HMS Amethyst (F116)
(Redirected from
HMS Amethyst (U16)
)
 Amethyst during the Second World War
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Amethyst |
| Builder | Alexander Stephen and Sons, Govan |
| Laid down | 25 March 1942 |
| Launched | 7 May 1943 |
| Commissioned | 2 November 1943 |
| Identification | Pennant number: U16 (later F116) |
| Fate | Scrapped 19 January 1957 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Modified Black Swan-class sloop |
| Displacement | 1,350 tons |
| Length | 283 ft (86 m) |
| Beam | 38.5 ft (11.7 m) |
| Propulsion |
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| Speed | 20 knots (37 km/h) at 4,300 hp (3,200 kW) |
| Complement | 192 men + 1 cat |
| Armament |
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HMS Amethyst was a modified
Second World War she was modified and redesignated as a frigate
, and renumbered F116.
Second World War
During the
Second World War, Amethyst was deployed mostly on anti-submarine patrols and escort duties. She attacked and sank the U-boat U-1276 with depth charges on 20 February 1945. U-1276 had just sunk HMS Vervain, a Flower-class corvette. The action took place in the North Atlantic, south of Waterford
, and resulted in the loss of all 49 of the U-boat's crew.
During the war the Amethyst was credited, along with the sloops
British Admiralty withdrew this credit in a post-war reassessment.[1]
The Amethyst incident
On 20 April 1949, Amethyst was on her way from Shanghai to Nanking (now Nanjing) when she was fired upon by the People's Liberation Army. This became known as the Amethyst incident. Amethyst was trapped in China until 30 July 1949, when she escaped under cover of darkness.
For the 1957 film Yangtse Incident: The Story of H.M.S. Amethyst, Amethyst was brought out of reserve to play herself. As the engines were no longer operational, her sister ship Magpie was used for shots of the ship moving. Amethyst was scrapped shortly after the filming was finished.[2]
See also
Citations
- ^ Blair (2000), 630-631.
- ^ "The Yangtse Incident:the story of HMS Amethyst". British Lion Films. British Lion Holdings Ltd. Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
General and cited references
- ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
- Hague, Arnold (1993). Sloops: A History of the 71 Sloops Built in Britain and Australia for the British, Australian and Indian Navies 1926–1946. Kendal, England: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-67-3.
Further reading
- ISBN 0-679-64033-9.
- Leslie Frank, Yangtse River Incident 1949: The Diary of Coxswain Leslie Frank: HMS Amethyst - Yangtse River 19/4/49 to 31/7/49 (2004) ISBN 1-84342-756-7
- Edwyn Gray, Frigate Under Fire: HMS Amethyst's 100 Days of Hell (1987)
- Malcolm H. Murfett, Hostage on the Yangtze: Britain, China, and the Amethyst Crisis of 1949 (1991) ISBN 0-87021-289-3
External links
- Britain's Small Wars' account of the Amethyst Incident
- Friends of the Four Ships 191 members Up-dated 2008
- Simon, (a cat) of HMS Amethyst, awarded the Dickin Medal.
- MaritimeQuest HMS Amethyst pages
- MaritimeQuest HMS Concord and the escape of the Amethyst
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 Royal Indian Navy |
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 Egyptian Navy | |
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Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1949 | |
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