HMS ''Affleck'' was a which served during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The ship was named after Sir Edmund Affleck, commander of at the

Moonlight Battle The Battle of Cape St. Vincent () was a naval battle that took place off the southern coast of Portugal on 16 January 1780 during the American Revolutionary War. In 1779 Spain had joined its ally France, which was allied with the Americans, in ...

in 1780 during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. Originally destined for the US Navy as a turbo-electric (TE) type , HMS ''Affleck'' was provisionally given the name USS ''Oswald'' (later this name was reassigned to ). However, the delivery was diverted to the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

before the launch.

Actions

HMS ''Affleck'' served exclusively with the 1st Escort Group taking part in operations in the

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, off

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, and in the

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. 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

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 charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon designed to destroy submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited ...

s 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-91''s crew. On 1 March 1944 in the Northern Atlantic north of the

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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 The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Europe from Africa. The two continents are separated by 7.7 nautical miles (14.2 kilometers, 8.9 miles) at its narrowest point. Fe ...

at position HMS ''Affleck'' together with the destroyer and three US Catalina aircraft (VP 63) sank by the use of a

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attack, resulting in 52 dead (all hands) from ''U-392''s 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

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had ''U-1191'' listed as missing (no radio contact) since 12 June 1944. On 26 December 1944 at 14:14 off the French coast near

Cherbourg Cherbourg is a former Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French departments of France, department of Manche. It was merged into the com ...

, 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 (UK): K 462 *Pennant (US): DE 71

Citations

References

* ''The Captain Class Frigates in the Second World War'' by Donald Collingwood. published by Leo Cooper (1998), . * ''The Buckley-Class Destroyer Escorts'' by Bruce Hampton Franklin, published by Chatham Publishing (1999), . *

External links

Uboat.net page for HMS Affleck

captainclassfrigates.co.uk

The Gazette 26 June 1945
{{DEFAULTSORT:Affleck (K462) Captain-class frigates Buckley-class destroyer escorts World War II frigates of the United Kingdom Ships built in Hingham, Massachusetts 1943 ships Maritime incidents in December 1944