River-class frigate
Class overview | |
---|---|
Operators | |
Succeeded by | Loch class |
Subclasses | RN group I, RN group II, RAN group I, RAN group II, RCN group |
In commission | 1942 |
Planned | 30 |
Completed | 151 |
Cancelled | 2 |
Active |
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Lost |
|
Preserved | 4 |
General characteristics RN group I | |
Displacement | |
Length | |
Beam | 36 ft 6 in (11.1 m) |
Draught | 9 ft (2.7 m); 13 ft (4.0 m) (deep load) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed |
|
Range | 7,200 nmi (13,300 km; 8,300 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) with; 440 long tons (447 t) oil fuel |
Complement | 107 |
Armament |
|
General characteristics (RN group II) | |
Range | 646 long tons (656 t) oil fuel; 7,500 nmi (13,890 km; 8,631 mi) at 15 knots (27.8 km/h; 17.3 mph) |
Notes | Other data per RN group I |
General characteristics (RCN group) | |
Displacement |
|
Range | 646 long tons (656 t) oil fuel; 7,500 nmi (13,890 km; 8,631 mi) at 15 knots (27.8 km/h; 17.3 mph) |
Complement | 157 |
Armament |
|
Notes | Other data per RN group I |
General characteristics (RAN group I) | |
Displacement |
|
Range | 500 long tons (508 t) oil fuel; 5,180 nmi (9,593 km; 5,961 mi) at 12 knots (22.2 km/h; 13.8 mph) |
Complement | 140 |
Armament |
|
Notes | Other data per RN group I |
General characteristics (RAN group II) | |
Displacement |
|
Complement | 177 |
Sensors and processing systems | SC radar |
Armament |
|
Notes | Other data per RAN group I |
The River class was a
The first orders were placed by the Royal Navy in 1940, and the vessels were named for rivers in the
After
Design
The River-class ships were designed by naval engineer William Reed, of Smith's Dock Company of South Bank-on-Tees, to have the endurance and anti-submarine capabilities of the Black Swan-class sloops, while being quick and cheap to build in civil dockyards using the machinery (e.g. reciprocating steam engines instead of turbines) and construction techniques pioneered in the building of the Flower-class corvettes. Its purpose was to improve on the convoy escort classes in service with the Royal Navy, including the Flower class.
Improvements over the corvette design included markedly better accommodation. The twin engines gave only 3 knots (3 mph; 6 km/h) more speed but extended the range of the ship to nearly double that of a corvette to 7,200 nmi (8,286 mi; 13,334 km) at 12 knots (14 mph; 22 km/h).
River-class frigates were the first Royal Canadian Navy warships to carry the 147B Sword horizontal fan-beam active sonar transmitter, in addition to the regular ASDIC. This allowed the ship to maintain contact with targets even while firing, unless a target was struck. Better radar and radio direction-finding equipment improved the RCN's ability to find and track enemy submarines over previous classes.[1] The River-class design was used as the basis for the United States Navy's Tacoma class (which served in the Royal Navy as the Colony class); the hull design was later elaborated into the Loch class and subsequently the Bay class.
Ships in class
Two hundred and forty-three frigates were built in Britain, Canada and Australia for seven navies during World War II.
Vessels lost in action
Ship | Date | Fate |
---|---|---|
HMS Cam | 18 July 1944 | Presumed mined. Towed to port and declared a total loss. |
HMCS Chebogue | 4 October 1944 | Torpedoed and badly damaged by U-1227 while escorting convoy ONS-33. Towed to port and declared a total loss. |
HMS Cuckmere | 11 December 1943 | Torpedoed and badly damaged by U-223 off Algeria. Towed to port and declared a total loss. |
HMS Itchen | 23 September 1943 | Torpedoed and sunk by U-666 at 53°25′N 39°42′W / 53.417°N 39.700°W. |
HMS Lagan | 20 September 1943 | Torpedoed and badly damaged by U-270. Towed to port and declared a total loss. |
HMCS Magog | 14 October 1944 | Torpedoed and badly damaged by U-1223 while escorting convoy ONS-33G. Towed to port and declared a total loss. |
HMS Mourne | 15 June 1944 | Torpedoed and sunk by U-767 at 49°35′N 05°30′W / 49.583°N 5.500°W. |
HMS Teme | 29 March 1945 | Torpedoed and badly damaged by U-315. Towed to port and declared a total loss. |
HMS Tweed | 7 January 1944 | Torpedoed and sunk by U-305 at 48°18′N 21°19′W / 48.300°N 21.317°W. |
HMCS Valleyfield | 7 May 1944 | Torpedoed and sunk by U-548 at 46°03′N 52°24′W / 46.050°N 52.400°W. |
Survivors
On display in Brisbane, Australia is HMAS Diamantina, the last complete River-class frigate, preserved at the Queensland Maritime Museum.
SLNS Gajabahu, formerly HMCS Hallowell served as a convoy escort during World War II and later transferred to the Israeli Navy and then the Royal Ceylon Navy, which later became the Sri Lankan Navy. She was withdrawn from active duty in 1980 and is now used as a training ship by Sri Lanka.
UBS Mayu, formerly HMS Fal, is preserved in Seikkyi, Myanmar.
In fiction
"HMS Saltash" was a fictional River-class frigate in
HMCS New Glasgow played the fictional frigate "HMS Rockhampton" in the 1955 John Wayne film The Sea Chase. (She had just been recommissioned as a Prestonian class upgrade of the Canadian River-class frigate, after ten years in reserve.)
"HMS Nairn" was a fictional River-class frigate in Alistair MacLean's 1955 book HMS Ulysses.
See also
- List of Escorteurs of the French Navy
- List of patrol vessels of the United States Navy
References
- ^ a b c d e f "Fact Sheet No.21 - Canadian River Class Frigate" (PDF). Canadian War Museum. 3 November 2013. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 March 2024. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
- ^ ISBN 0-920277-22-5.
- ^ "Canadian Participation on D-Day and In The Battle of Normandy". National Defence and the Canadian Forces. 7 June 2010. Archived from the original on 3 July 2004.
Bibliography
- ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
- Lavery, Brian (2006). River-Class Frigates and the Battle of the Atlantic: A Technical and Social History. London: National Maritime Museum. ISBN 0-948065-73-7.
- ISBN 1-55750-048-7.
- Marriott, Leo (1983). Royal Navy Frigates 1945–1983. Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1322-5.