| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | Sloop |
| Class | Shoreham |
| Pennant | L 50 / U 50 |
| Built by | Chatham Dockyard (Chatham, U.K.): J.S. White & Co. (Cowes, U.K.) |
| Ordered | 15 Mar 1930 |
| Laid down | 24 Nov 1930 |
| Launched | 16 Jul 1931 |
| Commissioned | 31 Mar 1932 |
| End service | |
| History | Sold on 6 January 1951. |
Commands listed for HMS Rochester (L 50 / U 50)
Please note that we're still working on this section.
| Commander | From | To | |
| 1 | Cdr. George Fisher Renwick, RN | 20 Jun 1939 | 16 Jan 1941 |
| 2 | Lt.Cdr. Conway Benning Allen, RN | 16 Jan 1941 | Oct 1942 |
| 3 | Cdr. Hugh Valentine King, OBE, RN | Oct 1942 | mid 1944 |
| 4 | Lt. John Hilton Divitte Northcote, RNR | mid 1944 | 15 May 1944 |
| 5 | Lt.Cdr. John Valentine Waterhouse, DSO, RN | 15 May 1944 | Jun 1944 |
| 6 | Lt.Cdr. William Alick Grinham, RNVR | Jun 1944 | late 1944 |
| 7 | Lt. John Hilton Divitte Northcote, RNR | late 1944 | 5 Mar 1945 |
| 8 | Cdr. (retired) Felix Edward Chevallier, DSC, RN | 5 Mar 1945 | 27 Oct 1946 |
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Noteable events involving Rochester include:
16 Aug 1940
At 13.02 hours on 16 august 1940 U-46 fired three torpedoed 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 German U-boat U-32 west-south-west of Rockall in position 56°12'N, 23°00'W.
19 Oct 1941
German U-boat U-204 was sunk near Tangier, in position 35°46'N, 06°02'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
German U-boat U-82 was sunk north of the Azores, in position 44°10'N, 23°52'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
German U-boat U-213 was sunk in the North Atlantic east of the Azores, in position 36°45'N, 22°50'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 German U-boat 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
German U-boat U-135 was sunk in the Atlantic, in position 28°20'N, 13°17'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)