HMS Cranstoun

HMS Cranstoun (K511) was a Captain-class frigate of the British Royal Navy that served in the last two years of World War II. The ship was laid down as a Buckley-class destroyer escort at the Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard at Hingham, Massachusetts on 9 June 1943, with the hull number DE-82, and launched on 28 August 1943. The ship was transferred to the UK under Lend-Lease on 13 November 1943,^[3] and named after Captain James Cranstoun, an officer who served in the American Revolutionary and French Revolutionary Wars.

History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Cranstoun
Builder	Bethlehem Hingham Shipyard
Laid down	9 June 1943
Launched	28 August 1943
Commissioned	13 November 1943
Decommissioned	3 December 1945
Stricken	7 February 1946
Honours & awards	English Channel North Foreland[1]
Fate	Sold for scrapping, 20 November 1947
General characteristics
Class & type	Captain-class frigate
Displacement	1,400 long tons (1,422 t) standard 1,740 long tons (1,768 t) full
Length	306 ft (93 m) o/a 300 ft (91 m) w/l
Beam	36 ft 9 in (11.20 m)
Draught	9 ft (2.7 m)
Propulsion	2 × Foster Wheeler Express "D"-type water-tube boilers GE 13,500 shp (10,067 kW) steam turbines and generators (9,200 kW) Electric motors 12,000 shp (8,948 kW) 2 shafts
Speed	24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph)
Range	5,500 nmi (10,200 km) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	186
Electronic warfare & decoys	SA & SL type radars Type 144 series Asdic MF Direction Finding antenna HF Direction Finding Type FH 4 antenna
Armament	3 × 3 in (76 mm) /50 Mk.22 guns 1 × twin Bofors 40 mm mount Mk.I 7–16 × 20 mm Oerlikon guns Mark 10 Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar Depth charges QF 2-pounder naval gun
Service record
Commanders:	Lt. Eric W. Rainey, RN (23 November 1943 – 23 June 1945) A/Lt.Cdr. Alfred S. Miller, DSC, RNZNVR (23 June–September 1945) A/Lt.Cdr. John P. Kilbee, RNR (September–October 1945)[2]
Victories:	U-1063 (15 April 1945)

Service history

Cranstoun served as a convoy escort, and was attached to the Nore Command, and then the 19th Escort Group.^[4]

At 21:14 on the evening of 15 April 1945 Cranstoun and Loch Killin, while part of the escort to Convoy TBC 128, detected the U-1063 in Bigbury Bay, Devon. The two ships mounted a coordinated attack, with Loch Killin using her Squid anti-submarine mortar three times and Cranstoun her Hedgehog mortar once, to force the U-boat to the surface. Burges then also joined the attack, as the U-boat was illuminated by the ship's searchlights and fired on with 20 mm and 40 mm guns. U-1063 attempted to escape, but Loch Killin attacked with depth charges and sank her. Only 17 of the crew survived.^[5]

Cranstoun was returned to the U.S. Navy on 3 December 1945, struck from the Navy List on 7 February 1946, and sold for scrapping on 20 November 1947.^[3]