Blean in dazzle camouflage
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Blean
Ordered	28 July 1940
Builder	Hawthorn Leslie, Hebburn-on-Tyne
Laid down	22 February 1941
Launched	15 January 1942
Commissioned	23 August 1942
Identification	Pennant number: L47
Fate	Torpedoed and sunk by U-443 on 11 December 1942 11 miles north-west of Oran.
General characteristics
Type	Type III Hunt-class destroyer
Displacement	1,050 long tons (1,070 t) standard 1,435 long tons (1,458 t) full load
Length	85.3 m (279 ft 10 in) o/a
Beam	10.16 m (33 ft 4 in)
Draught	3.51 m (11 ft 6 in)
Propulsion	2 Admiralty 3-drum boilers 2 shaft Parsons geared turbines, 19,000 shp (14,000 kW)
Speed	27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph) 25.5 knots (47.2 km/h; 29.3 mph) full
Range	2,350 nmi (4,350 km) at 20 kn (37 km/h)
Complement	168
Armament	4 × QF 4-inch (102 mm) Mark XVI on twin mounts Mk. XIX 4 × QF 2-pounder Mk. VIII on quad mount MK.VII 2 × 20 mm Oerlikons on single mounts P Mk. III 2 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes 110 depth charges, 4 throwers, 3 racks

HMS Blean was a Type III Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was named after the Blean Beagles Hunt at the village of Blean just north of Canterbury. She had the shortest career of any of the Hunt-class destroyers.

Built at Hebburn-on-Tyne by Hawthorn Leslie, she was laid down on 22 February 1941, launched on 15 January 1942 and commissioned on 23 August 1942.^[1]

Service history

After working up at Scapa Flow followed by some repairs on the Thames she escorted a convoy to Gibraltar arriving on 2 November 1942. She then joined the 58th Destroyer Division escorting Operation Torch convoys. While escorting the British convoy MKF-4 off the Algerian coast, Blean was torpedoed by U-443 on 11 December 1942 11 miles (18 km) north-west of Oran. The U-boat aimed one torpedo against her and then one against the convoy, but both hit Blean and she sank within four minutes with the loss of 89 men.^[2]

A memorial to her was unveiled in the church of St. Cosmus and St. Damian in the village of Blean on 10 December 2006.