HMS Chaplet

HMS Chaplet was a C-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that was in service from August 1945, and which was scrapped in 1965.

HMS Chaplet on completion, 13 August 1945
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Chaplet
Ordered	24 July 1942
Builder	Thornycroft, Woolston
Laid down	29 April 1943
Launched	18 July 1944
Commissioned	24 August 1945
Decommissioned	1961
Identification	Pennant number: R52 later changed to D52
Fate	Arrived for scrapping at Hughes Bolckow, Blyth on 6 November 1965
General characteristics
Class and type	C-class destroyer
Displacement	1710 tons[1]
Length	362.75 ft (110.57 m)[1]
Beam	35.66 ft (10.87 m)[1]
Draught	10 ft (3.0 m) (mean), 16 ft (4.9 m) (max.)[1]
Installed power	40,000 hp (30,000 kW)
Propulsion	Parsons geared turbines, 2 shafts; 2 Admiralty 3-drum type boilers[1]
Speed	36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph)
Complement	186
Armament	4 X QF 4.5 in (5 in) L/45 guns 4 X 20 mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft weapons 4 X 21 inch (533 mm) torpedoes 2 X Squid ASW mortars (after 1954)

Construction

The Royal Navy ordered Chaplet on 24 July 1942, one of eight "Ch" subclass "Intermediate" destroyers of the 1942 Programme. She was laid down at the yard of Thornycroft, Woolston on 29 April 1943 and commissioned on 24 August 1945, too late for service in the Second World War.

Service

Chaplet was assigned to the 1st Destroyer Squadron based at Malta in the early 1950s. She was given an interim modernisation in 1954, which saw her 'X' turret at the rear of the ship replaced by two Squid anti-submarine mortars.^[2] She saw duty during the Suez Crisis in 1956.

On 22 May 1959, Chaplet collided with the Icelandic patrol boat Óðinn when on fishery protection duties. Óðinn's lifeboat was destroyed in the collision, which Chaplet's commanding officer blamed on a misjudgement by Óðinn, while Óðinn's captain claimed that Chaplet had deliberately rammed Óðinn.^[3]

Decommissioning and disposal

Chaplet was decommissioned and laid up in 1961. She was sold for scrapping to Hughes Bolckow and arrived at their yard at Blyth on 6 November 1965.