HMS Aylmer (K463)

HMS "Aylmer" was a "Buckley" class Captain class frigate during World War II. Named after Matthew Aylmer, commander of HMS|Royal Katherine at the Battle of Barfleur in 1692 during the War of the Grand Alliance.

Originally destined for the US Navy HMS "Aylmer" was provisionally given the name USS "Harmon" (later this name was reassigned to DE 678) however the delivery was diverted to the Royal Navy before the launch. Commanding Officers were Lt Cdr A.D.P.Campbell RN, Cdr B.W.Taylor RN (Senior Officer 5th Escort Group) 30 August 1944 and Lt Cdr W.L.Smith RNR February 1945.

HMS "Aylmer" was adopted the Boy's Own Paper. The May 1945 issue has pictures of the HMS "Aylmer" in the graving dock in Liverpool after she had rammed and sunk the U-1051 off Anglesey. In the May 1946 issue C.J.Olivant (the author of the article) describes the war service of HMS "Aylmer".

Actions

HMS "Aylmer" served exclusively with the 5th Escort Group taking part in operations in the North Atlantic and off Normandy and was part of Operation Goodwood.

On 6 May 1944 the submarine U-765 was sunk in the North Atlantic, at position coord|52|30|N|28|28|W, by depth charges from HMS "Aylmer", operating alongside 2 Swordfish aircraft (Sqdn. 825) of the British "escort carrier" HMS|Vindex|D15|6 and the British frigates HMS|Bligh|K467|6 and HMS|Bickerton|K466|6. As a result of this action 37 of U-765's crew died and 11 were rescued and taken prisoner and picked up by HMS "Bickerton".

During Operation Goodwood on 22 August 1944 the escort carriers HMS|Trumpeter|D09|6 and HMS|Nabob|D77|6 sailed to the Barents sea to attack the Tirpitz. During this operation the HMS "Nabob" was torpedoed and ten minutes later the escort HMS|Bickerton|K466|6 (commanded by Cdr Donald MacIntyre, senior officer of the 5th Escort Group) was also hit by an acoustic torpedo (Gnat), both attacks were by the submarine U-354. HMS "Nabob" was able to raise steam and was escorted back (at an average 10 knots) to Rosyth where she was considered a constructive total loss and used as spare parts. HMS "Bickerton" was sunk by HMS|Vigilant|R93|6 as any salvage was considered too risky. As a result of this action Cdr Donald MacIntyre transferred his command to HMS "Aylmer".

On 26 January 1945 the submarine U-1051 was sunk in the Irish Sea south of the Isle of Man, at position coord|53|39|N|05|23|W by the frigates HMS "Aylmer", HMS|Bentinck|K314|6, HMS|Calder|K349|6 and HMS|Manners|K568|6. U-1051 was forced to the surface by the use of depth charges, then a gun battle ensued with U-1051 finally sinking after it had been rammed by HMS "Aylmer". This action resulted in the loss of all hands (47) from the crew of U-1051. It should be noted that it is not entirely clear if the ramming of U-1051 by HMS "Aylmer" was intentional and that Cdr B.W.Taylor was removed from command shortly after this incident. A reading of the after action report makes it clear that the U-1051 was still a belligerent submarine (during the attack by the escorts, U-1051 fired another torpedo at HMS "Aylmer"). When she surfaced U 1051 was fired on by HMS "Aylmer", HMS "Calder", HMS "Bligh" and HMS "Bentinck", it is known that the 3 inch /50 caliber main gun of the Captain class had trouble penetrating the hull plating of German submarines (their shells would bounce off the submarines they fired on); so it is possible Commander Taylor thought that discretion was the better option and rammed the submarine as the ship's "Elephant Guns" had little effect, however in doing this he would have been acting against Admiralty orders that ships were not to ram submarines except in dire circumstances. Another theory that has been put forward is that in the noise and confusion of the gun battle the coxswain misheard orders and put the helm over the wrong way.

General information

*Pennant (UK): K 463
*Pennant (US): DE 72
*Built by: Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard Inc. (Hingham, Massachusetts, US)

External links

* [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/a14/aylmer.htm Aylmer - Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]
* [http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/5640.html Uboat.net page for HMS Aylmer]
* [http://uboat.net/boats/u765.htm Uboat.net page for U-765]
* [http://uboat.net/boats/u1051.htm Uboat.net page for U-1051]
* [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 Institute (1998), ISBN 1557506418.
* " Battle in the Irish Sea " by Sir David Gibson Bt. published by Maritime Books, Liskeard Cornwall (1993), ISBN 0 9521432 0 8.