HMS Hind (U39)

For other ships of the same name, see HMS Hind.

HMS Hind (U39)
File:HMS Hind FL4854.jpg HMS Hind anchored in 1943.
Career (United Kingdom)
Name:	Hind
Namesake:	Hind
Ordered:	11 February 1942
Builder:	William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton
Laid down:	31 August 1942
Launched:	30 September 1943
Commissioned:	11 April 1944
Decommissioned:	1951
Identification:	Pennant number: U39
Fate:	Broken up in 1959
General characteristics
Class & type:	Modified Black Swan-class sloop
Displacement:	1,350 tons
Length:	283 ft (86 m)
Beam:	38.5 ft (11.7 m)
Propulsion:	Geared turbines two shafts
Speed:	20 knots (37 km/h) at 4,300 hp (3,200 kW)
Complement:	192 men + 1 Cat
Armament:	6 × QF 4 in Mk XVI anti-aircraft guns 12 × 20 mm anti-aircraft guns

HMS Hind was a modified Black Swan-class sloop of the Royal Navy. She was laid down by William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton on 31 August 1942, launched on 30 September 1943 and commissioned on 11 April 1944, with the pennant number U39.

Construction and career

HMS Hind joined Western Approaches Command in April 1944, and after taking control at Tobermory, she was designated to support the Allied landings in Normandy.

HMS Hind showing Foxer decoy resting on the top of the depth charge racks.

In May 1944, she participated in the preliminary exercises of Operation Neptune with the ships of the Force G and was assigned to deployment with escort group 112 during the landings of June 1944. Released from Operation Neptune, she was retained in the English Channel for escort duties at Plymouth Command, then joined the Eastern Fleet (Far East Fleet) and deployed to defend convoys in the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf from November 1944 until the end of the war. HMS Hind joined the British Pacific Fleet in Hong Kong in September 1945 and was deployed on patrols and in support of repatriation operations. Hind was transferred to the 32nd Escort Flotilla at the end of the year and left for repairs and improvements in Brisbane in February 1946. This ship rejoined her flotilla at the end of the work, then later joined the 1st escort flotilla. When the Far Eastern Fleet replaced the British Pacific Fleet in 1949, this flotilla was renamed the 3rd Frigate Flotilla. The ship remained in the Far East until 1951, when she left the Station to return to the United Kingdom. Upon arrival, she was released from active service and reduced to reserve status at Portsmouth. In 1951, she was assigned to the Reserve Fleet Subdivision at Hartlepool. Listed for demolition in 1957, she was sold to BISCO for dismantling by Clayton and Davie in Dunston, Tyne and arrived at the demolition site on 10 December 1959.

Further reading

• Blair, Clay Gardiner (2000). Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunted 1942–1945. New York: Modern Library. ISBN 0-679-64033-9. 
• Gardiner, Robert Gardiner (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships (1922-1946). Conway Maritime Press. pp. 456. ISBN 0-85177-146-7. 
• Gardiner, Robert Gardiner (1996). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships (1947-1995). US Naval Institute Press. pp. 675. ISBN 1-55750-132-7. 
• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475. 
• Hague, Arnold (1993). Sloops: A History of the 71 Sloops Built in Britain and Australia for the British, Australian and Indian Navies 1926–1946. Kendal, England: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-67-3.