HMS Wensleydale

History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Wensleydale
Ordered	23 August 1940
Builder	Yarrow Shipbuilders, Scotstoun, Glasgow
Laid down	28 July 1941
Launched	20 June 1942
Commissioned	20 October 1942
Fate	Declared beyond economical repair on 11 December 1944
General characteristics
Class and type	Type III Hunt-class destroyer
Displacement	1,050 long tons (1,070 t) standard 1,435 long tons (1,458 t) full load
Length	85.3 m (279 ft 10 in) o/a
Beam	10.16 m (33 ft 4 in)
Draught	3.51 m (11 ft 6 in)
Propulsion	2 Admiralty 3-drum boilers 2 shaft Parsons geared turbines, 19,000 shp (14,000 kW)
Speed	27 knots (31 mph; 50 km/h) 25.5 kn (29.3 mph; 47.2 km/h) full
Range	2,350 nmi (4,350 km) at 20 kn (37 km/h)
Complement	168
Armament	4 × QF 4-inch (102 mm) Mark XVI guns on twin mounts Mk. XIX 4 × QF 2-pounder (40 mm) Mk. VIII AA guns on quad mount MK.VII 2 × 20 mm Oerlikon AA guns on single mounts P Mk. III 2 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes 110 depth charges, 4 throwers, 3 racks
Notes	cost £352,000[1]

HMS Wensleydale was a Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was a member of the third subgroup of the class, and saw service in the Second World War. She was adopted by the civil community of Swinton and Pendlebury during Warship Week in 1942.^[2] As good luck she carried fox pads from the Wensydale Hounds gifted by the Chapman family of Thronton Rust, Wenslydae.

In 1946 she was laid up at West Hartlepool. She was sold and scrapped by Hughes Bolckow arriving at their yard in Blythe on 25 February 1947.^[3]

References

1. Brown, DK Nelson to Vanguard p107
2. Mason, Geoffrey B. (2004). Gordon Smith (ed.). "HMS Wensleydale (L 86) - Type 2, Hunt-class Escort Destroyer". naval-history.net. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
3. Critchley, Mike, "British Warships Since 1945: Part 3: Destroyers", Maritime Books: Liskeard, UK, 1982. ISBN 0-9506323-9-2, page 43

Publications

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
• English, John (1987). The Hunts: a history of the design, development and careers of the 86 destroyers of this class built for the Royal and Allied Navies during World War II. England: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-44-4.

Further reading

• Whitby, Michael (2022). "The Challenges of Operation 'Tunnel', September 1943 — April 1944". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2022. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. pp. 29–46. ISBN 978-1-4728-4781-2.

External links

• HMS WENSLEYDALE (L 86) - Type III, Hunt-class Escort Destroyer at Naval History