 Magpie in the Atlantic | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMSMagpie |
| Namesake | Magpie |
| Builder | John I. Thornycroft & Company |
| Launched | 24 March 1943 |
| Commissioned | 30 August 1943 |
| Reclassified | As afrigate in 1947 |
| Identification | Pennant number U82 |
| Fate | Scrapped 1959 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | ModifiedBlack Swan-classsloop |
| Displacement | 1,350 tons |
| Length | 299 ft 6 in (91.29 m) |
| Beam | 38 ft 6 in (11.73 m) |
| Draught | 11 ft (3.4 m) |
| Propulsion | |
| Speed | 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
| Range | 7,500 nmi (13,900 km; 8,600 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement | 192 |
| Armament |
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| Service record | |
| Part of: | 7th Frigate Squadron (1955-1958) |
| Operations: |
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| Victories: | U-592,U-238,U-734 (1944) |
HMSMagpie,pennant number U82 (later F82), was aRoyal Navy ModifiedBlack Swan-classsloop launched in 1943 and broken up in 1959. She was the seventh Royal Navy ship to bear the name. She was reclassified as a frigate in 1947, receiving a new pennant number F82. The ship was the only vessel commanded byPrince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who took command on 2 September 1950, when he was 29.
Magpie was one of eight ModifiedBlack Swan-class sloops ordered by theAdmiralty on 27 March 1941 as part of the 1940 Supplemental War Programme.[1][2][3] The ModifiedBlack Swans were an improved version of the pre-warBlack Swan-class sloops, with greaterbeam, allowing a heavier close-in anti-aircraft armament to be accommodated.[4][5]
Magpie 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 adraught of 11 ft 4 in (3.45 m) at deep load.[6]Displacement of the ModifiedBlack Swans was 1,350–1,490long 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.[7] TwoAdmiralty three-drum water-tube boilers provided steam toParsons gearedsteam turbines which drove two shafts. The machinery was rated at 4,300shaft horsepower (3,200 kW), giving a speed of 19.75knots (36.58 km/h; 22.73 mph).[8]
The ship's main gun armament (as fitted to all the ModifiedBlack Swans) consisted of three twinQF 4-inch (102 mm) Mk XVI guns, in dual purpose mounts, capable of both anti-ship and anti-aircraft use.[8] Close-in anti-aircraft armament varied between the ships of the class, withMagpie completing with an outfit of four twin and four singleOerlikon 20 mm cannon.[9] She was modified later in the war to mount two twin40 mm Bofors guns, two twin and two single Oerlikon 20 mm cannon, while post war the ship's close-in armament changed again to two twin and two single Bofors guns.[5][9] Anti-submarine armament consisted of a splitHedgehog anti-submarine mortar, mounted either side of the 'B' 4-inch mount, together with 110depth charges.[10]
Magpie waslaid down atThornycroft'sWoolston, Southampton shipyard on 30 December 1941, waslaunched on 24 March 1943 and completed on 30 August 1943.[11] She was the seventh ship with the nameMagpie to serve with the Royal Navy.[12]
Magpie was commissioned on 30 August 1943, the same day as completion, with thepennant number U82.[13][14] Following workup of the ship and her crew atTobermory, Mull, the ship joined the2nd Support Group (SG2), based atLiverpool, in October 1943, for convoy escort duties in the North Atlantic.[13][14][15] On 6 November 1943, SG2 was deployed to reinforce the escort of convoy HX264, threatened by a concentration of German U-boats southeast ofNewfoundland. Early on the morning of 6 November,U-226 was sunk by the sloopWoodcock, and later that day, after a U-boat was spotted on the surface by an aircraft from theaircraft carrierTracker, three ships of SG2 (Starling,Wild Goose andMagpie) were ordered to attack the submarine, withU-842 being sunk by depth charges fromStarling andWild Goose.[16][17]
From 20 December 1943 to 20 January 1944,Magpie was refitted atLiverpool before returning to service with SG2.[13][14] On 31 January 1944, SG2 was operating Southwest of Ireland in support of Convoys SL47 and MKS38 whenWild Goose detected a submarine on sonar, (U-592, which had been damaged by a US NavyP4Y-1 bomber ofVPB-110 two days before and was returning to France for repairs). A series of attacks by depth charge and Hedgehog were carried out on the contact byWild Goose,Magpie andStarling before a large explosion brought up debris, including human remains and documents confirming theU-592 was the submarine in question.U-592 had been sunk with all hands.[18][19] SG2 was then deployed in support of Convoys SL147 and MKS38, threatened by thewolfpack[a] Igel 2.[20] On the night of 8/9 February 1944Wild Goose first spotted a submarine which was sunk by depth charges fromWoodpecker andWild Goose, and then detected a second submarine which was sunk byStarling andWild Goose. Meanwhile,Kite spotted a third submarine, withMagpie coming up in support. DespiteKite being narrowly missed by anacoustic torpedo and very poor sonar conditions, which made tracking the submarine difficult, the two sloops delivered a series of depth charge attacks before being joined byStarling, which directedMagpie in a Hedgehog attack, which scored two hits, withMagpie andStarling following up with two further depth charge attacks. These attacks destroyed the submarine, with a total of 252 depth charges and 48 Hedgehog projectiles expended against the submarine. Three German submarines (U-762,U-238 andU-734) had been sunk in a few hours, although it is not completely clear which submarines had been sunk by which attack.[21]Magpie, together withStarling andKite, were officially credited with the sinking ofU-238.[22]
In March 1944, 2SG, includingMagpie, left Atlantic convoy support duties to supportArctic convoys to the Soviet Union. On 29 March, the group joinedConvoy JW 58, which had set out fromLoch Ewe in Scotland bound for Russia two days earlier.[14][23] Late on 29 March,Starling detected the German submarineU-961, on passage from Norway to the North Atlantic, on sonar and carried out a quick depth charge attack while directingMagpie to carry out a more deliberate "creeping attack".Starling's initial attack proved fatal, however, and beforeMagpie could attack, a loud underwater explosion was heard followed by a stream of oil and wreckage reaching the surface, indicatingU-961 had been sunk.[24][25] Three more U-boats were sunk by the convoy's escorts before it reached theKola Inlet on 4 April 1944, with none of the convoy's ships damaged.[23]Magpie formed part of the escort for the return convoy RA 58, which left the Kola Inlet on 7 April and arrived unscathed at Loch Ewe on 14 April, with no German submarines managing to make contact with the convoy.[26]Magpie had suffered weather damage during the two Arctic convoys, and was then under repair at Liverpool until 28 April 1944.[14]
Magpie took part in theD-Day amphibiousAllied landings inNormandy on 6 June 1944, escorting an assault convoy toGold Beach.[27][28] On return from invasion dutiesMagpie, joined the 22nd Escort Group, based atGreenock and escorting convoys in British coastal waters, as well as convoys toGibraltar.[14][29] On 10 May 1945,Magpie and sister shipAmethyst took the surrender of the German submarineU-249, the first German submarine to surrender in British waters following theGerman capitulation, offThe Lizard and took the submarine intoPortland Harbour.[30]
In 1946,Magpie joined theMediterranean Fleet.[31] Along with others in theBlack Swan class she was officially reclassified as afrigate in 1947,[32] also receiving a new pennant numberF82.[33] In March 1949,Magpie and the frigatePeacock were deployed off the Jordanian port ofAqaba in support of British forces securing that port against the approach of Israeli forces during the1948 Palestine war.[34]Magpie did duty inTrieste following riots there over the city's future, which was contended betweenItaly andYugoslavia.[35][36] At this time she was based in Malta, as part of the 3rd Frigate Flotilla. This Flotilla took part in patrols preventing illegal immigrants following the formation of Israel. She returned to Portsmouth in 1954 where was placed in reserve.[37]
Magpie was commanded bythen Lieutenant-Commander, later Admiral of the Fleet the Duke of Edinburgh from 2 September 1950 until 1951, based in theMediterranean.[38] In 1953 she took part in theFleet Review to celebrate the coronation ofQueen Elizabeth II.[39]On 3 March 1955Magpie leftPortsmouth to steam to the7th Frigate Squadron atSimonstown, South Africa. Due to be relieved at the Cape Station by hersister shipSparrow, boiler problems meant the crew were changed.Magpie's crew returned to the UK inSparrow.
In 1958Magpie's tour of duty at the Cape Station was finally completed; she sailed back for the UK for paying off and was broken up byHughes Bolckow,Blyth,Northumberland on 12 July 1959.
In 1959 HMSMagpies ship's bell and her division trophies were presented toMonkton Combe Junior School, near Bath whose magpie icon, created in 1951 by the school's art teacher Miss E Bulmer for the school's Magpie Magazine, had been adopted by the ship in 1952 with the active support of Prince Philip.[40][unreliable source?] The icon has been used as the crest for all subsequent HMSMagpies and is still in use in 2025 byHMS Magpie (H130). Monkton Prep School continues to use the Magpie name for its magazine. The bell still hangs in the school in 2025.
HMSMagpie stood in for the moving shots ofHMS Amethyst in the filmYangtse Incident in 1957.[41]
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 Royal Indian Navy | |
 German Navy | |
 Egyptian Navy | |
 Soviet Navy | |
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