HMS ''Urchin'' was a U-class

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

of the

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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 ...

that saw service during the

Second World War 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 ...

Service history

Second World War service

''Urchin'' formed part of the

British Pacific Fleet The British Pacific Fleet (BPF) was a Royal Navy formation that saw action against Japan during the Second World War. It was formed from aircraft carriers, other surface warships, submarines and supply vessels of the RN and British Commonwealth ...

during the latter part of the War.

Post War service

Following service in the Second World War ''Urchin'' was held in reserve at Harwich, then Chatham Dockyard until 1952. Between 1952 and 1954 she was converted into a Type 15 fast

anti-submarine An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapon ...

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

, by

Barclay Curle Seawind Barclay Curle is a British shipbuilding company. History The company was founded by Robert Barclay at Stobcross in Glasgow, Scotland during 1818.

, Glasgow. Following this she was allocated the new

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 iden ...

F196. She re-commissioned on 3 June 1954 into the 3rd Training Squadron, based at Londonderry. In 1956 she went back into reserve at Portsmouth Dockyard. In 1957 she was refitted as a training frigate and re-commissioned for service with the Dartmouth Training Squadron. She subsequently served off Iceland during the '

Cod wars The Cod Wars (; also known as , ; ) were a series of 20th-century confrontations between the United Kingdom (with aid from West Germany) and Iceland about Exclusive economic zone, fishing rights in the North Atlantic. Each of the disputes ended ...

' in 1959.

Decommissioning and disposal

''Urchin'' was decommissioned in 1964 and placed on the Disposal List. Before sale for breaking-up her stern structure was removed and fitted to

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...

during 1966. The hulk was later towed to

Troon Troon (Scottish Gaelic: ''An Truthail'') is a town and sea port in South Ayrshire, situated on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland, about north of Ayr and northwest of Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Troon has a port with ferry and freight serv ...

, where she arrived in August 1967 for demolition.

References

Publications

History of HMS ''Urchin'' at naval-history.net
* * * * * U and V-class destroyers of the Royal Navy Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness 1943 ships World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom Cold War destroyers of the United Kingdom Type 15 frigates Cold War frigates of the United Kingdom {{UK-destroyer-stub