HMS Woodcock (U90)

HMS Woodcock in June 1943
History
United Kingdom
NameWoodcock
NamesakeWoodcock
Ordered13 April 1940
BuilderFairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering, Govan
Laid down21 October 1941
Launched26 November 1942
Commissioned29 May 1943
IdentificationPennant number: U08
FateScrapped 28 November 1955
General characteristics
Class & typeModified Black Swan-class sloop
Displacement1,350 tons
Length283 ft (86 m)
Beam38.5 ft (11.7 m)
Propulsion
  • Geared turbines
  • two shafts
Speed20 knots (37 km/h) at 4,300 hp (3,200 kW)
Complement192 men
Armament

HMS Woodcock was built by Fairfields at Govan; laid down on 21 October 1941, launched on 26 November 1942, and completed 29 May 1943. She was the fifth Royal Naval vessel to carry this name.

Construction and design

Woodcock was one of two Modified Black Swan-class sloops ordered by the Admiralty on 18 July 1941 as part of the 1940 Supplemental War Programme.[1][2] The Modified Black Swans were an improved version of the pre-war Black Swan-class sloops, with greater beam, allowing a heavier close-in anti-aircraft armament to be accommodated.[3][4]

Woodcock was 299 ft 6 in (91.29 m) long overall and 283 ft 0 in (86.26 m) between perpendiculars, with a beam of 38 feet 6 inches (11.73 m) and a draught of 11 ft 4 in (3.45 m) at deep load.[5] Displacement of the Modified Black Swans was 1,350–1,490 long tons (1,370–1,510 t) standard and 1,880–1,950 long tons (1,910–1,980 t) deep load depending on the armament and equipment fitted.[6] Two Admiralty three-drum water-tube boilers provided steam to Parsons geared steam turbines which drove two shafts. The machinery was rated at 4,300 shaft horsepower (3,200 kW), giving a speed of 19.75 knots (36.58 km/h; 22.73 mph).[7]

The ship's main gun armament (as fitted to all the Modified Black Swans) consisted of 3 twin QF 4-inch (102 mm) Mk XVI guns, in dual purpose mounts, capable of both anti-ship and anti-aircraft use.[7] Close-in anti-aircraft armament varied between the ships of the class, with Woodcock completing with an outfit of 2 twin 40 mm Bofors guns[8] (in stabilised Mark IV Hazemayer mounts),[9] supplemented by 2 twin and 2 single Oerlikon 20 mm cannon.[8] Anti-submarine armament consisted of a split Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar, mounted either side of the 'B' 4-inch mount, together with 110 depth charges.[10] The ship had a complement of 192 officers and other ranks.[7]

Woodcock was laid down at Fairfield's Govan shipyard on 21 October 1941. She was launched on 29 November 1942 and completed on 29 May 1942.[11] She was the fifth ship called Woodcock to serve with the Royal Navy.[12]

Service history

After commissioning and working up, Woodcock joined the 2nd Escort Group,[13] and was operational with by 23 July, when she left Falmouth as part of the group for anti submarine operations in the Bay of Biscay.[14] The group was assigned to Operation Musketry, a joint operation between the Royal Navy and RAF Coastal Command to stop German U-boats from transiting the Bay of Biscay.[15] On 30 July 1943, a group of three U-boats, U-504 and the tanker submarines U-461 and U-462 were spotted by an RAF aircraft. The submarines came under attack by seven aircraft[a] while the five sloops of the 2nd Escort Group[b] were called up. The U-boats stayed on the surface with the intention of fighting off the air attacks with their anti-aircraft guns. U-462 was hit by a bomb from a Halifax of Halifax of 502 Squadron and badly damaged, being unable to dive, while as the sloops of the 2nd Escort group arrived on the scene, U-461 was sunk by a Sunderland flying boat of 461 Squadron RAAF. The five sloops opened fire on U-462 at a range of about 6.5 nmi (7.5 mi; 12.0 km), and after a shell from Kite hit the submarine, U-462's commanding officer ordered her to be scuttled and abandoned ship. U-504 dived to escape the oncoming ships, but was soon detected by Kite, and Kite, Wren, Woodpecker and Wild Goose carried out a series of depth charge attacks, sinking the submarine.[18][16][19] U-462's sinking was credited to the Halifax and all five sloops.[20]

Early on 6 November 1943, the 2nd Escort Group was operating with the escort carrier Tracker east-south-east of Newfoundland when Kite spotted the German submarine U-226, which was preparing to attack Tracker. Kite attacked immediately, forcing the submarine to break off the attack on Tracker, with Kite, Starling and Woodcock continuing to stay in contact with the submarine through the remainder of the night. After dawn, Woodcock carried out a creeping attack on the submarine, which was successful, sinking U-226 with all hands.[21][22][23] A few hours later, Starling, Magpie and Wild Goose sank U-842.[24][23] The weather during this operation was extremely poor, with very heavy seas, and the patrol was aborted, with the escort group putting into Argentia on 12 November. The heavy seas had caused significant damage to Woodcock with her forward guns jammed at maximum elevation and ready-use ammunition lockers torn from their mountings. The damage was severe enough to make Woodcock unfit for combat, and she was sent home to the UK for repair.[25][22]

Woodcock arrived at Dundee on 4 December 1943, and was under repair there until 21 January 1944, when she joined the 7th Escort Group based at Belfast, carrying out convoy escort duties in the North Atlantic and onto Gibraltar until 21 April 1944, when persistent problems with the motors of the ship's Bofors mounts, resulted in the ship being repaired at Belfast.[13][26] After repair, Woodcock carried out local escort work based out of the Clyde before transferring to Portsmouth in preparation for the upcoming Allied invasion of Normandy.[13] On 27 May 1944, Woodcock was escorting a convoy when she collided with the destroyer Venus in thick fog off St Alban's Head. Woodcock suffered flooding of two compartments, and put into Portsmouth for emergency repairs.[27][28] On 6 June 1944, Woodcock made passage to Hull for more permanent repairs, which continued until 7 August that year.[27] While Woodcock returned to convoy escort duty, further repair was required, and on 16 September she arrived at Liverpool for repair and modification to prepare the ship for service in the Pacific.[27][29]

Woodcock left for the Pacific on 22 December 1944, and on 2 January 1945 the sloop had a minor collision with the corvette Bergamot, but continued on her journey via Colombo and Darwin, and arrived at the British Pacific Fleet bases at Manus Island on 5 March 1945.[27][29] Woodcock, like other sloops serving with the British Pacific Fleet, was employed escorting the replenishment ships of the Fleet Train which supplied the front line warships of the fleet with fuel, weapons and other stores.[27][30] During the Invasion of Okinawa, Woodcock escorted the replenishment force when it resupplied the fleet on 10 May 1945[31] and on 14 May.[32] During the Allied naval attacks on Japan in July–August 1945, Woodcock escorted the replenishment force when it resupplied the fleet on 31 July – 1 August 1945.[33][34] Woodcock was present in Tokyo Bay when the Formal ceremony of surrender of Japan took place on 2 September 1945.[35]

Woodcock remained as part of the British Pacific Fleet until late 1946, when she returned to the UK.[27] Woodcock was laid up in reserve at Harwich on 10 December 1946,[36] and moved to Chatham Dockyard in late 1948.[27] Woodcock was transferred to Hartlepool in mid-1953.[27] Woodcock never returned to active service, and on 28 November 1955 was towed to Rosyth by the tug Superman to be scrapped by Shipbuilding Industries Ltd.[27][36]

Pennant numbers

Pennant number[37]FromTo
U9019431947
F901947-

Battle honours

The following battle honours were awarded to the sloop Woodcock.

  • Atlantic 1939–45[38]
  • English Channel 1939–45[39]
  • Okinawa 1945[40]

See also

Notes

References

  1. ↑ Hague 1993, p. 6.
  2. ↑ Friedman 2008, p. 333.
  3. ↑ Friedman 2008, p. 67.
  4. ↑ Gardiner & Chesneau 1980, p. 58.
  5. ↑ Friedman 2008, p. 321.
  6. ↑ Gardiner & Chesneau 1980, pp. 57–58.
  7. 1 2 3 Gardiner & Chesneau 1980, p. 57.
  8. 1 2 Hague 1993, p. 83.
  9. ↑ Admiralty War Diary April 1944, p. 351.
  10. ↑ Hague 1993, pp. 22, 83.
  11. ↑ Hague 1993, p. 82.
  12. ↑ Colledge & Warlow 2006, p. 389.
  13. 1 2 3 Hague 1993, p. 111.
  14. ↑ Admiralty War Diary July 1943, p. 934: 23.7.1943: A/S operations in Biscay
  15. ↑ Burn 2006, p. 83.
  16. 1 2 Blair 2000, pp. 391–392.
  17. ↑ Blair 2000, p. 392.
  18. ↑ Burn 2006, pp. 95–97.
  19. ↑ Niestlé 2014, p. 122.
  20. ↑ Niestlé 2014, p. 145.
  21. ↑ Burn 2006, p. 80.
  22. 1 2 Blair 2000, p. 440.
  23. 1 2 Kemp 1997, p. 156.
  24. ↑ Burn 2006, pp. 114–115.
  25. ↑ Burn 2006, pp. 117, 120.
  26. ↑ Admiralty War Diary April 1944, p. 351.
  27. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Hague 1993, p. 112.
  28. ↑ Admiralty War Diary May 1944, p. 388.
  29. 1 2 Mason, Geoffrey (31 May 2011). "HMS Woodcock (U90) - Modified Black Swan-class Sloop including Convoy Escort Movements". Service Histories of Royal Navy Warships in World War 2. naval-history.net. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  30. ↑ Hobbs 2017, pp. 26–27.
  31. ↑ Winton 1970, p. 151.
  32. ↑ Winton 1970, p. 155.
  33. ↑ Hobbs 2017, pp. 274–275.
  34. ↑ Winton 1970, pp. 330–331.
  35. ↑ Hobbs 2017, pp. 299–301.
  36. 1 2 Critchley 1992, p. 7.
  37. ↑ Hague 1993, p. 118.
  38. ↑ Thomas 1998, p. 37.
  39. ↑ Thomas 1998, p. 92.
  40. ↑ Thomas 1998, p. 176.
  • Admiralty War Diary July 1943: Days 16–31 (PDF). Admiralty. July 1943. Retrieved 20 June 2026.
  • Admiralty War Diary April 1944 (PDF). Admiralty. April 1944. Retrieved 25 June 2026.
  • Admiralty War Diary May 1944 (PDF). Admiralty. May 1944. Retrieved 25 June 2026.
  • Blair, Clay (2000). Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunted 1942–1945. New York: Modern Library. ISBN 0-679-64033-9.
  • Burn, Alan (2006). The Fighting Captain: The Story of Frederic Walker RN CB DSO & The Battle of the Atlantic. Barnsley, UK: Pen & Sword Military Classics. ISBN 978-1-84415-439-5.
  • Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006). Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
  • Critchley, Mike (1992). British Warships Since 1945: Part 5: Frigates. Liskeard, UK: Maritime Press. ISBN 0-907771-13-0.
  • Friedman, Norman (2008). British Destroyers and Frigates: The Second World War and After. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-015-4.
  • Gardiner, Robert; Chesneau, Roger, eds. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
  • Hobbs, David (2017). The British Pacific Fleet: The Royal Navy's Most Powerful Strike Force. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5267-0283-8.
  • Kemp, Paul (1997). U-Boats Destroyed, German Submarine Losses in the World Wars. London: Arms & Armour Press. ISBN 1-85409-321-5.
  • Hague, Arnold (1993). Sloops: A History of the 71 Sloops Built in Britain and Australia for the British, Australian and Indian Navies 1926–1946. Kendal, UK: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-67-3.
  • Niestlé, Axel (2014). German U-Boat Losses During World War II: Details of Destruction. Barnsley, UK: Frontline Books. ISBN 978-1-84832-210-3.
  • Thomas, David A. (1998). Battles and Honours of the Royal Navy. Barnsley, UK: Leo Cooper. ISBN 0-85052-623-X.
  • Winton, John (1970). The Forgotten Fleet: The British Navy in the Pacific 1944–1945. New York: Coward-McCann, Inc.

Further reading

  • Gardiner, Robert Gardiner (1996). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1995. US Naval Institute Press. p. 675. ISBN 1-55750-132-7.


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