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Allied Warships

HMS Black Swan (L 57 / U 57)

Sloop of the Black Swan class

NavyThe Royal Navy
TypeSloop
ClassBlack Swan 
PennantL 57 / U 57 
Built byYarrow Shipbuilders Ltd. (Scotstoun, Scotland) 
Ordered 
Laid down20 Jun, 1938 
Launched7 Jul, 1939 
Commissioned27 Jan, 1940 
End service 
Loss position
 
History

Scrapped 13 September 1956.

Commanding Officers:
Capt. Albert Lawrence Poland, DSC, RN
15 September 1939 - ???
DSO awarded on 25 June 1940

HMS Black Swan in Dockyard Control during repairs

Cdr. Thomas Arthur Charles Pakenham, RN
26 April 1941 – 5 March 1943
Promoted to Captain on 31 December 1942

Lt.Cdr. Rodney Charles Vesey Thomson, RN (retired)
5 March 1943 – 26 March 1945
Promoted to Cdr. on 6 February 1944
DSC awarded on 9 November 1943

Lt.Cdr. Alexander Douglas Colin Inglis, RN
26 March 1945 - still in command in October 1945 according to the Navy List 


Noteable events involving Black Swan include:

23 Oct, 1942
The British merchant Empire Star is torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-615 north of the Azores in position 48º14'N, 26º22'W. The British sloop HMS Black Swan (Cdr. T.A.C. Pakenham, RN) later picks up 61 survivors.

2 Apr, 1943
The German submarine U-124 was sunk west of Oporto, in position 41º02'N, 15º39'W, by depth charges from the British corvette HMS Stonecrop (Lt.Cdr. J.P. Smythe, RNR) and the British sloop HMS Black Swan (Lt.Cdr. R.C.V. Thomson, RN). (see map)


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