HMS Cattistock (L35)

History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Cattistock
Namesake	A fox hunt in Dorsetshire, England
Builder	Yarrow, Glasgow
Laid down	9 June 1939
Launched	22 February 1940
Completed	22 July 1940
Commissioned	22 July 1940
Decommissioned	26 March 1946
Identification	Pennant number: L35
Honours and; awards	Battle honours for:; North Sea 1941–1945; English Channel 1942–1944; Normandy 1944;
Fate	Scrapped 1957
Badge	On a Field Red, upon a white roundel, a Blue cornflower stalked and leaved Proper.
General characteristics
Class and type	Hunt-class destroyer
Displacement	1,000 long tons (1,016 t) standard; 1,340 long tons (1,362 t) full load;
Length	280 ft (85 m)
Beam	29 ft (8.8 m)
Draught	10 ft 9 in (3.28 m)
Propulsion	2 x Admiralty 3 drum boilers; 2-shaft Parsons geared turbines; 19,000 shp;
Speed	27+1⁄2 kn (26 knots full)
Range	3,500 nmi (6,480 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h) / 1,000 nmi (2,000 km) at 26 knots (48 km/h)
Complement	146
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; 40 depth charges, 2 throwers, 1 rack;

HMS Cattistock (L35) was a Type I Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was a member of the first subgroup of the Hunt class and served throughout World War II before being scrapped in 1957.^[1]

Construction and Commissioning

Cattistock was ordered from Yarrows in the 1939 Build Program and laid down on 9 June 1939 as No. J1834. She was launched on 22 February 1940 and commissioned on 22 July 1940.^[2]

Career

After her commissioning in July 1940, Cattistock was used as principle location for the filming of the Admiralty's Naval Instructional Film A63, "The Duties of the Helmsman" (1941). On active service, she first performed convoy escort duties in the North Sea from then to June 1941. She bombarded Dieppe with HMS Quorn and HMS Mendip on 26 July 1941, resuming convoy escort duties. In May 1944, Cattistock became part of Force G in preparation for Operation Neptune. During the landings, she escorted Convoy G1, which was composed of minesweepers. After arriving at the beaches, she deployed off Gold Beach with Bombarding Force K providing fire support to suppress beach defences in King Sector. Cattistock conducted convoy escort duties off Normandy and switched to patrols against E-boat attacks in July 1944. On 7 July 1944, she sustained slight damage after an E-boat attack.^[3]

Cattistock steamed to Portsmouth for boiler tube replacement. She resumed patrol duties on 24 August 1944. On 29 August 1944, she intercepted German naval forces attempting to escape Le Havre while patrolling with HMS Retalick. In this action, she was hit 26 times. Her captain, Lieutenant Richard Keddie,^[3] was killed along with four other men and about 25 men were wounded. As a result of the severe damage suffered, she returned to Portsmouth for repairs.

After three months of repairs, Cattistock resumed convoy escort duties. On 2 February 1945, she attacked and likely sunk a German midget submarine off Zeebrugge.^[3] In August 1945, Cattistock was transferred to the Portsmouth Local Flotilla and was paid off on 26 March 1946. She was sold for scrap after ten years in reserve in 1957. In June 1957 she arrived at the breakers yard of John Cashmore Ltd at Newport, Wales for breaking up.^[4]

References

^ "HMS Cattistock, escort destroyer, WW2". www.naval-history.net. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
^ "HMS Cattistock (L 35) of the Royal Navy - British Escort destroyer of the Hunt (Type I) class - Allied Warships of WWII - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c English, pp. 47–48
^ Critchley, Mike (1982). British Warships Since 1945: Part 3: Destroyers. Liskeard, UK: Maritime Books. p. 26. ISBN 0-9506323-9-2.

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. World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-44-4.