HMS Hadleigh Castle (K355)
HMS ''Hadleigh Castle'' (K355) was a of Britain's Royal Navy. Hadleigh Castle was the first ship to be fitted with a production version of the highly effective Squid anti-submarine mortar, the prototype of which had only been installed on board HMS ''Ambuscade'' in May 1943. She was laid down at Smiths Dock in Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ... on 4 April 1943 and launched on 21 June 1943 before being commissioned on 18 September 1943 References Publications * * * External links Naval-History.net Castle-class corvettes 1944 ships Ships built on the River Tees {{UK-mil-ship-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hadleigh Castle
Hadleigh Castle is a ruined fortification in the English county of Essex, overlooking the Thames Estuary from south of the town of Hadleigh. Built after 1215 during the reign of Henry III by Hubert de Burgh, the castle was surrounded by parkland and had an important economic and defensive role. The castle was significantly expanded and remodelled by Edward III, who turned it into a grander property, designed to defend against a potential French attack, as well as to provide the King with a convenient private residence close to London. Built on a soft hill of London clay, the castle has often been subject to subsidence; this, combined with the sale of its stonework in the 16th century, has led to it now being ruined. The remains are now preserved by English Heritage and protected under UK law as a Grade I listed building and scheduled monument. History 13th century Hadleigh Castle was first built by Hubert de Burgh, the 1st Earl of Kent, who was a key supporter of King Joh ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Smiths Dock Company
Smith's Dock Company, Limited, often referred to simply as Smith's Dock, was a British shipbuilding company. History The company was originally established by Thomas Smith who bought William Rowe's shipyard at St. Peter's in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1810 and traded as William Smith & Co. The company opened its dock in North Shields in 1851. One of the first ships to be launched at the yard was ''Termagent'' in 1852. The company changed its name to Smith's Dock Co. in 1891. The company became associated with South Bank, North Riding of Yorkshire, after opening an operation there in 1907. Smith's Dock increasingly concentrated its shipbuilding business on the River Tees in South Bank, with its North Shields Yard being used mainly for repair work (in particular oil tankers) from 1909 onwards. Despite the shift of focus, The company's headquarters remained at North Shields. Smith's Dock built many ships that served during the Second World War, including trawlers that the Admiralt ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pennant Number
In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that identified a flotilla or type of vessel. For example, the Royal Navy used a red burgee for torpedo boats and a pennant with an H for torpedo boat destroyers. Adding a number to the type-identifying flag uniquely identified each ship. In the current system, a letter prefix, called a ''flag superior'', identifies the type of ship, and numerical suffix, called a flag inferior, uniquely identifies an individual ship. Not all pennant numbers have a flag superior. Royal Navy systems The Royal Navy first used pennants to distinguish its ships in 1661 with a proclamation that all of his majesty's ships must fly a union pennant. This distinction was further strengthened by a proclamation in 1674 which forbade merchant vessels from flying any penna ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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QF 4 Inch Mk XIX Naval Gun
The QF 4-inch Mk XIX gunMk XIX = Mark 19. Britain used Roman numerals to denote Marks (models) of ordnance until after World War II. This was the nineteenth model of British QF 4-inch gun was a British low-velocity 4-inch 40- calibre naval gun used to arm small warships such as and and some in World War II, mainly against submarines.DiGiulian Description It succeeded the higher-velocity World War I-era BL 4-inch Mk IX (typically deployed on s in the escort role). The Mk XIX fired fixed ammunition which was long and weighed . The weight of the projectile was increased from for the Mk IX to for the Mk XIX. The high-angle mounting used for the XIX added some anti-aircraft capability and allowed it to fire starshells to illuminate the battle area at night. Ammunition QF 4 inch Mk XIX gun and crew LAC e003525404-v6.jpg, British 4 inch 35 lb star shell 1943 diagram.jpg, Surviving examples * On at Williamstown, Victoria, Australia. * On the parade ground at the Irish N ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Squid (weapon)
Squid was a British World War II ship-mounted anti-submarine weapon. It consisted of a three-barrelled mortar which launched depth charges. It replaced the Hedgehog system, and was in turn replaced by the Limbo system. Development Ordered directly from the drawing board in 1942, under the auspices of the Directorate of Miscellaneous Weapons Development, this weapon was rushed into service in May 1943 on board HMS ''Ambuscade''. The first production unit was installed on HMS ''Hadleigh Castle''; it went on to be installed on 70 frigates and corvettes during the Second World War. The first successful use was by HMS ''Loch Killin'' on 31 July 1944, when she sank . The system was credited with sinking 17 submarines in 50 attacks over the course of the war. By 1959, 195 Squid installations had been produced. This weapon was a three-barrel mortar with the mortars mounted in series but off-bore from each other in order to scatter the projectiles. The barrels were mounted in a f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Anti-submarine Mortar
Anti-submarine mortars are artillery pieces deployed on ships for the purpose of sinking submarines by a direct hit with a small explosive charge. They are often larger versions of the mortar used by infantry and fire a projectile in relatively the same manner. They were created during World War II as a development of the depth charge and work on the same principle. Beginnings Anti-submarine warfare did not become an issue of great concern until World War I, when Germany used submarines in an attempt to strangle British shipping in the Atlantic Ocean and elsewhere. The earliest way to counter a submarine was in the form of depth charges, which were large canisters filled with explosives, rolled off the back of a ship and detonated by a hydrostatic fuse. Depth charges served well throughout World War I but were not without flaws. A ship had to pass directly over a submarine to score an effective hit, because of this depth charges were dropped in lines instead of more effective c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Depth Charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive hydraulic shock. Most depth charges use high explosive charges and a fuze set to detonate the charge, typically at a specific depth. Depth charges can be dropped by ships, patrol aircraft, and helicopters. Depth charges were developed during World War I, and were one of the first viable methods of attacking a submarine underwater. They were widely used in World War I and World War II, and remained part of the anti-submarine arsenals of many navies during the Cold War, during which they were supplemented, and later largely replaced, by anti-submarine homing torpedoes. A depth charge fitted with a nuclear warhead is also known as a " nuclear depth bomb". These were designed to be dropped from a patrol plane or deployed by an anti-submarine missile from a surface ship, or a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Oerlikon 20 Mm Cannon
The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original German Becker Type M2 20 mm cannon design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models employed by both Allied and Axis forces during World War II. Many versions of the cannon are still used today. Blowback-operated models History Origins During World War I, the German industrialist Reinhold Becker developed a 20 mm caliber cannon, known now as the 20 mm Becker using the advanced primer ignition blowback (API blowback) method of operation. This used a 20×70mmRB cartridge and had a cyclic rate of fire of 300 rpm. It was used on a limited scale as an aircraft gun on ''Luftstreitkräfte'' warplanes, and an anti-aircraft gun towards the end of that war. Because the Treaty of Versailles banned further production of such weapons in Germany, the patents and design works were transferred in 1919 to the Swiss firm SEMAG (''Seeb ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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 fought in the Hundred Years' War against Kingdom of France, France. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century; the oldest of the British Armed Forces, UK's armed services, it is consequently known as the Senior Service. From the middle decades of the 17th century, and through the 18th century, the Royal Navy vied with the Dutch Navy and later with the French Navy for maritime supremacy. From the mid 18th century, it was the world's most powerful navy until the World War II, Second World War. The Royal Navy played a key part in establishing and defending the British Empire, and four Imperial fortress colonies and a string of imperial bases and coaling stations secured the Royal Navy's ability to assert naval superiority ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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HMS Ambuscade (D38)
HMS ''Ambuscade'' was a British Royal Navy destroyer which served in the Second World War. She and her Thornycroft competitor, , were prototypes designed to exploit advances in construction and machinery since World War I and formed the basis of Royal Navy destroyer evolution up to the of 1936. She was launched at Yarrow on 15 January 1926, served in World War II, and was broken up at Troon in 1946. Design and construction In November 1923, the Admiralty issued a request to the major British shipyards specialising in destroyers for designs for the first destroyers to be built for the Royal Navy since the end of the First World War. The ships were required to carry a similar armament to that of the preceding war-built W-class destroyers (i.e. four 4.7 in (120 mm) guns and six 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes) but to have a longer range, at least at cruising speed. A speed of at least was required, and the ships were to be no more than long between perpendiculars (p ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the area was rural farming land. By 1830, a new industrial town and port started to be developed, driven by the coal and later ironworks. Steel production and ship building began in the late 1800s, remaining associated with the town until post-industrial decline occurred in the late twentieth century. Trade (notably through ports) and digital enterprise sectors contemporarily contribute to the local economy, Teesside University and Middlesbrough College to local education. In 1853, it became a town. The motto ("We shall be" in Latin) was adopted, it reflects ("We have been") of the Bruce clan which were Cleveland's mediaeval lords. The town's coat of arms is three ships representing shipbuilding and maritime trade and an azure (blue) ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Castle-class Corvettes
{{disambig ...
Castle class may refer to: * Castle-class trawler, a class of ships constructed by the Royal Navy from 1916 to 1919 *Castle-class corvette, a class of ships constructed by the Royal Navy beginning in 1943 * Castle-class patrol vessel, a class of ships constructed by the Royal Navy beginning in 1980 * GWR Castle class locomotive, a class of steam locomotives of the British Great Western Railway *InterCity 125 train sets operated in the United Kingdom by Great Western Railway (train operating company) See also * Castle series (other) Castle series may refer to: * Castle series stamps, two definitive stamp series issued in the United Kingdom * Castle (TV series), an American comedy-drama television series * The Castle (radio series), a BBC radio comedy programme * The Castle Ser ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |