HMS Troubridge (R00)
HMS Troubridge as built
| |
History | |
---|---|
United Kingdom | |
Name | HMS Troubridge |
Ordered | 13 March 1941 |
Builder | John Brown |
Laid down | 10 November 1941 |
Launched | 23 September 1942 |
Commissioned | 8 March 1943 |
Identification | Pennant number R00 |
Converted | Type 15 frigate 1955 – 1957 |
Decommissioned | 27 March 1969 |
Identification | Pennant number F09 |
Fate | Broken up May 1970 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | T-class destroyer |
Displacement |
|
Length | |
Beam | 35 ft 8 in (10.87 m) |
Draught | 14 ft 2 in (4.32 m) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 36.75 knots (42.29 mph; 68.06 km/h) |
Complement | 180-225 |
Armament |
|
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Type 15 frigate |
Displacement |
|
Length | 358 ft (109 m) o/a |
Beam | 37 ft 9 in (11.51 m) |
Draught | 14 ft 6 in (4.42 m) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 31 knots (57 km/h; 36 mph) (full load) |
Complement | 174 |
Sensors and processing systems | |
Armament |
|
HMS Troubridge was a T-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service during the Second World War. Post war she was converted into a Type 15 frigate.
Design
Troubridge was one of eight T-class destroyers ordered as the 6th Emergency Flotilla on 14 March 1941.[2] The T-class were War Emergency Programme destroyers, intended for general duties, including use as anti-submarine escort, and were to be suitable for mass-production. They were based on the hull and machinery of the pre-war J-class destroyers, but with a lighter armament (effectively whatever armament was available) in order to speed production.[3][4] The T-class were almost identical to the S-class ordered as the 5th Emergency Flotilla earlier in the year, but were not fitted for operations in Arctic waters.[5]
The T-class were 362 feet 9 inches (110.57 m)
The ship had a main gun armament of four
Troubridge was fitted with a Type 291 air warning
Type 15 modification
After the end of the Second World War and as the
Construction
Troubridge was laid down at John Brown & Company's Clydebank shipyard on 10 November 1941 and was launched on 23 September 1942. She was completed on 8 March 1943, and assigned the Pennant number R00.[17]
Service history
Second World War
On commissioning, Troubridge was sent to the
After the Allies conquered Sicily, their next step was the
After a refit at Chatham in December 1944 to January 1945, Troubridge set out for eastern waters for the war against Japan.[29] She briefly served with the East Indies Fleet in March 1945 before joining the British Pacific Fleet in May 1945.[21][30] Amongst other engagements, she took part in an attack on Truk led by the aircraft carrier Implacable on 14–15 June. Implacable's air group launched strikes against Truk on 14 July and Troubridge escorted the cruiser Newfoundland when she bombarded coastal artillery positions and an airfield on 15 July.[31] She returned to Portsmouth in 1946.
Postwar service
In December 1946, Troubridge replaced Saumarez, badly damaged by a mine off Albania, as leader of the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla (later Squadron) in the Mediterranean, returning to Chatham on 16 August 1949, where she was placed in reserve at Chatham Dockyard.[32]
Between 1955 and 1957 she was converted into a
On 29 May 1961, the Danish frigate Niels Ebbersen attempted to arrest the British trawler Red Crusader off the Faroe Islands for fishing in a prohibited area. Niels Ebbersen put an unarmed boarding party aboard the trawler, but instead of heading for Tórshavn as instructed, Red Crusader set course for Britain with the boarding party still on board. Niels Ebbersen fired warning shots at Red Crusader, and when those failed, fired solid shot, which slightly damaged the trawler, which continued towards Scotland with Niels Ebbersen in pursuit. Troubridge and the British minesweeper Wotton then arrived on the scene, and after a consultation between the commanders of the four ships, the Danish boarding party returned to Niels Ebbersen, while Troubridge and Wotton escorted Red Crusader into Aberdeen, with Niels Ebberson following in nominal pursuit until the ships reached British territorial waters.[39][40] An international commission later ruled that Niels Ebbersen had used excessive force in the confrontation with Red Crusader.[41] At the end of October 1961, Troubridge, together with the frigate Londonderry and the survey ship Vidal, carried out relief operations in Belize following Hurricane Hattie.[42] On 3 November 1961 Troubridge was the first ship to enter Belize harbour after the hurricane.[43] Troubridge's crew helped to restore water supplies and attempted to repair Belize's power station.[44]
After rioting in Georgetown, British Guiana on 16 February 1962, Troubridge, at Trinidad when the disturbances broke out, was ordered to Georgetown, acting as a command post for Britain's response, and with detachments of her crew carrying out patrols on shore and fighting fires.[45][46]
On 15 May 1963 she was towed from Portsmouth to Malta for refit. She recommissioned on 7 September 1964 and was part of the 27th Escort Squadron, serving in the Far East.[29][47] along with the vessels Galatea, Agincourt and Carysfort.
On 8 September 1966 she entered refit at Portsmouth Dockyard.[48] Between 1966 and 1968 she was commanded by Richard Thomas.
Decommissioning and disposal
Troubridge was decommissioned for the last time on 29 March 1969 at Chatham. She was subsequently sold for scrap and arrived at the yard of John Cashmore Ltd at Newport, Wales on 5 May 1970.
In popular culture
Troubridge was the punning inspiration for the fictional "HMS TrouTbridge" in the long-running Radio Comedy The Navy Lark. (The September 1967 episode is entitled Troutbridge's Silver Jubilee, which exactly accords with Troubridge's own September 1942 launch date and the crew were the audience for the December 1960 episode "Johnson's Birthday").
HMS Troubridge also supplied the landing crew which rescued the marooned children at the end of the 1963 film version of William Golding's Lord of the Flies. The destroyer's name can be seen on the caps of two sailors among the landing party.
In a very different role, Troubridge was used to depict the interior of the fictional "USS Bedford" in the 1965 cold-war film drama The Bedford Incident. British military equipment is visible in several shots, including a rack of Lee–Enfield rifles. Troubridge's novel forward-sloping bridge windows are also to be seen in the Bridge shots. (The Type 15 frigate used for the opening scenes is F159: HMS Wakeful).
References
- R-classdestroyers
- ^ Friedman 2008, pp. 90, 327–328
- ^ Friedman 2008, pp. 53–55, 86–87
- ^ Whitley 2000, pp. 124–127
- ^ a b c d e Whitley 2000, p. 131
- ^ a b c d e f Lenton 1970, p. 23
- ^ Marriott 1989, pp. 41–42
- ^ Campbell 1980, pp. 42–43
- ^ Friedman 2008, pp. 94–95
- ^ Lenton 1970, pp. 19, 23
- ^ Friedman 2008, pp. 98–99
- ^ Friedman 2008, p. 99
- ^ a b c Gardiner & Chumbley 1995, pp. 512–513
- ^ a b Marriott 1989, p. 39
- ^ Friedman 2008, pp. 219–221
- ^ Marriott 1983, pp. 34, 38
- ^ Friedman 2008, p. 327
- ^ Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, p. 214
- ^ Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, p. 222
- ^ Roskill 1960, p. 126
- ^ Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, p. 229
- ^ Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, pp. 232–233
- ^ Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, pp. 257, 263, 264
- ^ Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, pp. 297–298
- ^ Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, p. 303
- ^ Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, p. 292
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "HMS Troubridge (R00)". uboat.net. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
- ^ a b English 2008, p. 73
- ^ "Eastern Fleet – January to October 1945". Admiralty War Diaries of World War 2. naval-history.net. 15 July 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
- ^ Hobbs 2017, pp. 200–207
- ^ English 2008, pp. 64, 73
- ^ Marriott 1989, pp. 45–46
- ^ "H.M.S. Troubridge Commissions". Navy News. August 1957. p. 11. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
- ^ Critchley 1982, p. 60
- ^ "The Activities of the West Indies Squadron: Includes the traditional Hurricane Cruise in Caribbean Seas" (PDF). Navy News. No. 52. September 1958. p. 11. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
- ^ Roberts 2009, p. 25
- ^ Programme, Navy Days Portsmouth 28–30th March 1959, HMSO
- ^ Johnson 1961, pp. 597–598
- ^ Roberts 2009, p. 46
- .
- ^ Roberts 2009, p. 55
- ^ "Frigate Gets Into Harbour". The Times. No. 55230. 4 November 1961. p. 8. Retrieved 10 February 2022 – via Gale Primary Sources.
- ^ "Doctors Due at Belize Today". The Times. No. 55232. 7 November 1961. p. 11. Retrieved 10 February 2022 – via Gale Primary Sources.
- ^ "Police Open Fire in British Guiana". The Times. No. 55318. 17 February 1962. p. 8. Retrieved 12 February 2022 – via Gale Primary Sources.
- ^ "More British Forces for B. Guiana". The Times. No. 55319. 19 February 1962. p. 10. Retrieved 12 February 2022 – via Gale Primary Sources.
- ^ Commissioning Booklet, HMS Troubridge, (C H Bernard and Sons Ltd, 1964)
- ^ "Troubridge's refit". Navy News. October 1966. p. 4. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
Publications
- Campbell, N.J.M. (1980). "Great Britain". In Chesneau, Roger (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. New York: Mayflower Books. pp. 2–85. ISBN 0-8317-0303-2.
- ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
- Critchley, Mike (1982). British Warships Since 1945: Part 3: Destroyers. Liskeard, UK: Maritime Books. ISBN 0-9506323-9-2.
- English, John (2008). Obdurate to Daring: British Fleet Destroyers 1941–45. Windsor, UK: World Ship Society. ISBN 978-0-9560769-0-8.
- Friedman, Norman (2008). British Destroyers & Frigates: The Second World War and After. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-015-4.
- Gardiner, Robert; Chumbley, Stephen, eds. (1995). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-132-7.
- Hobbs, Davis (2017). The British Pacific Fleet: The Royal Navy's Most Powerful Strike Force. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5267-0283-8.
- Johnson, D. H. N. (July 1961). "Law of the Sea". JSTOR 755929.
- Lenton, H. T. (1970). Navies of the Second World War: British Fleet & Escort Destroyers Volume Two. London: Macdonald & Co. ISBN 0-356-03122-5.
- Marriott, Leo (1983). Royal Navy Frigates 1945–1983. Shepperton, UK: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1322-5.
- Marriott, Leo (1989). Royal Navy Destroyers Since 1945. Ian Allan. 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.
- Roberts, John (2009). Safeguarding the Nation: The Story of the Modern Royal Navy. Annapolis, Maryland, US: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-812-8.
- Rohwer, Jürgen; Hümmelchen, Gerhard (1992). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945. London: Greenhill Books. ISBN 1-85367-117-7.
- Roskill, S. W. (1960). The War at Sea 1939–1945: Volume III: The Offensive: Part I 1st June 1943–31st May 1944. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.
- Whitley, M. J. (2000). Destroyers of World War 2: An International Encyclopedia. London: Cassell & Co. ISBN 1-85409-521-8.
Further reading
- Aitken, Henry (August 2021). Osborne, Richard (ed.). "Letter to the Editor". Warships: Marine News Supplement. 75 (8): 402. ISSN 0966-6958.