HMS Fowey (L15)
History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Name | HMS Fowey |
Ordered | 4 December 1929 |
Builder | Devonport Dockyard |
Laid down | 24 March 1930 |
Launched | 4 November 1930 |
Commissioned | 11 September 1931 |
Identification | Pennant number: L15 (later U15) |
Motto | Tien te foy : 'Hold thy loyalty' |
Fate |
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Badge | On a Field Blue, a ship Gold with White sails bearing a cross Red over wavelets Silver and Green. |
General characteristics | |
Displacement | 1,150 tons |
Length | 281 ft (86 m) |
Beam | 35 ft (11 m) |
Draught | 8 ft 3 in (2.51 m) |
Propulsion |
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Speed | 16 knots (30 km/h) |
Complement | 95 |
Armament |
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HMS Fowey was a
Construction and commissioning
Fowey was ordered on 4 December 1929, under the 1929 Programme. She was laid down at
Wartime career
Early duties and successes
Fowey was transferred to serve in the Mediterranean on 9 September after her repairs had been completed. By October she was engaged on contraband patrols, before being transferred to
Escorting the Atlantic convoys
Fowey remained on the
May saw Fowey under refit at Devonport, during which time her pennant was changed to U15. She carried out post refit trials in June and rejoined Western Approaches Command at Liverpool in July. On 15 June she picked up 16 survivors from the Norwegian tanker SS Italia, that had been torpedoed and sunk by U-38 60 miles (97 km) west of the Scilly Isles. On 21 June she and HMS Sandwich picked up 49 survivors from the British tanker SS San Fernando, that had been torpedoed by U-47 some 50 miles (80 km) south-south-west of Cape Clear.
The attack on convoy SC 7
Fowey spent August and September escorting convoys in the Western Approaches. She put to sea with the corvette HMS Bluebell on 16 October to come to the aid of Convoy SC 7 which was under heavy U-boat attack. They joined the sole escort, the sloop HMS Scarborough, and on 18 October they were further reinforced by the sloop HMS Leith and the corvette HMS Heartsease. Despite these measures, 17 of the 35 ships of the convoy were lost to U-boat attacks. On 19 October Fowey picked up 35 survivors from the British merchant SS Empire Brigade, sunk by U-99, and 36 survivors from the British merchant SS Shekatika, sunk by U-123. In November, Fowey was transferred to the Rosyth escort force and was deployed for convoy defence in the North Sea and North Western Approaches in December. By now she had been equipped with Type 286M Modified RAF radar outfit.
Refitted and reassigned
She spent January to May 1941 on these duties, before being transferred to the
in the 37th Escort Group.Fowey deployed with this group for the rest of 1941, until February 1942. She spent between March and April under refit in Liverpool, and after post refit trials in May, rejoined the group in June. July to September was spent with the group, followed by another refit in Liverpool in October, when she was fitted with the Type 271 surface warning radar. She then returned to the group and her convoy protection duties. She was taken in hand for a major refit at Milford Haven in January 1943, which lasted until April. She was fitted with the Hedgehog Anti-Submarine Mortar Outfit and four additional 20mm guns, which replaced her 0.5-inch machine guns. She trialled these new improvements in May, rejoining the group in June. She spent the rest of the year in the Atlantic, and was nominated for service in the Mediterranean in December. On 20 November she picked up 67 survivors from the British merchant SS Grangepark that had been torpedoed and sunk west of Gibraltar by U-263.
Mediterranean and the end of the war
Fowey sailed to the Mediterranean in January 1944. She spent February and March under repair at
Postwar career
Fowey remained the Stranraer guardship until December 1946, when she was sent to Portsmouth. She had been selected to be transferred to Egypt in early 1946 and was under refit from May 1946. This transfer was subsequently cancelled and she was put up for disposal. She was sold to Wheelock Marsden & Co Ltd for use as a merchant vessel. She was renamed SS Rowlock and continued in commercial service until 1950. She was then sold for scrapping in Mombasa.
Notes
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References
- Campbell, N. J. M. (1980). "Great Britain (including Empire Forces)". In Chesneau, Roger (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 2–85. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
- Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben & Bush, Steve (2020). Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present (5th revised and updated ed.). Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5267-9327-0.
- 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, UK: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-67-3.
- ISBN 1-55750-048-7.
- ISBN 1-59114-119-2.