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Allied Warships

HMS Rochester (L 50 / U 50)

Sloop of the Shoreham class

NavyThe Royal Navy
TypeSloop
ClassShoreham 
PennantL 50 / U 50 
Built byChatham Dockyard (Chatham, U.K.): J.S. White & Co. (Cowes, U.K.) 
Ordered 
Laid down24 Nov, 1930 
Launched16 Jul, 1931 
Commissioned31 Mar, 1932 
End service 
Loss position
 
History

Sold on 6 January 1951.

Commanding Officers:
Cdr. George Fisher Renwick, RN
20 June 1939 – 16 January 1941

Cdr. Conway Benning Allen, RN (retired)
16 January 1941 – October 1942

Cdr. Hugh Valentine King, OBE, RN
October 1942 - ca. April / May 1944
DSO awarded on 9 November 1943

???

Lt.Cdr. W.A. Grinham, RNVR
June 1944 - ???

HMS Rochester in Dockyard Control ???

A/Cdr. F.E. Chevallier, DSC, RN (retired)
5 March 1945 – still in command in October 1945 according to the Navy List 


Noteable events involving Rochester include:

16 Aug, 1940
At 13.02 hours on 16 august 1940 U-46 fired three torpedoes on three ships (two passenger ships and one freighter) which partially overlapped in convoy OB-197 (150 miles southwest of Rockall) and observed a hit on the freighter, which was clearly damaged, as the bow was deeper in the water. The Dutch merchant ship Alcinous (6,189 tons) was hit on the port side by one torpedo and caught fire, which could be extinguished after long work. The British sloop HMS Rochester (Cdr. G.F. Renwick, RN) supported the damaged ship, which was later towed to Gourock by a British tug. Endrass could not identify his victim, but U-30(Lemp) heard the SSS-signals from the Alcinous.

30 Sep, 1940
HMS Rochester (Cdr. G.F. Renwick, RN) picks up 7 survivors from the British merchant Mabriton that was torpedoed and sunk on 25 September 1940 by the German submarine U-32 west-south-west of Rockall in position 56º12'N, 23º00'W.

19 Oct, 1941
The German submarine U-204 was sunk near Tangier, in position 35º46'N, 06º02'W, by depth charges from the British corvette HMS Mallow (Lt. W.R.B. Noall, RNR) and the British sloop HMS Rochester (Cdr. C.B. Allen, RN). (see map)

6 Feb, 1942
The German submarine U-82 was sunk north of the Azores, in position 44º10'N, 23º52'W, by depth charges from the British sloop HMS Rochester (Cdr. C.B. Allen, RN) and the corvette HMS Tamarisk (Lt. S. Ayles, RNR). (see map)

31 Jul, 1942
The German submarine U-213 was sunk in the North Atlantic east of the Azores, in position 36º45'N, 22º50'W by depth charges from the British sloops HMS Erne (Lt.Cdr. E.D.J. Abbot, RN), HMS Rochester (Cdr. C.B. Allen, RN) and HMS Sandwich (Lt.Cdr. H. Hill, RNR). (see map)

28 Aug, 1942
At 19.08 hours on 28 August 1942 the German submarine U-566 attacked the convoy SL-119 west-northwest of Lisbon and sank the Zuiderkerk and City of Cardiff. The City of Cardiff remained afloat, but foundered two days later. 21 crew members were lost. The master and 62 crew members were picked up by the British sloop HMS Rochester (Cdr. C.B. Allen, RN) and landed at Londonderry.

15 Jul, 1943
The German submarine U-135 was sunk in the Atlantic, in position 28º20'N, 13º17'W, by the British sloop HMS Rochester (Cdr. H.V. King, OBE, RN) and the British corvettes HMS Mignonette (Lt. H.H. Brown, RNR) and HMS Balsam (Lt. J.E.L. Peters, RNVR) and an American Catalina aircraft (VP-92). (see map)


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