HMS Ascension

	HMS Ascension
History
United States
Name	USS Hargood
Namesake	William Hargood (1762-1839), British naval officer (British name assigned in anticipation of ship's transfer to United Kingdom)
Builder	Walsh-Kaiser Company, Providence, Rhode Island
Reclassified	Patrol frigate 15 April 1943
Laid down	30 April 1943
Renamed	USS Ascension, 1943
Namesake	Ascension Island (British name assigned in anticipation of ship's transfer to United Kingdom)
Launched	6 August 1943
Sponsored by	Mrs. A. A. Kirby
Identification	PG-182; PF-74;
Fate	Transferred to United Kingdom 24 November 1943
Acquired	Returned by United Kingdom 31 May 1946
Fate	Sold 16 October 1947 for scrapping
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Ascension
Namesake	Ascension Island
Acquired	24 November 1943
Commissioned	24 November 1943
Identification	K502
Fate	Returned to United States 31 May 1946
General characteristics
Class and type	Colony/Tacoma-class frigate
Displacement	1,264 long tons (1,284 t)
Length	303 ft 11 in (92.63 m)
Beam	37 ft 6 in (11.43 m)
Draft	13 ft 8 in (4.17 m)
Propulsion	3 × boilers; 2 × turbines, 5,500 shp (4,100 kW) each; 2 shafts;
Speed	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement	190
Armament	3 × single 3 inch/50 AA guns; 2 × twin 40 mm guns; 9 × single 20 mm; 1 × Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar; 8 × Y-gun depth charge projectors; 2 × depth charge racks;

HMS Ascension (K502) was a Colony-class frigate of the United Kingdom that served in the Royal Navy during World War II. She originally was ordered by the United States Navy as the Tacoma-class frigate USS Hargood (PF-74) and was transferred to the Royal Navy prior to completion.

Construction and acquisition

The ship, originally designated a "patrol

launching

. She was launched on 6 August 1943, sponsored by Mrs. A. A. Kirby.

Service history

Transferred to the United Kingdom under

Shetland Islands at 60°18′00″N 004°52′00″W / 60.30000°N 4.86667°W.^[1]

On 14 March 1945, Ascension led a Royal Navy hunter-killer group to the scene of an attack by the

flotsam from the submarine to the surface. The destroyer HMS Wivern claimed a share of the kill after depth-charging an oil slick 10 nautical miles (19 km; 12 mi) to the south under the assumption that it was oil from U-714, which Wivern's crew believed had been only been damaged by Natal and was attempting to escape. Although some controversy surrounds credit for the sinking, naval authorities later determined that Natal had sunk U-714 with the loss of the submarine's entire crew of 50 men and gave Natal sole credit for the sinking.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]