River-class frigate | |
---|---|
HMS Swale | |
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 |
Lost: |
5 World War II 2 Suez Crisis 10 expended |
Preserved: | 1 |
General characteristics RN group I | |
Displacement: |
1,370 long tons (1,390 t; 1,530 short tons) 1,830 long tons (1,860 t; 2,050 short tons) (deep load) |
Length: |
283 ft (86.3 m) p/p 301.25 ft (91.8 m)o/a |
Beam: | 36 ft 6 in (11.1 m) |
Draught: | 9 ft (2.7 m); 13 ft (4.0 m) (deep load) |
Propulsion: |
2 × Admiralty 3-drum boilers, 2 shafts, reciprocating vertical triple expansion, 5,500 ihp (4,100 kW) |
Speed: |
20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) 20.5 knots (38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph) (turbine ships) |
Range: | 440 long tons (450 t; 490 short tons) oil fuel; 7,200 nautical miles (13,300 km; 8,300 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
Complement: | 107 |
Armament: |
|
General characteristics (RN group II) | |
Range: | 646 long tons (656 t; 724 short tons) oil fuel; 7,500 nautical miles (13,890 km) at 15 knots (27.8 km/h) |
Notes: | Other data as per RN group I |
General characteristics (RCN group) | |
Displacement: |
1,445 long tons (1,468 t; 1,618 short tons) 2,110 long tons (2,140 t; 2,360 short tons) (deep load) |
Range: | 646 long tons (656 t; 724 short tons) oil fuel; 7,500 nautical miles (13,890 km) at 15 knots (27.8 km/h) |
Complement: | 157 |
Armament: |
|
Notes: | Other data as per RN group I |
General characteristics (RAN group I) | |
Displacement: |
1,420 long tons (1,440 t; 1,590 short tons) 2,020 long tons (2,050 t; 2,260 short tons) (deep load) |
Range: | 500 long tons (510 t; 560 short tons) oil fuel; 5,180 nautical miles (9,593 km) at 12 knots (22.2 km/h) |
Complement: | 140 |
Armament: |
|
Notes: | Other data as per RN group I |
The River-class frigate was a class of 151 frigates launched between 1941 and 1944 for use as anti-submarine convoy escorts in the North Atlantic.
The majority served with the Royal Navy (RN) and Royal Canadian Navy (RCN), with some serving in the other Allied navies; the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), the Free French Navy (FFN), the Royal Netherlands Navy and, post-war, the South African Navy (SAN). Ten ships built in Canada were assigned to the United States Navy (USN) to cover for a shortage of suitable convoy escorts until American-built ships became available. In the event, only two were commissioned in the USN, the remaining eight were commissioned in the RN and RCN. Twelve River-class frigates were built in Australia for the RAN (four to a modified design), the last of which is HMAS Diamantina, preserved as a museum ship at the Queensland Maritime Museum in Brisbane, Australia.
After World War II they found employment in many other navies the world over; several RCN ships were sunk as breakwaters. One, HMCS Stormont, was purchased by Aristotle Onasis and converted into the luxury yacht Christina O.
Design[]
The River-class ships were designed by naval engineer William Reed 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.
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), and the hull design was later elaborated into the Loch class, and subsequently the Bay class.
Ships in class[]
151 frigates were built for seven navies during World War II.
Vessels lost in action[]
Ship | Date | Fate |
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HMS Cam | 1944 | 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 53-25N, 39-42W. |
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 49-35N, 05-30W. |
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 48-18N, 21-19W. |
HMCS Valleyfield | 7 May 1944 | Torpedoed and sunk by U-548 at 46-03N, 52-24W. |
In preservation and in fiction[]
- On display in Brisbane, Australia is HMAS Diamantina, the last complete River class frigate, preserved at the Queensland Maritime Museum.
- River-class frigate HMCS Stormont served as a convoy escort during the Battle of the Atlantic and was present at the D-Day landings.[1] In 1947 Greek shipowner Aristotle Onassis purchased her for scrap value and converted her into a luxurious superyacht named Christina O, after his daughter. The vessel is now owned by John Paul Nicolaou, who lets the yacht for elite charters and cruises.
- "HMS Saltash" was a fictional River class frigate in Nicholas Monsarrat's 1951 book: The Cruel Sea. (In the 1953 Jack Hawkins film version she is called "HMS Saltash Castle", and was played by the corvette HMS Portchester Castle).
- HMCS New Glasgow plays 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 frigates, after ten years in reserve).
References[]
- ↑ "Canadian Participation on D-Day and In The Battle of Normandy". National Defence and the Canadian Forces. 7 June 2010. http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/newsroom/view_news_e.asp?id=1394.
Bibliography[]
- Lavery, Brian (2006). River-Class Frigates and the Battle of the Atlantic: A Technical and Social History. London: National Maritime Museum. ISBN 0-94-806573-7.
- Lenton, H. T. (1998). British & Empire Warships of the Second World War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-048-7.
- Marriot, Leo (1983). Royal Navy Frigates 1945-1983. Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1322-5.
External links[]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to River class frigates. |
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- HMS Tweed (K250)
- Usk
- HMS Waveney (K248)
- HMS Wear (K230)
- Windrush
- HMS Wye (K371)
| group2= Royal Australian Navy | list2=
- Barcoo
- Barwon
- Burdekin
- Condamine
- Murray / Culgoa
- Diamantina
- Gascoyne
- Hawkesbury
- Lachlan
- Macquarie
- Murchison
- Shoalhaven
| group3= Royal Canadian Navy | list3=
- Adur
- Alvington / Royal Mount
- Annan (K297)
- Annan (K404)
- Antigonish
- Beacon Hill
- Beauharnois / Prestonian
- Royal Mount / Buckingham
- Cap de la Madeleine
- Cape Breton
- Capilano
- Carlplace
- Charlottetown
- Chebogue
- Coaticook
- Eastview
- Ettrick
- Giffard / Toronto
- Grou
- Hallowell
- Inch Arran
- Joliette
- Jonquiere
- Kokanee
- La Hulloise
- La Tuque / Fort Erie
- Lanark
- Lasalle
- Lauzon (K371)
- Lauzon (K414) / Glace Bay
- Levis
- Longueuil
- Magog
- Meon
- Monnow
- Montreal
- Nene
- New Glasgow
- New Waterford
- Orkney
- Outremont
- Port Colborne
- Poundmaker
- Prince Rupert
- Ribble
- Rouyn / Penetang
- Runnymede
- Saint John
- Meganic / Sea Cliff
- Springhill
- St. Catharines
- St. Jerome / Kirkland Lake
- St. Pierre
- St. Stephen
- Ste. Therese
- Stettler
- Stone Town / Glengarry
- Stormont (K327)
- Stormont (K444) / Matane
- Strathadam
- Swansea
- Teme
- Thetford Mines
- Valdorian / Sussexvale
- Valleyfield
- Verdun / Dunver
- Victoriaville
- HMCS Waskesiu (K330)
- Wentworth
| group4= Free French Naval Forces | list4=
- L'Aventure (ex-Braid)
- Croix de Lorraine (ex-Strule)
- La Découverte / Lucifer (ex-Windrush)
- L'Escarmouche / L'Ailette (ex-Frome)
- La Surprise (ex-Torridge)
- Tonkinois / La Confiance (ex-Moyola)
| group5=Royal Netherlands Navy | list5=
- Johan Maurits van Nassau (ex-Ribble (K251))
| group6=South African Navy | list6=
| group7=United States NavyAsheville class | list7=
| list8=
Post World War II operators | |
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Argentine Navy |
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Argentine Naval Prefecture | |
Royal Ceylon Navy / Sri Lanka Navy | |
Chilean Navy | |
Royal Danish Navy | |
Dominican Navy | |
Egyptian Navy | |
Indian Navy | |
Israeli Navy | |
Myanmar Navy | |
Royal New Zealand Navy | |
Royal Norwegian Navy | |
Pakistan Navy | |
Peruvian Navy | |
Portuguese Navy |
| list20=
- Preceded by: None
- Followed by: Tacoma class / Colony class
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The original article can be found at River-class frigate and the edit history here.