HMS Bickerton (K466)
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| Career |   |
|---|---|
| Laid down: | May 3, 1943 |
| Launched: | July 26, 1943 |
| Commissioned: | October 17, 1943 |
| Fate: | Scuttled August 22, 1944 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 1,800 tons (fully loaded) |
| Length: | 306 ft (93 m) (overall) |
| Beam: | 36.5 ft (11.1 m) |
| Draught: | 11 ft (3.4 m) (fully loaded) |
| Speed: | 24 knots (44 km/h) |
| Endurance: | 5,500 nautical miles (10,190 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h) |
| Complement: | Typically between 170 & 180 |
HMS Bickerton was a Buckley class Captains class frigate during World War II. Named after Sir Richard Bickerton commander of HMS Terrible at the First Battle of Ushant during the American Revolutionary War.
Originally this ship was provisionally given the name USS Eisele (this name was reassigned to DE 34) however the delivery was diverted to the Royal Navy before the launch. The Commanding Officers were Lt. EM Thorpe RN and Cdr. D.G.F.W. MacIntyre, DSO RN (Senior Officer 5th Escort Group).
Contents |
[edit] Actions
HMS Bickerton served exclusively with the 5th Escort Group earning battle honours for service in the Arctic (Russian Convoys), North Atlantic, off Normandy and in the English Channel.
On May 6, 1944 the submarine U-765 was sunk in the North Atlantic, in position , by depth charges from HMS Bickerton, operating alongside 2 Swordfish aircraft (Sqdn. 825) of the British escort carrier HMS Vindex and the British frigates HMS Bligh and HMS Aylmer. Of the crew of U-765 37 died and 11 survived.
The submarine U-269 was also sunk in the English Channel south-east of Torquay, in position , by depth charges from HMS Bickerton on June 25, 1944. Of the crew of U-269 13 died and 39 survived.
[edit] Sinking
HMS Bickerton was escorting the second group of Escort Carriers (HMS Trumpeter and HMS Nabob) from the Home Fleet (Adm Moore), which covered the convoy JW-59 and launched further attacks (Operation Goodwood) on the German battleship Tirpitz in the Altenfjord. Before the group was able to launch an attack on the battleship, the submarine U-354 encountered them on her search for the convoy Northwest of the North Cape in the Barents Sea. At about 01.00 hours on August 22, 1944 U-354 badly damaged HMS Nabob with a FAT torpedo spread and tried to sink her at 01.22 hours with a Gnat, which struck HMS Bickerton. HMS Bickerton was subsequently scuttled by a torpedo from HMS Vigilant at position 71.42N, 19.11E.
[edit] General Information
- Pennant (UK): K 466
- Pennant (US): DE 75
- Built by: Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard Inc. (Hingham, Massachusetts, U.S.A.)
[edit] External links
- Bickerton - Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
- Uboat.net page for HMS Bickerton
- Uboat.net page for U-765
- Uboat.net page for U-269
- Uboat.net page for U-354
- captainclassfrigates.co.uk
[edit] References
- The Captain Class Frigates in the Second World War by Donald Collingwood. published by Leo Cooper (1998), ISBN 085052 615 9.
- The Buckley-Class Destroyer Escorts by Bruce Hampton Franklin, published by Chatham Publishing (1999), ISBN 086176118X.
- German U-Boat Losses During World War II by Axel Niestle, published by United States Naval Inst (1998), ISBN 1557506418.
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This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
