- HMCS Magog
- HMCS Matane (ex- Stormont)
- HMCS Montreal
- HMCS New Glasgow
- HMCS New Waterford
- HMCS Orkney (to Israeli Navy 1950 as Mivtakh,to Royal Ceylon Navy in 1955 as H.M.Cy.S. MAHASENA)
- HMCS Outremont
- HMCS Penetang (ex- Rouyn; to Royal Norwegian Navy 1956 as HNoMS Draug)
- HMCS Port Colborne
- HMCS Poundmaker (to Peruvian Navy 1947 as BAP Teniente Ferré)
- HMCS Prestonian (ex- Beauharnois; to Royal Norwegian Navy 1956 as HNoMS Troll)
- HMCS Prince Rupert
- HMCS Royal Mount
- HMCS Runnymede
- HMCS Sea Cliff (ex- Megantic; to Chilean Navy 1946 as Cavadonga)
- HMCS Springhill
- HMCS St. Catharines
- HMCS St. John
- HMCS St. Pierre (to Peruvian Navy 1947 as BAP Teniente Palacios)
- HMCS St. Stephen
- HMCS Ste. Therese
- HMCS Stettler
- HMCS Stone Town
- HMCS Stormont (ex- Matane)
- HMCS Strathadam (to Israeli Navy 1950 as Misgav)
- HMCS Sussexvale (ex- Valdorian)
- HMCS Swansea
- HMCS Thetford Mines
- HMCS Toronto (to Royal Norwegian Navy as HNoMS Valkyrien)
- HMCS Valleyfield (sunk by U-548 on 7 May 1944)
- HMCS Victoriaville (renamed Granby 1966)
- HMCS Waskesiu
- HMCS Wentworth
[edit] Rivers lost in action
- HMS Cam - mined 1944, written off as constructive total loss
- HMCS Chebouge - torpedoed by U-1227 on 4 October 1944 in North Atlantic, broke tow and wrecked in Swansae Bay on 11 October 1944
- HMS Cuckmere - torpedoed by U-233 on 11 December 1943 north of Algiers, written off as constructive total loss
- HMS Lagan - torpedoed by U-270 on 20 September 1943 in North Atlantic, written off as constructive total loss
- HMS Itchen - torpedoed by U-666 on 23 September 1943 south of Greenland
- HMCS Magog - torpedoed by U-1223 on 14 October 1944 in Gulf of St Lawrence, written off as constructive total loss
- HMS Mourne - torpedoed by U-767 on 15 June 1944 in English Channel
- HMCS Teme - torpedoed by U-246 on 29 March 1945 in English Channel, written off as constructive total loss
- HMS Tweed was sunk by U-305 on 7 January 1944 south west of Ireland
- HMCS Valleyfield - torpedoed by U-548 on 7 May 1944 off of Cape Race
[edit] Trivia
- HMS Plym gained fame when she was destroyed by the United Kingdom's first nuclear weapon in Operation Hurricane in 1952.
- A fictional River class frigate, HMS Saltash, appears in the novel The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monsarrat. In the film version, this is replaced by a Castle class corvette, HMS Saltash Castle, as no River class vessel was available in the Royal Navy to play the part.
[edit] Bibliography
- British and Empire Warships of the Second World War, H T Lenton, Greenhill Books, ISBN 1-85367-277-7
- Royal Navy Frigates 1945-1983, Leo Marriot, Ian Allan, 1983, ISBN 0-7110-1322-5
[edit] External links
- River-class frigates from uboat.net
- River-class Frigates by Brian Lavery [1]
