History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Cranstoun
BuilderBethlehem Hingham Shipyard
Laid down9 June 1943
Launched28 August 1943
Commissioned13 November 1943
Decommissioned3 December 1945
Stricken7 February 1946
Honours and
awards
  • English Channel
  • North Foreland[1]
FateSold for scrapping, 20 November 1947
General characteristics
Class and typeCaptain-class frigate
Displacement
  • 1,400 long tons (1,422 t) standard
  • 1,740 long tons (1,768 t) full
Length
  • 306 ft (93 m) o/a
  • 300 ft (91 m) w/l
Beam36 ft 9 in (11.20 m)
Draught9 ft (2.7 m)
Propulsion
  • 2 × Foster Wheeler Express "D"-type water-tube boilers
  • GE 13,500 shp (10,067 kW) steam turbines and generators (9,200 kW)
  • Electric motors 12,000 shp (8,948 kW)
  • 2 shafts
Speed24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph)
Range5,500 nmi (10,200 km) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement186
Electronic warfare
& decoys
Armament
Service record
Commanders:
  • Lt. Eric W. Rainey, RN
  • (23 November 1943 – 23 June 1945)
  • A/Lt.Cdr. Alfred S. Miller, DSC, RNZNVR
  • (23 June–September 1945)
  • A/Lt.Cdr. John P. Kilbee, RNR
  • (September–October 1945)[2]
Victories: U-1063 (15 April 1945)

HMS Cranstoun (K511) was a Captain-class frigate of the British Royal Navy that served in the last two years of World War II. The ship was laid down as a Buckley-class destroyer escort at the Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard at Hingham, Massachusetts on 9 June 1943, with the hull number DE-82, and launched on 28 August 1943. The ship was transferred to the UK under Lend-Lease on 13 November 1943,[3] and named after Captain James Cranstoun, an officer who served in the American Revolutionary and French Revolutionary Wars.

Service history

Cranstoun served as a convoy escort, and was attached to the Nore Command, and then the 19th Escort Group.[4]

At 21:14 on the evening of 15 April 1945 Cranstoun and Loch Killin, while part of the escort to Convoy TBC 128, detected the U-1063 in Bigbury Bay, Devon. The two ships mounted a coordinated attack, with Loch Killin using her Squid anti-submarine mortar three times and Cranstoun her Hedgehog mortar once, to force the U-boat to the surface. Burges then also joined the attack, as the U-boat was illuminated by the ship's searchlights and fired on with 20 mm and 40 mm guns. U-1063 attempted to escape, but Loch Killin attacked with depth charges and sank her. Only 17 of the crew survived.[5]

Cranstoun was returned to the U.S. Navy on 3 December 1945, struck from the Navy List on 7 February 1946, and sold for scrapping on 20 November 1947.[3]

References

  1. ^ Tynan, Roy (2006). "Captain Class Frigate - Battle Honours". captainclassfrigates.co.uk. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  2. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur (2011). "Allied Warships of WWII : HMS Cranstoun". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  3. ^ a b Smolinski, Mike (2010). "Destroyer Escort Photo Index - HMS Cranstoun (K511)". navsource.org. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  4. ^ Collingwood, Donald (1998). The Captain Class Frigates in the Second World War. Barnsley: Leo Cooper. ISBN 0-85052-615-9.
  5. ^ Phillips, Stephen (2003). "Into the Lion's Den: The Loss of U-1063". ubootwaffe.net. Archived from the original on 30 July 2007. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
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