HMS Loyalty (J217)
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History | |
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Name |
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Builder | Harland and Wolff, Belfast |
Yard number | 1142[1] |
Laid down | 14 April 1941 |
Launched | 9 December 1942[2] |
Completed | 22 April 1943[1] |
Commissioned | 22 April 1943 |
Identification | Pennant number J217 |
Motto | "Fight for the King" |
Honours and awards | Normandy 1944 |
Fate | Sunk on 22 August 1944 by U-480[2] |
Badge | On a Field barry wavy of six White and Blue, a sprig of three oak leaves, Gold |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Algerine-class minesweeper |
Displacement | 850 tons |
Length | 225 ft (69 m) |
Beam | 35 ft 6 in (10.82 m) |
Propulsion |
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Complement | 85 men |
Armament |
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HMS Loyalty was a turbine-powered Algerine-class minesweeper of the Royal Navy, formerly HMS Rattler . She served during the Second World War. Commissioned in 1943, Loyalty saw action off the coast of Normandy during the Allied assault there in 1944. While performing duties off the coast, the ship was torpedoed by a German submarine and sank.
Design and description
The turbine-powered ships displaced 850 long tons (860 t) at
The ships had two
The Algerine class was armed with a
Service
Rattler was laid down on 14 April 1941 at
After commissioning she was assigned to the 18th Minesweeping Flotilla, joining them in June 1943, when she was renamed Loyalty.
In November Loyalty transferred to
Sinking
Loyalty was still off Normandy on 22 August. She was returning to Portsmouth with the minesweepers Ready, Hound, Hydra and Rattlesnake when the sweep wires parted. Loyalty and the minesweeping trawler Doon were dispatched to recover the sweep. As they were doing this Loyalty was attacked and sunk by the German U-boat U-480 at position 50°09′N 00°41′W / 50.150°N 0.683°W in the English Channel.[2] She capsized in less than seven minutes, with the loss of her captain and 18 ratings. There were 30 survivors. Loyalty was replaced in the flotilla by sister ship Tanganyika. The wrecksite is designated as a protected place under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.
Notes
- ^ ISBN 9780752488615.
- ^ a b c d e f Colledge, J J (1969). Ships of the Royal Navy: An Historical Index, Vol.1. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. p. 453.
- ^ a b c Lenton, p. 261
- ^ Chesneau, p. 65
- ISBN 0856403431.
- ^ "Ripley Urban District Council - HMS "Rattler"". Ripley and Heanor News. Vol. 52, no. 2769. The British Newspaper Archive (subscription). 24 April 1942. p. 4. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
- ^ "Ripley and HMS "Rattler"". Ripley and Heanor News. Vol. 53, no. 2830. The British Newspaper Archive (subscription). 23 April 1943. p. 4. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
- ^ ""Wings for Victory" - HMS Rattler". Ripley and Heanor News. Vol. 53, no. 2821. The British Newspaper Archive (subscription). 25 June 1943. p. 3. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
References
- Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
- ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
- ISBN 1-55750-048-7.
External links
- HMS Loyalty at naval.history.net
- HMS Loyalty (as Rattler) at uboat.net
- MoD announcement of designation as a war grave
- SI 2008/950 Designation under Protection of Military Remains Act