HMS ''Loch Killin'' was a of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

, named after

Loch Killin Loch Killin is a small freshwater loch in the Monadhliath Mountains, in Highland, Scotland, United Kingdom. Geography The loch is about long, and is one of numerous small lochs close to the southern end of Loch Ness, the southernmost point of ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

. The ship was laid down at

Burntisland Shipbuilding Company The Burntisland Shipbuilding Company was a shipbuilder and repairer in Burntisland, Fife, Scotland that was founded in 1918. In 1969 it was taken over by Robb-Caledon Shipbuilders, which in turn was nationalised in 1977 as part of British Ship ...

's yard in

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross ...

on 2 June 1943, and launched on 29 November 1943. She was one of the first vessels armed with the brand new

Squid True squid are molluscs with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the superorder Decapodiformes, though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also called squid despite not strictly fitting ...

anti-submarine mortar. Decommissioned in September 1945, the ship was put into Reserve, and finally scrapped on 24 August 1960.

Service history

1944

''Lock Killin'' along with the

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular ...

sank the German submarine on 31 July 1944 to the west of

Land's End Land's End ( kw, Penn an Wlas or ''Pedn an Wlas'') is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, on the Penwith peninsula about west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road. To the east of it i ...

. This was the first submarine kill using the

anti-submarine mortar. On 6 August 1944 ''Loch Killin'' sank .Milner, Marc, ''Battle of the Atlantic'', Kindle Addition, location 2755.

1945

In January and February 1945 ''Loch Killin'' was detached for service in the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" ( Cotentinais) or (Jèrriais), ( Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kan ...

providing convoy escort and support for short periods, before the rest of 17 EG was transferred to

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymout ...

for support duty in the Channel in April. On 15 April 1945 ''Loch Killin'' sank in the English Channel west of Land's End, in position , with gunfire and depth charges. After the German surrender in May 1945 ''Loch Killin'' and 17 EG returned to the Clyde. In June the ship was transferred to the

Rosyth Rosyth ( gd, Ros Fhìobh, "headland of Fife") is a town on the Firth of Forth, south of the centre of Dunfermline. According to the census of 2011, the town has a population of 13,440. The new town was founded as a Garden city-style subur ...

Escort Force to escort convoys to Norway, paying visits to

Stavanger Stavanger (, , US usually , ) is a city and municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the administrative center of Rogaland county. T ...

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...

and

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, an ...

. In September ''Loch Killin'' sailed to

Dartmouth Dartmouth may refer to: Places * Dartmouth, Devon, England ** Dartmouth Harbour * Dartmouth, Massachusetts, United States * Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada * Dartmouth, Victoria, Australia Institutions * Dartmouth College, Ivy League university i ...

to decommission.

Decommissioning and disposal

After her stores and supplies were removed ''Loch Killin'' was put into the Reserve on 7 November 1945 as a Category "B" vessel. The ship was later transferred to

, and nominated for modernisation, but this was cancelled in June 1951. The ship was transferred to the

Reserve Fleet A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed; they are partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; ...

Penarth Penarth (, ) is a town and community in the Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg), Wales, exactly south of Cardiff city centre on the west shore of the Severn Estuary at the southern end of Cardiff Bay. Penarth is a wealthy seaside resort ...

in June 1956, and finally placed on the Disposal List on 12 April 1960. The ship was sold for demolition by

John Cashmore Ltd John Cashmore Ltd (also known as J Cashmore, or simply as Cashmore's or other derivations) was a company operating largely in Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales. It became best known for ship breaking and scrapping redundant British railway locomot ...

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...

, and the ship was towed to the breaker's yard on 24 August 1960.

References

Bibliography

*
Service Histories of Royal Navy Warships in World War II : HMS ''Loch Killin''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loch Killin (K391) Killin (K391) World War II frigates of the United Kingdom 1943 ships