HMS ''Puckeridge'' 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 ...

and first and so far only warship to bear the Name. The vessel was ordered on 4 September 1939 as part of the 1939 wartime emergency program. She was laid down on 1 January 1940 at the

J. Samuel White J. Samuel White was a British shipbuilding firm based in Cowes, taking its name from John Samuel White (1838–1915). It came to prominence during the Victorian era. During the 20th century it built destroyers and other naval craft for both the ...

yard,

East Cowes East Cowes is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the north of the Isle of Wight, on the east bank of the River Medina, next to its west bank neighbour Cowes. It has a population of 8,428 according to the United Kingdom Census ...

, on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

, launched on 6 March 1941 and commissioned on 30 July 1941. ''Puckeridge'' was one of 33, Type II Hunt Escort Destroyers. The hulls of this second batch had an extra section and an increased beam which gave stability for a third twin 4" AA gun as originally designed and additional storage for depth charges. The class were named after British

fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

and

stag A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) a ...

hunts, in this case, the Puckeridge Hunt, based in

East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

Service history

Home Fleet

In December 1941 ''Puckeridge'' was attached to the Home Fleet. On 13 December she was attacked by aircraft off the Pembroke coast and was hit by a bomb on her

Quarterdeck The quarterdeck is a raised deck behind the main mast of a sailing ship. Traditionally it was where the captain commanded his vessel and where the ship's colours were kept. This led to its use as the main ceremonial and reception area on bo ...

which caused an explosion in her aft 4-inch magazine. 18 ratings were killed and 20 injured and her aft 4-inch gun was lost overboard. Damage control dealt with fires and the ship settled by the stern with the quarterdeck awash. When propulsion was restored, ''Puckeridge'' sailed to

Milford Haven Milford Haven ( ) is a town and community (Wales), community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is on the north side of the Milford Haven Waterway, an estuary forming a natural harbour that has been used as a port since the Middle Ages. The town was ...

steering just by engines, before being towed to HM Dockyard,

Pembroke Dock Pembroke Dock () is a town and a community in Pembrokeshire, South West Wales, northwest of Pembroke on the banks of the River Cleddau. Originally Paterchurch, a small fishing village, Pembroke Dock town expanded rapidly following the constr ...

for repair and was eventually re-commissioned on 10 July 1942.

Western Approaches

After 3 months working-up and escorting Minelaying operations from

Scapa Flow Scapa Flow (; ) is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray,S. C. George, ''Jutland to Junkyard'', 1973. South Ronaldsay and Hoy. Its sheltered waters have played an impor ...

''Puckeridge'' was deployed in the

Western Approaches The Western Approaches is an approximately rectangular area of the Atlantic Ocean lying immediately to the west of Ireland and parts of Great Britain. Its north and south boundaries are defined by the corresponding extremities of Britain. The c ...

as a convoy escort. On 5 October she joined convoy WS23 then Escorted troopships Bergensfjord and Leopoldville from

Freetown Freetown () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, e ...

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

Operation Torch

On 8 November 1942 ''Puckeridge'' supported landing operations at

Oran Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

during

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8–16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa whil ...

and later searched for survivors of Dutch destroyer HNLMS Isaac Sweers sunk by

German submarine U-431 German submarine ''U-431'' was a Type VIIC U-boat built for Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine'' for service during World War II. She was laid down on 4 January 1940 by Schichau-Werke in Danzig as yard number 1472, launched on 2 February 1941 and c ...

north-west of

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

1943 and fate

''Puckeridge'' undertook patrols and escorting convoys from Gibraltar until 6 June 1943, when she was mobilised for

Operation Husky Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

, the Allied landing in Sicily, Italy, and was assigned to the East support force. On 5 July she was assigned to protect convoy KMS18 convoy departing from Tunisia, and on 6 August ''Puckeridge'' escorted two passenger liners, and , from Gibraltar to

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

. Fate On 6 September 1943, around 20:15 hours ''Puckeridge'' was hit by two of four torpedoes fired by the German submarine U-617 commanded by

Albrecht Brandi Albrecht Brandi (20 June 1914 – 6 January 1966) was a German U-boat commander in Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine'' during World War II. Together with Wolfgang Lüth, he was the only ''Kriegsmarine'' sailor who was awarded with the Knight's Cr ...

and sank 40 nautical miles east of Gibraltar. The two hits aft detonated her magazine and she sank in 8 minutes. 129 men were rescued and 62 men were lost with the ship. Some survivors were rescued by a Spanish

mercantile Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cred ...

ship and avoided internment by attracting the attention of a naval patrol craft which took them back to Gibraltar. U-617 was later run aground and abandoned on 12 September 1943 near

Melilla Melilla (, ; ) is an autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. It lies on the eastern side of the Cape Three Forks, bordering Morocco and facing the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of . It was part of the Province of Málaga un ...

after an air attack by RAF

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

bombers from 179 Squadron. ''Puckeridge'' lies at a depth of 1000 metres at Wreck site HMS Puckeridge (L108)
/ref> and is a controlled site under the

Protection of Military Remains Act Protection is any measure taken to guard something against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although ...

References

Publications

* Colledge, J. J. & Warlow, Ben: Ships of the Royal Navy - The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present. Newbury, UK: Casemate, 2010. * English, John: The Hunts - A history of the design, development and careers of the 86 destroyers of this class built for the Royal and Allied Navies during World War II. Cumbria: World Ship Society, 1987. * Whitley, M. J.: Destroyers of World War Two – an international encyclopedia: Arms and Armour, 1988. *

External links

HMS ''Puckeridge'' at Uboat.net

1/48 scale model of HMS ''Puckeridge''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Puckeridge (L108) Hunt-class destroyers of the Royal Navy 1941 ships World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom Royal Navy ship names World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II Maritime incidents in September 1943 Naval magazine explosions