- HMS Kite (U87)
HMS "Kite" (U87) was a Modified "Black Swan"-class sloop of the
Royal Navy , once commanded by the famousU-boat hunter CaptainFrederic John Walker . She was one of several ships of that class that took part in the famous "six in one trip" in 1943 (in which sixU-boat s were sunk in one patrol).She was built at
Cammell Laird shipyard,Birkenhead , on the banks of the riverMersey (she was to later to be based across the river in Gladstone Dock,Bootle ). She was launched on 13 October 1942 and commissioned on 1 March 1943.She took part in the sinking of five U-boats together with several sister ships:
* On 24 June 1943 "U-449" was sunk near
Cape Ortegal , Spain by the sloops HMS|Wren|U28|6, HMS|Woodpecker|U08|6, "Kite" and HMS|Wild Goose|U45|6.
* On 30 July 1943 "U-462" was sunk in the Bay of Biscay by aHandley-Page Halifax aircraft and "Wren", "Kite", "Woodpecker", "Wild Goose" and HMS|Woodcock|U90|6.
* On 30 July 1943 "U-504" was sunk nearCape Ortegal by "Kite", "Woodpecker", "Wren" and "Wild Goose".
* On 6 November 1943 "U-226" was sunk east of Newfoundland by HMS|Starling|U66|6, "Woodcock" and "Kite".
* On 9 February 1944 "U-238" was sunk south-west of Ireland by "Kite", HMS|Magpie|U82|6 and "Starling".On 20 August 1944 "Kite" was escorting the aircraft carriers HMS|Vindex|D15|6 and HMS|Striker|D12|6, which in turn were escorting convoy JW-59 to Northern Russia when the convoy was sighted in the
Barents Sea by German aircraft. Soon a pack of U-boats attacked the convoy and one U-boat was sunk byFairey Swordfish aircraft from one of the carriers. Two more were sunk by other destroyers.At 06:30 on 21 August, "Kite" slowed to 6 knots (10 km/h) to untangle her "
foxer s" (anti acoustic torpedo noise makers, towed astern). The decision to do so, rather than severing the foxers' cables and abandoning them, was made by her temporary commander, a submariner. At that speed "Kite" was a sitting duck, and she was hit by two torpedoes from "U-344" (commanded by OberleutnantUlrich Pietsch ) and sank.Of "Kite's" crew of 10 officers and 207 ratings, 60 survived the attack, but from the freezing Arctic water only 14 sailors were picked up alive (by HMS|Keppel|D84|6, HMS|Peacock|U96|6 and HMS|Mermaid|U30|6). Five of the rescued died on board "Keppel", leaving only nine to make it to shore. As of 2004, there are two living survivors.
"U-344" was sunk the next day by
depth charge s from Swordfish planes from "Vindex".External links
* [http://www.mikekemble.com/ww2/kite.html Mike Kemble's memorial site]
The U boats sunk in the 6 in 1 patrol were as follows:U592 - 31 January (Type VIIC)U762 - 8 February (Type VIIC)U734 - 9 February (Type VIIC)U238 - 9 February (Type VIIC)U424 - 11 February (Type VIIC)U264 19 February (Type VIIC)
The U334 was sunk by one swordfish from Vindex, piloted by Gordon Bennett, which dropped out of the cloud, surprising the U Boat on the surface, a single depth charge exploded beneath the U boat, sending her down with all hands.
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