Colony class frigates
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Colony class frigates were a class of 21 ships constructed in the United States by Walsh-Kaiser of Providence, Rhode Island for transfer under Lend-Lease to the Royal Navy in 1944. They were given the names of relatively minor colonies as names of large colonies had been used for the Crown Colony class cruisers.
The design was based on that of the Tacoma class frigates used by the United States Navy (some sources state that these vessels were identical). That design was itself an adaptation of the Royal Navy River class frigate, with modifications made mainly to use materials and parts more readily available in the United States. For example, American 3-inch guns were used as the main surface armament in the Tacoma and Colony class frigates instead of the British 4-inch guns of the River class.
They were mass-produced to mercantile standards to enable their speedy construction in shipyards that did not normally build warships. Post-war, all were returned to the U.S. by the end of 1946 and most scrapped during 1947, as they were considered obsolescent even before the end of the war.
One ship, HMS Caicos, was used as an aircraft detection frigate, stationed in the North Sea to detect V-1 flying bombs, targeted at Britain.
The ships are mentioned in HM Frigate by Nicholas Monsarrat - a very slim volume published under wartime censorship rules.
[edit] List of ships
With date returned to the US (unless otherwise stated). All scrapped 1947, unless stated.
- HMS Anguilla (K500): 31 May, 1946; scrapped 1949
- HMS Antigua (K501): 2 May, 1946
- HMS Ascension (K502): 31 May, 1946.
- HMS Bahamas (K503): 11 June, 1946.
- HMS Barbados (K504): 11 June, 1946.
- HMS Caicos (K505): 12 December 1945; sold to Argentina as Santisima Trinidad, later Comodoro Augusto Laserre, scrapped 1970
- HMS Cayman (K506): 23 April, 1946
- HMS Dominica (K507): 23 April, 1946
- HMS Labuan (K584), (ex-HMS Gold Coast): 18 May, 1948
- HMS Montserrat (K586): 11 June, 1946
- HMS Nyasaland (K587): 15 April, 1946
- HMS Papua (K588): 13 May, 1946; sold to Egypt and scuttled as a blockship in the Suez Canal, 1956
- HMS Perim (K593), (ex-HMS Sierra Leone): 22 May 1946
- HMS Pitcairn (K589): 11 June, 1946
- HMS Sarawak (K591): 22 May 1946
- HMS Seychelles (K592): June 1946
- HMS Somaliland (K594): 22 May 1946
- HMS St Helena (K590): 8 April, 1946
- HMS Tobago (K585), (ex-HMS Hong Kong): 13 May, 1946; sold to Egypt and scuttled as a blockship in the Suez Canal, 1956
- HMS Tortola (K595): 22 May, 1946
- HMS Zanzibar (K596): 31 May 1946
