HMS Braithwaite

HMS Braithwaite coming in to HMS Ferret.
History
Builder	Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard Inc. (Hingham, Massachusetts)
Laid down	10 May 1943
Launched	31 July 1943
Commissioned	13 November 1943
Decommissioned	Returned to US Navy on 17 December 1945
Identification	Pennant number: K468 (UK) DE-77 (US)
Fate	Sold June 1946
General characteristics
Displacement	1,800 tons (fully loaded)
Length	306 ft (93 m) overall
Beam	36.5 ft (11.1 m)
Draught	11 ft (3.4 m) fully loaded
Speed	24 knots (44 km/h)
Endurance	5,500 nautical miles (10,190 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h)
Complement	Typically between 170 & 180

HMS Braithwaite was a destroyer of the Buckley-subclass, a type of Captain-class frigate during World War II. She was named after Captain Samuel Braithwaite of HMS Kingston.

Originally destined for the US Navy, Braithwaite was provisionally given the name USS Straub (this name was reassigned to DE 181) however the delivery was diverted to the Royal Navy before the launch. Commanding Officers were Lieutenant Commander E McKay RNR (November 1943) and Lieutenant Commander P J Stoner RN (July 1944).

Actions

Braithwaite served with both the 3rd and 10th Escort Groups earning battle honours for service in the North Atlantic, English Channel, Normandy 1944, North Foreland and the North Sea.

On 3 February 1945 the submarine U-1279 was sunk in the North Sea north-west of Bergen, in approximate position 61°21′N 02°00′E, by depth charges from the frigates Braithwaite, Bayntun and Loch Eck. Forty-eight German sailors were killed, and there were no survivors.

On 14 February 1945 the submarine U-989 was sunk off the Färöer Inseln, in position 61°36′N 01°35′W by depth charges from the frigates Braithwaite, Bayntun, Loch Eck and Loch Dunvegan. Again there were no survivors, and the entire crew of 47 were killed.

Fate

She was declared “not essential to the defence of the United States“ on 8 January 1946. The hull number was struck from the Navy list on 21 January 1946, and then sold to Northern Metals Co. of Philadelphia in June 1946 for scrapping.

External links

• Braithwaite - Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
• Uboat.net page for HMS Braithwaite
• Uboat.net page for U-1279
• Uboat.net page for U-989
• captainclassfrigates.co.uk

References

• The Captain Class Frigates in the Second World War by Donald Collingwood. published by Leo Cooper (1998), ISBN 0-85052-615-9.
• The Buckley-Class Destroyer Escorts by Bruce Hampton Franklin, published by Chatham Publishing (1999), ISBN 1-86176-118-X.
• German U-Boat Losses During World War II by Axel Niestle, published by United States Naval Inst (1998), ISBN 1-55750-641-8.

 This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entries can be found here and here.