HMS Kempenfelt (I18)

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For other ships with the same name, see HMS Kempenfelt and HMCS Assiniboine.

HMS Kempenfelt in August 1933
History
United Kingdom
NameKempenfelt
NamesakeRear Admiral Richard Kempenfelt
Awarded15 July 1930
BuilderJ. Samuel White, Cowes
Laid down18 October 1930
Launched29 October 1931
Completed30 May 1932
FateTransferred to Royal Canadian Navy, 19 October 1939
Canada
NameAssiniboine
NamesakeAssiniboine River
Commissioned19 October 1939
Decommissioned8 August 1945
MottoFideliter (Latin: "Faithfully")
Nickname(s)"Bones"
Honours and
awards		Atlantic 1939-45, Biscay 1944, English Channel 1944-45[1]
Fate
  • Sold for scrapping but wrecked en route to breakers on 10 November 1945
  • Wreck broken up in situ in 1952
BadgeBadge: On a field Black a Sword proper between two wings greenover two wavelets Silver and Blue.
General characteristics
Displacement
  • 1,390 long tons (1,412 t) (standard)
  • 1,901 long tons (1,932 t) (deep)
Length329 ft (100.3 m) o/a
Beam33 ft (10.1 m)
Draught12 ft 6 in (3.8 m)
Installed power36,000 shp (27,000 kW)
Propulsion
Speed36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph)
Range5,500 nmi (10,200 km; 6,300 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement145
Armament

HMS Kempenfelt was a C-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s. A flotilla leader, she saw service in the Home Fleet before World War II and the ship made several deployments to Spanish waters during the Spanish Civil War, enforcing the arms blockade imposed by Britain and France on both sides of the conflict.

Kempenfelt was transferred to the

invasion of Normandy, and was employed as a troop transport after VE Day
for returning Canadian servicemen, before being decommissioned in mid-1945.

Assiniboine was sold for scrap in 1945, but she ran aground while being towed to the breakers and was not broken up until 1952.

Design and construction

Kempenfelt displaced 1,390 long tons (1,412 t) at

deep load. The ship had an overall length of 329 feet (100.3 m), a beam of 33 feet (10.1 m) and a draught of 12 feet 6 inches (3.8 m). She was powered by Parsons geared steam turbines, driving two shafts, which developed a total of 36,000 shaft horsepower (27,000 kW) and gave a maximum speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph). Steam for the turbines was provided by three Yarrow water-tube boilers. Kempenfelt carried a maximum of 473 long tons (481 t) of fuel oil that gave her a range of 5,500 nautical miles (10,200 km; 6,300 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). The ship's complement was 175 officers and men.[2]

Unidentified personnel firing a two-pounder anti-aircraft gun aboard Assiniboine, which is escorting a troop convoy from Halifax to Britain, 10 July 1940.

The ship mounted four 45-

21-inch torpedoes.[3] Three depth-charge chutes were fitted, each with a capacity of two depth charges. After World War II began this was increased to 33 depth charges, delivered by one or two rails and two throwers.[4]

Late-war picture of Assiniboine. Note the cylindrical Type 271 radar above the bridge, the Hedgehog mortar shells to the right of 'A' gun and the 20 Oerlikon mount on the bridge wing.

The changes made to Assiniboine's armament during the war (dates can only be roughly assigned) were first the replacement of the ship's rear torpedo tube mount by a 12-pounder AA gun and the 2-pounders were exchanged for quadruple Mark I mounts for the

mainmast.[5]

The ship was ordered on 15 July 1930 from

launched on 30 September 1931,[6] as the 2nd ship to carry the name,[7] and completed on 30 May 1932.[6] Built as a flotilla leader, she displaced 15 long tons more than the rest of her class and carried an extra 30 personnel. These personnel formed the staff of the Captain (D) of the flotilla.[2]

Service

Kempenfelt was assigned to the

Italian invasion of Abyssinia, Kempenfelt was sent in August to the Red Sea with the other ships of the 2nd Flotilla to monitor Italian warship movements until April 1936. She was given a brief refit at Devonport that lasted until June upon her return to the UK. During the first stages of the Spanish Civil War in late 1936, the ship evacuated British nationals from several different Spanish ports.[10]

In December, Kempenfelt began a more thorough refit at Devonport that lasted until 10 April 1937 and returned to Spanish waters afterwards to intercept shipping carrying contraband goods to Spain and to protect British-flagged ships.

Republican destroyers during the Battle of Cape Palos.[11] She was refitted at Chatham in May–June 1938 and made a number of port visits in Scandinavia the following month. Kempenfelt was transferred to the Portsmouth Local Flotilla and remained there until the war began in September 1939.[10]

Wartime service and transfer

The ship was transferred to the

Halifax, Nova Scotia on 17 November. The ship had not yet been fitting with the steam heating necessary to operate in a Canadian winter and she was transferred to the Caribbean in exchange for the destroyer HMCS Saguenay. Assiniboine arrived at Kingston, Jamaica, on 8 December.[12]

Assigned to the

boarding party fight the fire while the cruiser towed the freighter to Kingston. Assiniboine arrived in Halifax on 31 March for a refit.[13]

After the completion of her refit, the ship escorted local convoys in and around Halifax until 15 January 1941 when she was transferred to

Franklin Roosevelt for the first time.[14]

U-210 photographed from Assiniboine's deck, 6 August 1942

Whilst escorting Convoy SC 94 in early August 1942 as part of Escort Group C1, Assiniboine's Type 286 radar spotted U-210 in a heavy fog on 6 August. The destroyer closed on the contact and briefly spotted the submarine twice before losing her in the fog. The submarine reappeared crossing the destroyer's bow at a range of 50 yards (46 m), and both ships opened fire. The range was too close for Assiniboine's 4.7-inch guns to engage, but her .50-calibre machine guns shot up the submarine's deck and conning tower. This kept the Germans from manning their 88-millimetre (3.5 in) deck gun, but the 20-millimetre (0.79 in) flak gun was already manned and firing. The gun punched holes through the destroyer's plating that set some petrol tanks on the deck afire and disabled 'A' gun. It also claimed the only Canadian casualty during the engagement: Ordinary Seaman Kenneth "Wiley" Watson from Revelestoke, British Columbia. The destroyer was unable to ram U-210 until the rear 4.7-inch gun hit the conning tower, killing the entire bridge crew and the .50-caliber machine guns were able to silence the flak gun. This caused Lieutenant Sorber, the senior surviving officer, to order the submarine to dive, but this meant that she had to hold a straight course while doing so. Assiniboine was able to take advantage of this and rammed U-210 abaft the conning tower whilst she was diving. This caused the electric motors to fail, damaged her propellers and led to water entering the submarine, as a result of which Sorber ordered the ballast tanks to be blown and the submarine abandoned. The destroyer rammed her again when U-210 resurfaced, dropped a pattern of depth charges set to detonate at shallow depth and hit her one more time with a 4.7-inch shell before the submarine finally sank.[15] A number of survivors were rescued by Assiniboine and the British corvette Dianthus, before the former ship had to head home for repairs as she was taking on water below the waterline.[15] She required nearly two months of repairs at Halifax and was assigned to Escort Group C3 when they were completed on 20 December.[10][16]

In 1945

Whilst en route to Londonderry, Assiniboine dropped a shallow pattern of depth charges on a submarine contact and badly damaged her stern on 2 March 1943. The ship was repaired at Liverpool between 7 March and 13 July and then assigned to Escort Group C1. She continued her escort work until April 1944 when she began a refit at

minesweepers on 12 August, without sinking any.[17] She remained in British waters for the rest of the war; the ship was damaged in a collision with SS Empire Bond on 14 February 1945 and was under repair until early March.[10]

Assiniboine returned to Canada in June and was briefly used as a troop transport before a

boiler room fire on 4 July effectively ended her career. She was paid off on 8 August and placed on the disposal list. Whilst on tow to the breakers in Baltimore, she ran aground near East Point, Prince Edward Island. Attempts to get her off failed, and she was left to rust until eventually being broken up in place in 1952.[10]

Trans-Atlantic convoys escorted

Convoy Escort Group Dates Notes
SC 62 30 Dec 1941-8 Jan 42[18] Newfoundland to Iceland
SC 69 13-23 Feb 1942[18] Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 74
 10–20 March 1942[19] Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
SC 77 3–12 April 1942[18] Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 88
 22 April-3 May 1942[19] Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 189
MOEF group C1
 14–20 May 1942[20] Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 100
 MOEF group C1 3–13 June 1942[19] Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 195 MOEF group C1 24 June-1 July 1942[20] Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 112
 MOEF group C1 14–25 July 1942[19] Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
Convoy SC 94 MOEF group C1 2-6 Aug 1942[18] Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
HX 221
MOEF group C3
 5-13 Jan 1943[20] Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 163
 MOEF group C3 25 Jan-8 Feb 1943[19] Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
ON 195
 1-8 Aug 1943[19] Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 252 20-27 Aug 1943[20] Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 201
 10-18 Sept 1943[19] Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 258 28 Sept-5 Oct 1943[20] Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 207
 19-28 Oct 1943[19] Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 264 6-16 Nov 1943[20] Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 213
 28 Nov-7 Dec 1943[19] Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 270 15-25 Dec 1943[20] Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 219
 9-20 Jan 1944[19] Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
HX 276 28 Jan-6 Feb 1944[20] Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ON 224
 15-26 Feb 1944[19] Northern Ireland to Newfoundland
SC 154 2–15 March 1944[18] Newfoundland to Northern Ireland
ONS 32
 29 March-13 April 1944[19] Northern Ireland to Newfoundland

Notes

  1. ^ "cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 30 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.

Footnotes

  1. ^ "Battle Honours". Britain's Navy. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  2. ^ a b Whitley, p. 27
  3. ^ Lenton, p. 154
  4. ^ Friedman, pp. 209, 236, 298–99
  5. ^ Lenton, pp. 154–55
  6. ^ a b c d English, p. 45
  7. ^ Colledge, p. 184
  8. ^ Friedman, p. 215
  9. ^ "Spithead Review". Wellington Evening Post. 16 May 1935. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i English, p. 46
  11. ^ "Reported Sunk". Wellington Evening Post. 7 March 1936. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
  12. ^ Douglas, p. 65
  13. ^ Douglas, pp. 70–71
  14. ^ Rohwer, p. 90
  15. ^ a b Douglas, pp. 505–07
  16. ^ Rohwer, p. 222
  17. ^ Rohwer, p. 347
  18. ^ a b c d e "SC convoys". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "ON convoys". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  20. ^ a b c d e f g h "HX convoys". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 19 June 2011.

References

External links
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