HMS Affleck (K462)

HMS "Affleck" was a Captain class frigate which served during World War II. The ship was named after Sir Edmund Affleck, commander of HMS "Bedford" at the Moonlight Battle in 1780 during the American Revolutionary War.

Originally destined for the US Navy as a "Buckley"-class destroyer escort, HMS "Affleck" was provisionally given the name USS "Oswald" (later this name was reassigned to USS|Oswald|DE-767|1). However, the delivery was diverted to the Royal Navy before the launch. Commanding Officers were Lt E I Pilditch on commissioning, then Cdr C Gwinner RN (Senior Officer 1st Escort Group).

Actions

HMS "Affleck" served exclusively with the 1st Escort Group taking part in operations in the North Atlantic, off Normandy, and in the English Channel.

On 19 February 1944 together with HMS|Bentley|K465|6, HMS "Affleck" picked up 54 survivors from the Panamanian merchant "Colin" which had been torpedoed and sunk the previous day in the North Atlantic in position coord|54|16|N|31|58|W by the Kriegsmarine submarine U-859.

On 26 February 1944 in the North Atlantic at position coord|49|45|N|26|20|W HMS "Affleck" together with HMS|Gore|K481|6 and HMS|Gould|K476|6 sank the submarine U-91 by the use of depth charges and then by use of main guns. When the damaged uboat surfaced and tried to ram HMS "Affleck", this action resulted in 36 dead and 16 survivors from U-91's crew.

On 1 March 1944 in the Northern Atlantic north of the Azores at position coord|45|46|N|23|16|W HMS "Affleck" together with HMS "Gore", HMS "Gould" and HMS|Garlies|K475|6 sank the submarine U-358 by the use of depth charges, resulting in 50 dead and 1 survivor from U-358's crew.

On 16 March 1944 in the Straits of Gibraltar at position coord|35|55|N|05|41|W HMS "Affleck" together with the destroyer HMS|Vanoc and three 3 US Catalina aircraft (VP 63) sank the submarine U-392 by the use of a hedgehog attack, resulting in 52 dead (all hands) from U-392's crew.

On 25 June 1944 HMS "Affleck" with HMS|Balfour|K464|6 attacked a submarine believed to be U-1191 by the use of depth charges, this resulted in the sinking of the submarine with the loss of all hands. This action took place convert|25|mi|km|0 south of Start Point at position coord|50|03|N|02|95|W. It should be noted that the Kriegsmarine had U-1191 listed as missing (no radio contact) since 12 June 1944.

On 26 December 1944 at 14:14 hours off the French coast near Cherbourg U-486 fired three acoustic torpedoes at the 1st Escort Group hitting HMS "Affleck" and HMS|Capel|K470|6. This resulted in the sinking of HMS "Capel". HMS "Affleck" was towed to port where the ship was written off as a Constructive Total Loss.

General Information

*Pennant (UK): K 462
*Pennant (US): DE 71
*Built by: Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard Inc. (Hingham, Massachusetts, U.S.A.)

External links

* [http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/5885.html Uboat.net page for HMS Affleck]
* [http://uboat.net/boats/u859.htm Uboat.net page for U-859]
* [http://uboat.net/boats/u91.htm Uboat.net page for U-91]
* [http://uboat.net/boats/u358.htm Uboat.net page for U-358]
* [http://uboat.net/boats/u392.htm Uboat.net page for U-392]
* [http://uboat.net/boats/u1191.htm Uboat.net page for U-1191]
* [http://uboat.net/boats/u486.htm Uboat.net page for U-486]
* [http://www.captainclassfrigates.co.uk/ captainclassfrigates.co.uk]

References

* "The Captain Class Frigates in the Second World War" by Donald Collingwood. published by Leo Cooper (1998), ISBN 085052 615 9.
* "The Buckley-Class Destroyer Escorts" by Bruce Hampton Franklin, published by Chatham Publishing (1999), ISBN 086176118X.
* "German U-Boat Losses During World War II" by Axel Niestle, published by United States Naval Inst (1998), ISBN 1557506418.