HMS Waldegrave (K579)

The second HMS Waldegrave (K579), and the first to enter service, 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 1944 to 1945.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Waldegrave.

History
United States
Name: unnamed (DE-570)
Builder: Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Hingham, Massachusetts
Laid down: 16 October 1943
Launched: 4 December 1943
Completed: 25 January 1944
Commissioned: never
Fate: Transferred to United Kingdom 25 January 1944
Acquired: Returned by United Kingdom 3 December 1945
Stricken: 21 January 1946
Fate:
  • Sold 1946 for scrapping
  • Scrapped June 1948
United Kingdom
Class and type: Captain-class frigate
Name: HMS Waldegrave (K579)
Namesake: Admiral William Waldegrave, 1st Baron Radstock (1753–1825), who rendered distinguished service as commanding officer of HMS Courageux off Toulon, France, in 1793
Acquired: 25 January 1944
Commissioned: 25 January 1944
Decommissioned: 1945
Fate: Returned to United States 3 December 1945
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 K579

Construction and transfer

The ship was laid down as the unnamed U.S. Navy destroyer escort DE-570 by Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Inc., in Hingham, Massachusetts, on 16 October 1943 and launched on 4 December 1943. She was transferred to the United Kingdom upon completion on 25 January 1944.

Service history

The ship was commissioned into service in the Royal Navy under the command of Lieutenant Tempest Hay, RN,[1] as the frigate HMS Waldegrave (K579) on 25 January 1944 simultaneously with her transfer. She served in the Royal Navy for the duration of World War II, garnering battle honours for her operations in the North Atlantic Ocean and English Channel and the Normandy Landings at the American Beachheads.

The Royal Navy returned Waldegrave to the U.S. Navy on 3 December 1945.

Disposal

The U.S. Navy struck Waldegrave from its Naval Vessel Register on 21 January 1946. She soon was sold to the Atlas Steel and Supply Company of Cleveland, Ohio, for scrapping, then resold later in 1946 to the Kulka Steel and Equipment Company of Alliance, Ohio, and sold a third and final time on 8 December 1946 to the Bristol Engineering Company of Somerset, Massachusetts. She was scrapped in June 1948.

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References
  1. uboat.net HMS Waldegrave (K 579)


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