HMS ''Loch Killin'' was a of 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 ...

, 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 Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. The ship was laid down at Burntisland Shipbuilding Company's yard in

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

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

Squid A squid (: squid) is a mollusc with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight cephalopod limb, arms, and two tentacles in the orders Myopsida, Oegopsida, and Bathyteuthida (though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also ...

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 (weapon), mortar used by infantry and fire a projecti ...

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

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

. 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, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

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

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

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 German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ger ...

in May 1945 ''Loch Killin'' and 17 EG returned to the Clyde. In June the ship was transferred to the

Rosyth Rosyth () is a town and Garden City in Fife, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth. Scotland's first Garden city movement, Garden City, Rosyth is part of the Greater Dunfermline Area and is located 3 miles south of Dunfermline city cen ...

Escort Force to escort convoys to Norway, paying visits to

Stavanger Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

and

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

. In September ''Loch Killin'' sailed to Dartmouth 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.

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