HMS Wrangler (R48)

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For other ships with the same name, see HMS Wrangler.

Wrangler at anchor, June 1944
History
United Kingdom
NameWrangler
Ordered3 December 1941
Builder
Vickers Armstrong, Barrow-in-Furness
Laid down23 September 1942
Launched29 September 1943
Completed14 July 1944
IdentificationPennant number: R48/F157
FateSold to South African Navy, 29 November 1956
South Africa
Namesake
Orange Free State Province
Acquired29 November 1956
RenamedVrystaat
IdentificationPennant number: F157
FateSunk as target 14 April 1976
General characteristics (as built)
Class and typeW-class destroyer
Displacement
  • 1,710 long tons (1,740 t) (standard load)
  • 2,530 long tons (2,570 t) (
    deep load
    )
Length362 ft 9 in (110.6 m)
Beam35 ft 8 in (10.9 m)
Draught14 ft 6 in (4.4 m) (deep load)
Installed power
  • 2
    Admiralty 3-drum boilers
  • 40,000 shp (30,000 kW)
Propulsion
  • 2 shafts
  • 2 × geared
    steam turbines
Speed36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph)
Range4,675 nmi (8,658 km; 5,380 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement179
Sensors and
processing systems
Armament
General characteristics (where different)
Class and typeType 15 frigate
Displacement
  • 2,300 long tons (2,300 t) (standard)
  • 2,700 long tons (2,700 t) (deep)
Speed31 knots (57 km/h; 36 mph) (deep load)
Complement174
Sensors and
processing systems
Armament

HMS Wrangler was one of eight W-class destroyers built for the Royal Navy during World War II. Completed in 1944, the ship spent most of the war in the Far East and escorted British aircraft carriers as their aircraft attacked targets in the occupied Dutch East Indies and in Japan itself. Wrangler was present in Tokyo Bay when the Japanese formally surrendered on 2 September 1945.

She served as a training ship after the war until she was converted into a Type 15 frigate in the early 1950s and subsequently sold to the South African Navy later that decade. The ship was renamed Vrystaat in South African service and made many overseas port visits before corrosion problems caused her to be reduced to reserve in 1963. Vrystaat was sunk as a target by a South African submarine in 1976.

Description

The W-class ships displaced 1,710 long tons (1,740 t) at

Admiralty three-drum boilers. The turbines developed a total of 40,000 indicated horsepower (30,000 kW) which gave a maximum speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph). They carried 615 long tons (625 t) of fuel oil that gave them a range of 4,675 nautical miles (8,658 km; 5,380 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph). Their crew numbered 179 officers and ratings.[1]

The W-class destroyers were armed with four single

ASDIC and two rails and four throwers for 70 depth charges.[2] They were equipped with a Type 272 surface-search radar, Type 282 and 285 gunnery radars and a Type 291 early-warning radar.[1]

Type 15 conversion

Main article: Type 15 frigate

In 1951, Wrangler became the first ship of her

4-inch (102 mm) Mk XVI guns mounted aft and a water-cooled, twin-gun Mk V mount for 40 mm Bofors guns above the bridge. The pair of triple-barrelled Squid anti-submarine mortars were shifted to the quarterdeck aft[3] and were controlled by Type 170 and 174 ASDIC systems.[4]

These changes greatly increased the ships' displacement, now 2,300 long tons (2,300 t) at standard load and 2,700 long tons (2,700 t) at deep load. This reduced their speed to a maximum of 31 knots (57 km/h; 36 mph) at deep load and the crew now numbered 174 officers and ratings.[5]

Construction and career

The W-class destroyers were ordered on 3 December 1941 and Wrangler was

Bombay, India, to have her boiler tubes replaced, a lengthy job that took from 14 January to 19 May 1945.[9] By 17 July, the ship was en route, together with her sister Wakeful to reinforce the British Pacific Fleet operating off the coast of Japan. On 20 August she was selected to remain with the aircraft carrier HMS Indefatigable as part of the British contribution to the occupation forces.[10] Wrangler was present when the Japanese surrendered on 2 September aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.[6]

The ship ferried Allied prisoners of war back to Australia before departing Sydney on 8 November and arrived at Plymouth on 16 December. The navy originally intended to reduce her to Category B reserve, but decided to assign Wrangler to the Naval Training Command on 18 January 1946

Villefranche sur Mer, France; she was refloated on 6 February 1955 by French Navy and Italian Navy tugs.[16]

South African service

In 1956 Wrangler was sold to South Africa for

Lourenco Marques (now Maputo) in Portuguese Mozambique.[13]

By 1963 many of her aluminium rivets were deteriorating and there were significant galvanic corrosion problems where the aluminium superstructure joined with the steel hull. Deemed too expensive to repair, the ship was placed in reserve in Simon's Town that year. Vrystaat was towed out to sea by the frigate President Steyn on 14 April 1976 and was sunk as a target by the submarine SAS Maria van Riebeeck, eight nautical miles (15 km; 9.2 mi) southwest of Cape Point.[17][18]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Lenton, p. 178
  2. ^ Raven & Roberts, pp. 48–49
  3. ^ Marriott, pp. 33–34
  4. ^ Gardiner, Chumbley & Budzbon, p. 512
  5. ^ Marriott, p. 40
  6. ^ a b du Toit, p. 201
  7. ^ English, p. 105
  8. ^ Hobbs, p. 64
  9. ^ English, pp. 105–06
  10. ^ Hobbs, pp. 260, 288, 297
  11. ^ a b c English, p. 106
  12. ^ Critchley, p. 78
  13. ^ a b du Toit, p. 202
  14. ^ Souvenir Programme: Coronation Review of the Fleet, Spithead, 15th June 1953, HMSO, Gale and Polden
  15. ^ "The Crash of BOAC Comet Yoke Peter and RFA Sea Salvor". historicalrfa.org. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  16. ^ "Telgrams in Brief". The Times. No. 53159. London. 7 February 1955. col C-D, p. 6.
  17. ^ du Toit, pp. 203–04
  18. ^ "WRECKSITE - VRYSTAAT DESTROYER 1944-1976". wrecksite.eu. Retrieved 27 October 2016.

References

External links
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