HMS Roebuck (H95)
Roebuck in June 1943
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History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Name | HMS Roebuck |
Ordered | May 1940 |
Builder | Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. |
Laid down | 19 June 1941 |
Launched | 10 December 1942 (premature) |
Commissioned | 10 June 1943 |
Decommissioned | 1962 |
Identification | Pennant number H95/F195 |
Honours and awards |
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Fate | Scrapped, 1968 |
Badge | On a Field White, a Roebuck guardant proper. |
General characteristics As R-class destroyer | |
Class and type | R-class destroyer |
Displacement |
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Length | 358.25 ft (109.19 m) o/a |
Beam | 35.75 ft (10.90 m) |
Draught | 9.5 ft (2.9 m) |
Propulsion | 2 x Admiralty 3-drum water-tube boilers, Parsons geared steam turbines, 40,000 shp (30,000 kW) on 2 shafts |
Speed | 36 kn (67 km/h) |
Range | 4,675 nmi (8,658 km) at 20 knots (37 km/h) |
Complement | 176 |
Sensors and processing systems |
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Armament |
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General characteristics As Type 15 frigate | |
Displacement |
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Length | 358 ft (109 m) o/a |
Beam | 37.75 ft (11.51 m) |
Draught | 14.5 ft (4.4 m) |
Propulsion |
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Speed | 31 kn (57 km/h) (full load) |
Range | 4,675 nmi (8,658 km) at 20 knots (37 km/h) |
Complement | 174 |
Sensors and processing systems | |
Armament |
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HMS Roebuck was an
Construction
Ordered in May 1940 from
Service history
World War II
1943
After
1944
On 12 March Roebuck formed part of the escort for the aircraft carrier Battler and the cruisers Suffolk and Newcastle, with the destroyer Quadrant, during the search in the Indian Ocean for the German U-boat supply ship Brake. After being intercepted by aircraft Brake was scuttled by her own crew.[2]
In June Roebuck was deployed with Fleet units off
On 25 July she was deployed with the Flotilla as the screen for Eastern Fleet major units covering operations by the aircraft carriers
In August Roebuck took passage to Simon's Town for a refit by HM Dockyard, rejoining the Flotilla at Trincomalee in November.[2]
1945
In February Roebuck joined Force 68 for offensive patrols and bombarded the Cocos Islands with destroyers Rocket, Rapid and Rotherham in Operations "Office" and "Training".[2]
On 27 April she was deployed with Force 63 as the screen for major fleet units providing cover for the landings at
On 13 May Roebuck, Redoubt and Racehorse, escorted Nigeria from Trincomalee as Force 63, during a search for Japanese warships evacuating personnel from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and remained with the Fleet screen during the attacks on Japanese ships.[2]
On 18 June she was deployed with the flotilla as a screen for the ships of 21st Aircraft Carrier Squadron, which comprised the escort carriers Stalker, Khedive and Ameer, and the cruisers Royalist and Suffolk, which were carrying out photo-reconnaissance flights over southern Malaya in "Operation Balsam".[2]
On 5 July she was deployed with the cruiser Nigeria, and destroyers Eskimo and Vigilant to cover minesweeping operations off Malaya and the Nicobar Islands. She then took part in bombardment of Nancowry.[2]
In August Roebuck was preparing for large-scale landings in Malaya in "Operation Zipper", but the surrender of Japan brought hostilities to a close before they could be put into effect. She sailed to Singapore to support the re-occupation until sailing to Simon's Town in October to refit.[2]
Post-war
Following the successful conversion of her sister ships Rocket and Relentless, Roebuck was selected for conversion to a Type 15 anti-submarine frigate in 1952.[2] She was given the new pennant number F195.[4]
On completion of the conversion in May 1953 she was recommissioned for service in the
During 1957 she refitted for training duties and joined the Dartmouth Training Squadron, replacing HMS Carron. She went into refit again in 1959.[6] Recommissioned in May 1960 she joined the 17th Escort Squadron and remained on the operational list until returning to pay-off into reserve at Plymouth in 1962.[2]
Disposal and fate
Before being placed on the Disposal List the ship was de-equipped at HM Dockyard Devonport.[2] Roebuck was sold to the British Iron & Steel Corporation (BISCO) for demolition by Thos. W. Ward. She was towed to the breaker's yard at Inverkeithing on 8 August 1968.[2]
Notes
- ^ Raven, Alan; Roberts, John (1978). War Built Destroyers O to Z Classes. London: Bivouac Books. p. 47.
- ISBN 1-85367-277-7
- ^ http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4512.html Destroyer HMS Roebuck of the R class
- ^ Souvenir Programme, Coronation Review of the Fleet, Spithead, 15th June 1953, HMSO, Gale and Polden
- ISBN 0-9506323-9-2, page 54
Publications
- ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
- English, John (2001). Obdurate to Daring: British Fleet Destroyers 1941–45. Windsor, UK: World Ship Society. ISBN 978-0-9560769-0-8.
- ISBN 1-86176-137-6.
- ISBN 1-55750-048-7.
- Marriott, Leo, Royal Navy Destroyers Since 1945. Ian Allan, 1989. ISBN 0-7110-1817-0
- Raven, Alan & Roberts, John (1978). War Built Destroyers O to Z Classes. London: Bivouac Books. ISBN 0-85680-010-4.
- Richardson, Ian (August 2021). Osborne, Richard (ed.). "Type 15 Frigates, Part 2: Ship Histories". Warships: Marine News Supplement. 75 (8): 381–391. ISSN 0966-6958.
- ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
- ISBN 0-87021-326-1.