HMS Affleck


HMS Affleck was a which served during World War II. The ship was named after Sir Edmund Affleck, commander of at the Moonlight Battle in 1780 during the American Revolutionary War.
Originally destined for the US Navy as a turbo-electric type, HMS Affleck was provisionally given the name USS Oswald. However, the delivery was diverted to the Royal Navy before the launch.

Description

The Buckley-class ships had an overall length of, a beam of, and a draught of at full load. They displaced at and at full load. The ships had a turbo-electric powertrain with two Foster Wheeler Express D boilers providing steam to a pair of General Electric steam turbines which drove two electric generators which sent electricity to two electric motors which drove the two propeller shafts. The destroyer escorts reached a speed of and had enough fuel oil to give them a range of at. Their crew consisted of 220 officers and ratings.
The armament of the Buckley-class ships in British service consisted of three single mounts for 50-caliber /50 Mk 22 dual-purpose guns; one superfiring pair forward of the bridge and the third gun aft of the superstructure. Anti-aircraft defence was intended to consisted of a twin-gun mount for Bofors anti-aircraft (AA) guns atop the rear superstructure with eight Oerlikon AA guns located on the superstructure, but production shortages meant that that not all guns were fitted, or that two additional Oerlikons replaced the Bofors guns. A Mark 10 Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar was positioned just behind the forward gun. The ships were also equipped with two depth charge rails at the stern and four "K-gun" depth charge throwers.

Actions

HMS Affleck served exclusively with the 1st Escort Group taking part in operations in the North Atlantic, off Normandy, and in the English Channel.
On 19 February 1944, together with, HMS Affleck picked up 54 survivors from the Panamanian merchant Colin which had been torpedoed and sunk the previous day in the North Atlantic in position by the.
On 26 February 1944 in the North Atlantic at position HMS Affleck, together with and, sank by the use of depth charges and then by use of main guns. When the damaged U-boat surfaced and tried to ram HMS Affleck, this action resulted in 36 dead and 16 survivors from U-91s crew.
On 1 March 1944 in the Northern Atlantic north of the Azores at position HMS Affleck together with HMS Gore, HMS Gould and sank by the use of depth charges, resulting in 50 dead and 1 survivor from the submarine's crew.
On 16 March 1944 in the Straits of Gibraltar at position HMS Affleck together with the destroyer and three US Catalina aircraft sank by the use of a hedgehog attack, resulting in 52 dead from U-392s crew.
On 25 June 1944 HMS Affleck with attacked a submarine believed to be by the use of depth charges, this resulted in the sinking of the submarine with the loss of all hands. This action took place south of Start Point. The Kriegsmarine had U-1191 listed as missing since 12 June 1944.
On 26 December 1944 at 14:14 off the French coast near Cherbourg, launched three acoustic torpedoes at the 1st Escort Group hitting Affleck and. This resulted in the sinking of Capel. Affleck was towed to port, where the ship was written off as a Constructive Total Loss.

Return to United States Navy

Affleck was returned to the US Navy in August 1945 in Britain, where she was sold on 24 January 1947 to the Lisbon-based Transcontinental Victory Commercial Corporation Ltd. She was renamed Nostra De La Luz and survived as a hulk until the 1970s.

General information

  • Pennant : K 462
  • Pennant : DE 71