Allied Warships

HMS Launceston Castle (K 397)

Corvette of the Castle class

NavyThe Royal Navy
TypeCorvette
ClassCastle 
PennantK 397 
Built byBlyth Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. Ltd. (Blyth, U.K.) : White 
Ordered19 Jan 1943 
Laid down27 May 1943 
Launched27 Nov 1943 
Commissioned20 Jun 1944 
End service 
History

Scrapped at Davidson Forth on 3 August 1959.

 

Commands listed for HMS Launceston Castle (K 397)

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

CommanderFromTo
1Lt. Roland Maurice Roberts, RNR15 Apr 194421 Jun 1945
2T/A/Lt.Cdr. George Henry Riches, RNVR21 Jun 19455 Dec 1945

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Notable events involving Launceston Castle include:


4 Jul 1944
HMS Unrivalled (Lt. D.S. Brown, RNVR) conducted exercises off Tobermory with HMS Launceston Castle (Lt. R.M. Roberts, RNR) and HMS Cowslip (T/Lt. R. Thompson, RNR). (1)

11 Nov 1944
The depth charge attacks carried out by the British corvettes HMS Pevensey Castle (Cdr. D.A. Rayner, DSC, VD, RNVR), HMS Launceston Castle (Lt. R.M. Roberts, RNR), HMS Portchester Castle (Lt. A.G. Scott, RNR) and HMS Kenilworth Castle (Lt. J.J. Allon, RNR) south of Ireland, in position 50°24'N, 09°10'W, formerly credited with the destruction of the German U-boat U-1200, were actually made against a non-sub target.

16 Dec 1944
HMS Upshot (Lt. A.J. Boyall, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Campbeltown with HMS Pevensey Castle (Cdr. E. Hewitt, RD, RNR), HMS Launceston Castle (Lt. R.M. Roberts, RNR) and HMS Portchester Castle (Lt. A.G. Scott, RNR). (2)

18 Dec 1944
HMS Upshot (Lt. A.J. Boyall, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Campbeltown with HMS Pevensey Castle (Cdr. E. Hewitt, RD, RNR), HMS Launceston Castle (Lt. R.M. Roberts, RNR) and HMS Portchester Castle (Lt. A.G. Scott, RNR). (2)

28 Mar 1945
HrMs O 23 (Lt.Cdr. A.J. Schouwenaar, RNN) conducted A/S exercises off Loch Alsh with HMS Philante (Cdr. M.J. Evans, OBE, RN), HMS Pevensey Castle (Cdr. E. Hewitt, RD, RNR), HMS Kenilworth Castle (A/Lt.Cdr. J.O. Williams, RNR), HMS Launceston Castle (Lt. R.M. Roberts, RNR) and HMS Caistor Castle (A/Lt.Cdr. B.J. Bowick, RNVR). These included night exercises. (3)

Sources

  1. ADM 173/19225
  2. ADM 173/19302
  3. File 2.12.03.6428 (Dutch Archives, The Hague, Netherlands)

ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.


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