HMS Bentley (K465)

HMS "Bentley" was a "Buckley" class "Captains class" frigate which served during World War II. The ship was named after Sir John Bentley who entered the Royal Navy in 1720. Between 1744 and 1761 he commanded a series of ships and took part in the decisive victory at the Battle of Quiberon Bay in 1759 while commanding a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line HMS|Warspite|1758|6.

Originally destined for the US Navy HMS "Bentley" was provisionally given the name USS "Ebert" (later this name was reassigned to DE 768) however the delivery was diverted to the Royal Navy before the launch. Commanding Officers were Lt Cdr P C Hopkins RN August 1943, Lt Cdr E May RN May 1944 & Lt F L Boyer RN December 1944.

Actions

HMS "Bentley" served exclusively with the 1st Escort Group taking part in operations in the North Atlantic.

On February 19, 1944 together with HMS|Affleck|K462|6, HMS "Bentley" 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.

General Information

*Pennant (UK): K 465
*Pennant (US): DE 74
*Built by: Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard Inc. (Hingham, Massachusetts, U.S.A.)

External links

* [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b5/bentley-i.htm Bentley - Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]
* [http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/5645.html Uboat.net page for HMS Bentley]
* [http://uboat.net/boats/u859.htm Uboat.net page for U-859]
* [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.