HMS Tavy

HMS Tavy was a of the Royal Navy. Tavy was built by Charles Hill & Sons & Belliss & Morcom in Bristol, England for the Royal Navy. She served during World War II.
Tavy was one of 151 River-class frigates launched between 1941 and 1944 for use as anti-submarine convoy escorts, named after rivers in the United Kingdom. The ships were designed by naval engineer William Reed, of Smith's Dock Company of South Bank-on-Tees, to have the endurance and anti-submarine capabilities of the sloops, while being quick and cheap to build in civil dockyards using the machinery and construction techniques pioneered in the building of the s. Its purpose was to improve on the convoy escort classes in service with the Royal Navy at the time, including the Flower class.

Wartime service

On 5 July 1944 Tavy and attacked the in the English Channel. Tavy started the attack with hedgehog-launched depth charges and was followed by Wanderer. The two eventually disabled the U-boat, and further depth charging was conducted to ensure the destruction of the vessel. Some of Tavy crew claimed U-390 fired two torpedoes in defence during the attack, both missing. Only one survivor escaped U-390, surfacing in diving equipment between the first and second hedgehog attacks. He was picked up by Wanderer.