HMS Rowley

HMS Rowley was a British Captain-class frigate of the Royal Navy in commission during World War II. Originally constructed as a United States Navy Buckley class destroyer escort, she served in the Royal Navy from 1943 to 1945.

History
United States
Name	Unnamed (DE-92)
Ordered	10 January 1942[1]
Builder	Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Hingham, Massachusetts
Laid down	18 August 1943[2]
Launched	30 October 1943[2]
Completed	22 December 1943[2]
Commissioned	Never
Fate	Transferred to United Kingdom 22 December 1943[2]
Acquired	Returned by United Kingdom 12 November 1945[2]
Stricken	8 January 1946[2]
Fate	Sold for scrapping 14 June 1946[2]
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Rowley (K560)
Namesake	Vice Admiral Sir Joshua Rowley (1734-1790), British naval officer who was commanding officer of HMS Montagu during the Battle of Quiberon Bay in 1759[3]
Acquired	22 December 1943[2]
Commissioned	22 December 1943[1]
Decommissioned	late 1945[1]
Identification	Pennant number K560
Fate	Returned to United States 12 November 1945[2]
General characteristics
Displacement	1,400 long tons (1,422 t)
Length	306 ft (93 m)
Beam	36.75 ft (11.2 m)
Draught	9 ft (2.7 m)
Propulsion	Two Foster-Wheeler Express "D"-type water-tube boilers GE 13,500 shp (10,070 kW) steam turbines and generators (9,200 kW) Electric motors for 12,000 shp (8,900 kW) Two shafts
Speed	24 knots (44 km/h)
Range	5,500 nautical miles (10,200 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h)
Complement	186
Sensors and processing systems	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 antisubmarine mortar Depth charges QF 2-pounder naval gun

Construction and transfer

The ship was laid down as the unnamed U.S. Navy destroyer escort DE-95 by Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Inc., in Hingham, Massachusetts, on 18 August 1943 and launched on 30 October 1943.^[2] She was transferred to the United Kingdom upon completion on 22 December 1943.^[2]

Service history

She was commissioned into service with the Royal Navy, as the frigate HMS Rowley (K560) on 22 December 1943 simultaneously with her transfer, the ship served on patrol and escort duty. On 27 February 1945, she joined the British frigate HMS Duckworth (K351) in a depth charge attack which sank the German submarine U-1208 in the English Channel southeast of the Isles of Scilly in position 49°51′47″N 006°06′45″W.^[1][2]

The Royal Navy returned Rowley to the U.S. Navy on 12 November 1945.^[2]

Disposal

The U.S. Navy struck Rowley from its Naval Vessel Register on 8 January 1946. She was sold on 14 June 1946 for scrapping.^[2]