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HMS Eridge (L68)
HMS Eridge (L68)
Career (UK) RN Ensign
Class and type: Hunt class destroyer
Name: HMS Eridge
Builder: Swan Hunter, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom
Laid down: 21 November 1939
Launched: 20 August 1940
Commissioned: 28 February 1941
Reclassified: Base ship on 29 August 1942
Fate: Sold for scrap, 1946
General characteristics
Type II
Displacement: 1,050 long tons (1,070 t) standard
1,430 long tons (1,450 t) full load
Length: 85.3 m (279 ft 10 in) o/a
Beam: 9.6 m (31 ft 6 in)
Draught: 2.51 m (8 ft 3 in)
Propulsion: 2 Admiralty 3-drum boilers
2 shaft Parsons geared turbines, 19,000 shp (14,000 kW)
Speed: 27 knots (31 mph; 50 km/h)
25.5 kn (29.3 mph; 47.2 km/h) full
Range: 3,600 nmi (6,700 km) at 14 kn (26 km/h)
Complement: 164
Armament: • 6 × QF 4 in Mark XVI on twin mounts Mk. XIX
• 4 × QF 2 pdr Mk. VIII on quad mount MK.VII
• 2 × 20 mm Oerlikons on single mounts P Mk. III
• 110 depth charges, 2 throwers, 3 racks
Service record
Commanders: Lt.Cdr. William Frank Niemann Gregory-Smith

HMS Eridge was a Hunt class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1940 and served during the Second World War. On 29 May 1942, Eridge assisted HMS Hero and HMS Hurworth in sinking the German submarine U-568.[1] At 04:15 on 29 August 1942, she began shelling Axis positions off El Daba, Egypt, at 31°7′N 28°26′E / 31.117°N 28.433°E / 31.117; 28.433, together with HMS Croome and HMS Hursley. At 05:00, she was permanently disabled by a 450mm torpedo fired by the Italian motor torpedo boat MTSM-228. The attack caused five fatalities on board Eridge.[2] She was towed to Alexandria by HMS Aldenham,[3] where the destroyer was used as a base ship for the rest of the war and sold for scrapping in October 1946.

References[]

Further reading[]

  • Smith, Gregory (2008). Red Tobruk: Memoirs of a World War II Destroyer Commander. Pen & Sword Maritime. ISBN 1-84415-862-4. 

External links[]



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