HMS Hadleigh Castle (K355)

Hadleigh Castle in September 1943
History
United Kingdom
Name	Hadleigh Castle
Namesake	Hadleigh Castle
Builder	Smiths Dock Company
Laid down	4 April 1943
Launched	21 June 1943
Commissioned	18 September 1943
Decommissioned	1946
Identification	Pennant number: K355
Fate	Scrapped, January 1959
General characteristics
Class and type	Castle-class corvette
Displacement	1,060 long tons (1,077 t)
Length	252 ft (77 m)
Beam	37 ft (11 m)
Draught	10 ft (3.0 m)
Installed power	2,750 hp (2.05 MW)
Propulsion	2 × water-tube boilers 1 × 4-cylinder triple-expansion steam engine Single screw
Speed	16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph)
Range	9,500 nmi (17,600 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	112
Sensors and processing systems	Type 272 radar Type 144Q sonar Type 147B sonar
Armament	1 × 4-inch Quick Firing Mk.XIX High Angle/Low Angle combined air/surface gun 1 × Squid anti-submarine mortar 1 × depth charge rail, 15 depth charges 2 × 20 mm twin anti-aircraft cannon 6 × 20 mm single anti-aircraft cannon

HMS Hadleigh Castle (K355) was a Castle-class corvette of Britain's Royal Navy.

Hadleigh Castle was the first ship to be fitted with a production version of the highly effective Squid anti-submarine mortar, the prototype of which had only been installed on board HMS Ambuscade in May 1943.

She was laid down at Smiths Dock in Middlesbrough on 4 April 1943 and launched on 21 June 1943 before being commissioned on 18 September 1943

Publications

• Brown, David K. (2007). Atlantic Escorts: Ships, Weapons & Tactics in World War II. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84415-702-0.
• 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.
• Critchley, Mike (1986). British Warships Since 1945: Part 5: Frigates. Liskeard, UK: Maritime Books. ISBN 0-907771-13-0.

External links

• HMS Hadleigh Castle (K355) - Castle Class Corvette. Naval-History.net