HMS Thornborough

HMS Thornborough (K574), sometimes spelled Thornbrough,^[5] 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, the ship served in the Royal Navy from 1943 to 1945.

HMS Thornborough photographed during World War II by an aircraft operating from Royal Naval Air Station HMS Osprey, Dunoon, Scotland.
History
United States
Name	unnamed (DE-565)
Builder	Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Hingham, Massachusetts
Laid down	22 September 1943[1]
Launched	13 November 1943[1]
Completed	31 December 1943[1]
Commissioned	never
Fate	Transferred to United Kingdom 31 December 1943[1]
Acquired	Returned by United Kingdom 29 January 1947[1]
Fate	Sold for scrapping 24 April 1947[1]
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Thornborough (K574)
Namesake	Admiral Sir Edward Thornbrough (1754-1834), British naval officer who was commanding officer of HMS Robust at the invasion of Quiberon Bay in 1795[2]
Acquired	31 December 1943[1]
Commissioned	31 December 1943[3]
Decommissioned	1945[4]
Fate	Returned to United States 29 January 1947[1]
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 & 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
Notes	Pennant number K572

Construction and transfer

The ship was laid down as the unnamed U.S. Navy destroyer escort DE-565 by Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Inc., in Hingham, Massachusetts, on 22 September 1943 and launched on 13 November 1943.^[1] She was transferred to the United Kingdom upon completion on 31 December 1943.^[1]

Service history

Commissioned into service in the Royal Navy as the frigate HMS Thornborough (K574) on 31 December 1943 simultaneously with her transfer, the ship served on patrol and escort duty for the remainder of World War II.^[3]

The Royal Navy decommissioned Thornborough in 1945^[4] and returned her to the U.S. Navy on 27 January 1947.^[1]

Disposal

The United States sold Thornborough on 24 April 1947 to a shipbuilding firm in Greece for scrapping.^[1]