HMS Rowley (K560)

HMS Rowley (K560) was a British Captain-class frigate of the Royal Navy in commission during World War II. Originally constructed as a United States Navy Buckley class destroyer escort, she served in the Royal Navy from 1943 to 1945.

History
United States
Name: unnamed (DE-92)
Ordered: 10 January 1942[1]
Builder: Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Hingham, Massachusetts
Laid down: 18 August 1943[2]
Launched: 30 October 1943[2]
Completed: 22 December 1943[2]
Commissioned: never
Fate: Transferred to United Kingdom 22 December 1943[2]
Acquired: Returned by United Kingdom 12 November 1945[2]
Stricken: 8 January 1946[2]
Fate: Sold for scrapping 14 June 1946[2]
United Kingdom
Class and type: Captain-class frigate
Name: HMS Rowley (K560)
Namesake: Vice Admiral Sir Joshua Rowley (1734-1790), British naval officer who was commanding officer of HMS Montagu during the Battle of Quiberon Bay in 1759[3]
Acquired: 22 December 1943[2]
Commissioned: 22 December 1943[1]
Decommissioned: late 1945[1]
Fate: Returned to United States 12 November 1945[2]
General characteristics
Displacement: 1,400 tons
Length: 306 ft (93 m)
Beam: 36.75 ft (11.2 m)
Draught: 9 ft (2.7 m)
Propulsion:
  • Two Foster-Wheeler Express "D"-type water-tube boilers
  • GE 13,500 shp (10,070 kW) steam turbines and generators (9,200 kW)
  • Electric motors for 12,000 shp (8,900 kW)
  • Two shafts
Speed: 24 knots (44 km/h)
Range: 5,500 nautical miles (10,200 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h)
Complement: 186
Sensors and
processing systems:
  • SA & SL type radars
  • Type 144 series Asdic
  • MF Direction Finding antenna
  • HF Direction Finding Type FH 4 antenna
Armament:
Notes: Pennant number K560

Construction and transfer

The ship was laid down as the unnamed U.S. Navy destroyer escort DE-95 by Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Inc., in Hingham, Massachusetts, on 18 August 1943 and launched on 30 October 1943.[2] She was transferred to the United Kingdom upon completion on 22 December 1943.[2]

Service history

Commissioned into service in the Royal Navy under the command of Lieutenant Commander Frederick John Gwynn Jones, RD, RNR, as the frigate HMS Rowley (K560) on 22 December 1943 simultaneously with her transfer, the ship served on patrol and escort duty. On 27 February 1945, she joined the British frigate HMS Duckworth (K351) in a depth charge attack which sank the German submarine U-1208 in the English Channel southeast of the Isles of Scilly in position 49°51′47″N 006°06′45″W.[1][2]

The Royal Navy returned Rowley to the U.S. Navy on 12 November 1945.[2]

Disposal

The U.S. Navy struck Rowley from its Naval Vessel Register on 8 January 1946. She was sold on 14 June 1946 for scrapping.[2]

References
  1. uboat.net HMS Rowley (K 560)
  2. Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive Rowley (DE-95) HMS Rowley (K-560)
  3. Captain Class Frigate Association: HMS Rowley K560 (DE 95)


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