HMS Enchantress (L56)

	HMS Enchantress in April 1945
History
United Kingdom
Name	Bittern: re-named Enchantress in 1935
Builder	John Brown & Company, Clydebank
Laid down	9 March 1934
Launched	21 October 1934
Commissioned	8 April 1935
Decommissioned	May 1946
Identification	Pennant number: L56
Fate	Sold for scrap 1952
General characteristics
Class and type	Bittern-class sloop
Displacement	1,085 tons
Length	282 ft (86 m)
Beam	37 ft (11 m)
Draught	10 ft 10 in (3.30 m)
Propulsion	Geared steam turbines on two shafts, 3,300 hp
Speed	18.75-knot (34.73 km/h)
Complement	128
Armament	As built:; 2 × 4.7 inch guns; 3 × 3-pdr saluting gun ; War service:; 4 × 4.7 inch guns; 1 × 3 in HA gun; 4 × 20 mm AA cannon; 60 × Depth charges;

HMS Enchantress (L56) was a

Lady Jean Alice Elaine Cochrane.^[2]

She was active during the

Second World War, serving mainly as a convoy escort, and was a successful anti-submarine warfare

vessel, being credited with the destruction of an Italian submarine in 1942.

Construction

Laid down as Bittern on 9 March 1934 by

Admiralty yacht, and renamed Enchantress (taking the name of the previous vessel in this role) before launching on 21 October 1934. She completed on 4 April 1935 and commissioned four days later.^[3]

Service history

At the outbreak of hostilities in September 1939 Enchantress was allocated to convoy escort duty, coming under the direction of

Western Approaches Command. In this role Enchantress was engaged in all the duties performed by escort ships; protecting convoys, searching for and attacking U-boats which attacked ships in convoy, and rescuing survivors. In the six-year Atlantic campaign

Enchantress escorted more than 100 trade convoys, mostly on the Gibraltar and South Atlantic routes, ensuring the safe and timely arrival of more than 3,000 ships.

Enchantress was involved in three convoy battles during 1940, and a fourth in 1941, all on the North Atlantic route. In July 1940, while escorting OB 188, the convoy came under attack, losing four ships to U-34. In October SC 6 had three ships sunk and one damaged by two U-boats; in November SC 11 lost seven ships in one night to U-100. In February 1941 OB 322 lost four ships to U-47. Two other convoys escorted by Enchantress were attacked, losing three ships, but she was not present at the time; two other convoys lost ships after dispersal.

In May 1941 Enchantress docked for a refit, and installation of

HF/DF radio-detection gear. In September she was assigned to the escort force for Operation Torch. In December, while escorting KMS 4, Enchantress engaged and destroyed the Italian submarine Corallo

off the coast of Algeria.

Returning to the Atlantic in 1943, Enchantress continued escort duty on the Freetown route, until recalled in May 1945 for refit and deployment to the

Japanese surrender

took place.

In 1946 Enchantress returned to the UK and paid off; she was disarmed and sold into merchant service as Lady Enchantress. In 1952 she was discarded and sold for scrap.[3]

Battle Honours

During her service Enchantress was awarded three battle honours:^[3]

Atlantic 1939–45
Mediterranean 1942
North Africa 1942–43

Successes

During her service Enchantress was credited with the destruction of one U-boat (enemy submarine):

Date	U-boat	Type	Location	Notes
13 December 1942	Corallo	Perla class	Bougie, Algeria 37°58′N 05°07′E / 37.967°N 5.117°E / 37.967; 5.117	detected by Enchantress while attacking convoy KMS 4; depth-charged, forced to surface, attacked by gunfire and rammed.^[4]