Allied Warships

HMS Albrighton (L 12)

Escort destroyer of the Hunt (Type III) class


HMS Albrighton during the war

NavyThe Royal Navy
TypeEscort destroyer
ClassHunt (Type III) 
PennantL 12 
Built byJohn Brown Shipbuilding & Engineering Company Ltd. (Clydebank, Scotland) 
Ordered4 Jul 1940 
Laid down20 Nov 1940 
Launched11 Oct 1941 
Commissioned22 Feb 1942 
End service 
History

Sold to West Germany Navy on 14 May 1959 (like HMS Eggesford), where she served as the frigate Raule F 217.
Sold for scrap to Eisen & Metall in 1969.

The ships bell is reported as displayed at the Albrighton Parish Church,Shropshire.

 

Commands listed for HMS Albrighton (L 12)

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. Ronald John Hanson, RN11 Nov 194120 Sep 1943
2Lt. John Joseph Symonds Hooker, RN20 Sep 1943mid 1945

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Notable events involving Albrighton include:


17 Mar 1942
HMS Otway (Lt.Cdr.(Retd.) J.R.G. Harvey, RN) conducted exercises in the Clyde area for the C.O.Q.C. (Commanding Officers Qualifying Course) with HMS Albrighton (Lt. R.J. Hanson, RN). (1)

17 Mar 1942
HMS P 43 (Lt. A.C. Halliday, RN) conducted attack exercises in the Clyde area with HMS Albrighton (Lt. R.J. Hanson, RN). (2)

11 Nov 1942
HrMs Isaac Sweers (Capt. W. Harmsen, RNN) arrived at Gibraltar at 0900 hours. She departed again at 1445 hours to go to the aid of the torpedoed troop transport Nieuw Zeeland.

Later that day the British destroyer HMS Porcupine (Cdr. G.S. Stewart, RAN), the British escort destroyer HMS Albrighton (Lt.Cdr. R.J. Hanson, DSC, DSO, RN) and the Dutch destroyer HrMs Isaac Sweers (Capt. W. Harmsen, RNN) together rescue 238 survivors from the Dutch troop transport Nieuw Zeeland that was torpedoed and sunk by German U-boat U-380 about 80 miles east of Gibraltar in position 35°57'N, 03°58'W.

The three ships then took the survivors to Gibraltar where they arrived around 2115 hours.

HrMs Isaac Sweers and HMS Porcupine departed Gibraltar soon after having landed the survivors. They were to join 'Force H' at sea. Before doing so they were to fuel at sea from 'Force R'.

30 Nov 1942
HMS Penelope (Capt. G.D. Belben, DSC, AM, RN) departed Portsmouth for Scapa Flow. On departure she is escorted for a while by HMS Albrighton (Lt.Cdr. R.J. Hanson, DSO, DSC, RN). (3)

12 Dec 1942
The British destroyers HMS Whitshed, HMS Worcester and HMS Vesper, the British escort destroyers HMS Brocklesby and HMS Albrighton, and the Norwegian escort destroyer Eskdale attacked German shipping in the English Channel. Eskdale torpedoed and sank Sperrbrecher 144/Beijerland (387 BRT) west of Le Treport, France in position 50°05'N, 01°09'E and Whitshed torpedoed and sank Sperrbecher 178/Gauss (1236 BRT) north-east of Dieppe, France in position 50°04'N, 01°09'E.

20 Oct 1943
Around 1500A/20, HMS Resolution (A/Capt. A.M. Bingeman, RN) departed the Firth of Forth for Portsmouth. On departure she was escorted by the destroyer HMS Obedient (Lt.Cdr. D.C. Kinloch, RN) which had departed Scapa Flow for this duty around 0500A/20.

Around 0520A/21, when off Duncansby Head, HNoMS Stord (Lt.Cdr. S.V. Storheill) joined and HMS Obedient parted company.

Around 1000A/21, when near Cape Wrath, HNoMS Stord parted company. HMS Resolution then proceeded unescorted from Cape Wrath to The Lizard.

At 0640A/23, off The Lizard, the escort destroyers HMS Tanatside (Lt.Cdr. F.D. Brown, RN), HMS Albrighton (Lt. J.J.S. Hooker, RN) and La Combattante (Lt.Cdr. A. Patou), joined.

They passed the boom and entered The Solent around 1810A/23. (4)

16 Aug 1944
Around 0800B/16, Force 26, made up of the light cruiser HMS Bellona (Capt. C.F.W. Norris, RN) and the destroyers HMS Tartar (Cdr. B. Jones, DSO, DSC, RN) and HMS Ashanti (Lt.Cdr. J.R. Barnes, RN) departed Plymouth for a night sweep between Ile d'Yeu and the Gironde.

At 1445B/16, Force 30, made up of the destroyer ORP Blyscawica (Kmdr.por. (Cdr.) K.F. Namiesniowski) and escort destroyer HMS Albrighton (Lt. J.J.S. Hooker, RN) departed Plymouth to patrol between Ile de Glenan and Belle Ile.

A sweep between Ile d'Yeu and the Gironde by Force 26 during the night of 16/17 August proved uneventful. Throughout the day a patrol was carried out within 10 miles of a line joining positions 46°26'N, 02°43'W and 45°58'N, 02°21'W. At 1809B/17, Force 26 reported having sighted nothing. From dusk the area between the Gironde and Ile d'Yeu was swept as on the previous night.

Force 30 patrolled between Penmarch and Belle Ile during daylight. At 0948B/17, Force 30 was engaged by an enemy shore battery on Belle Ile but all rounds fell short. They were then again engaged at 1100B/17 by shore batteries on Ile de Groix. Their fire was accurate and the destroyers had to retire under the cover of a smokescreen. Force 30 only sighted one fishing vessel during the day.

During the night of 17/18 August, Force 26 again sighted nothing of interest. They continued patrolling during the day but HMS Ashanti had to be sent to Plymouth with defects. She arrived around 1712B/18 after having been detached around 1020B/18. The two remaining ships carried out a patrol between Belle Ile and the Gironde during the night. Bad weather however prevented air cover.

Around 0730B/18, a number of fishing vessels were sighted by Force 30 near Ile de Glenan. One of these was boarded and one of the crew was taken off for interrogation. Force 30 left patrol later that morning and arrived at Plymouth around 1800B/18.

Early on the 19th, Force 26 left patrol and returned to Plymouth around 1615B/19. (5)

20 Dec 1944
Around 0830A/20, the destroyer HrMs Tjerk Hiddes (Lt.Cdr. N.W. Sluijter, RNethN) and the escort destroyer HMS Albrighton (A/Lt.Cdr. J.J.S. Hooker, RN) departed Milford Haven to make rendezvous with the battleship HMS Ramillies (Capt. G.B. Middleton, CBE, RN) and the landing ship HMS Keren (A/Cdr. S.E. Crewe-Read, RN) and their current escort of the escort destroyer HMS Avon Vale (Lt. I. Hall, RN) and frigates HMS Gardiner (A/Lt.Cdr. W.G.H. Bolton, DSC, RD, RNR) and HMS Perim (T/A/Lt.Cdr. N.J.T. Mosarrat, RNVR). The battleship was en-route from Greenock to Portsmouth.

When HrMs Tjerk Hiddes and HMS Albrighton joined around 1000A/20, HMS Gardiner and HMS Perim parted company.

HrMS Tjerk Hiddes, HMS Avon Vale and HMS Albrighton arrived at Plymouth around 1300A/21. They had been relieved at 0855A/21, off Start Point, by an escort coming from Portsmouth. [No further details available for the moment.] (6)

Sources

  1. ADM 173/17334
  2. ADM 173/17389
  3. ADM 53/116430
  4. ADM 53/118447 + ADM 199/2281
  5. ADM 199/1394
  6. ADM 199/1392 + File 2.12.03.2100 (Dutch Archives, The Hague, Netherlands)

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


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