- Hastings class sloop
The "Hastings" class, also known as the "Folkestone" class, was a class of sloop which were built for the
Royal Navy and theRoyal Indian Navy in the interwar period. In total five ships were built, and went on to see service in theSecond World War .Design
The "Hastings" were a follow on of the previous "Bridgewater" class and utilised features developed from the lessons learnt from the convoy escorts of the
First World War . They were fitted out as fleet minesweepers, but were intended to be multifunctional vessels. Features included a high, sustained forecastle to improve operations in high seas, and they were fitted with turbine machinery to improve performance. This turned out to be a drawback as the turbine machinery could not be mass produced and the design was superseded by the Second World War in favour of classes that could be quickly brought into service.ervice
Five ships were built in total, four for the Royal Navy and one for the Royal Indian Navy. They were launched in 1930 and all saw service in the Second World War. HMS "Scarborough" was disarmed before the outbreak and was rearmed with a 4 inch high angle anti-aircraft gun, a 12 pdr gun and 15
depth charge s, this number later being increased to 80. One, HMS "Penzance" was lost during the war after being torpedoed by "U-37". The remaining Royal Navy ships were decommissioned after the war and had all been scrapped by 1949. The sole Indian ship, HMIS "Hindustan" was later involved inthe Royal Indian Navy Mutiny , and was subsequently transferred to thePakistan Navy in 1948 on its formation, and was renamed "Karsaz". She was broken up in 1951.hips
Royal Navy
*HMS "Hastings"
*HMS "Folkestone"
*HMS "Penzance"
*HMS "Scarborough"Royal Indian Navy
*HMIS "Hindustan" - to Pakistan as "Karsaz"
References
*Colledge
* [http://uboat.net/allies/warships/class.html?ID=169 Hastings class at Uboat.net]
* [http://www.leander-project.homecall.co.uk/Sloops.html Sloop classes, including Hastings]
* "British and Empire Warships of the Second World War", H T Lenton, Greenhill Books, ISBN 1-85367-277-7
* "Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1922-1946", Ed. Robert Gardiner, Naval Institute Press, ISBN 0-87021-913-8
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.