HMSBlackwood
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMSBlackwood
Namesake	Henry Blackwood
Builder	Boston Navy Yard,Massachusetts
Laid down	22 September 1942
Launched	23 November 1942
Commissioned	27 March 1943
Identification	Pennant number: K313
Fate	Sunk under tow, 16 June 1944
General characteristics
Class & type	Captain-classfrigate
Displacement	1,190long tons (1,210 t) (standard)
Length	289 ft 5 in (88.2 m)
Beam	35 ft 2 in (10.7 m)
Draught	10 ft 1 in (3.1 m)
Installed power	6,000 shp (4,500 kW)electric motors
Propulsion	2 shafts; 4diesel engines
Speed	20knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Range	6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	198
Sensors & processing systems	SA & SL type radars Type 144 seriesAsdic MFDirection Finding HF Direction Finding
Armament	3 × single3 in (76 mm)/50 Mk 22 guns 1 × twinBofors 40 mm 9 × single20 mm Oerlikon guns 1 ×Hedgehoganti-submarine mortar 2 ×Depth charge rails and four throwers

HMSBlackwood was aCaptain-classfrigate originally constructed as aEvarts-classdestroyer escort ordered for theUnited States Navy. Before construction was finished in 1942, the vessel was transferred to theRoyal Navy under the terms ofLend-Lease, and saw service during theSecond World War.

TheEvarts-class ships had anoverall length of 289 feet 5 inches (88.2 m), abeam of 35 feet 2 inches (10.7 m), and adraught of 10 feet 1 inch (3.1 m) atfull load. They displaced 1,190long tons (1,210 t) at (standard) and 1,416 long tons (1,439 t) at full load.^[1] The ships had adiesel–electric powertrain derived from a submarine propulsion system^[2] with fourGeneral Motors 16-cylinderdiesel engines providing power to fourGeneral Electricelectric generators which sent electricity to four 1,500-shaft-horsepower (1,100 kW) General Electricelectric motors which drove the twopropeller shafts. The destroyer escorts had enough power give them a speed of 20knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) and enoughfuel oil to give them a range of 6,000nautical miles (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph). Their crew consisted of 198 officers andratings.^[3]

The armament of theEvarts-class ships in British service consisted of three single mounts for 50-caliber3-inch (76 mm)/50 Mk 22dual-purpose guns; onesuperfiring pair forward of thebridge and the third gun aft of thesuperstructure.Anti-aircraft defence was intended to consisted of a twin-gun mount for40-millimetre (1.6 in) Boforsanti-aircraft (AA) guns atop the rear superstructure with nine20-millimetre (0.8 in) Oerlikon AA guns located on the superstructure, but production shortages meant that that not all guns were fitted, or that additional Oerlikons replaced the Bofors guns. A Mark 10Hedgehoganti-submarine mortar was positioned just behind the forward gun. The ships were also equipped with twodepth charge rails at thestern and four "K-gun" depth charge throwers.^[4]

Blackwood was built byBoston Navy Yard,Massachusetts and commissioned into the Royal Navy on 27 March 1943. She saw service on anti-submarine patrols and as a convoy escort (participating in13 convoys from 9 August 1943 to 20 February 1944). On 25 November 1943HMS Bazely andBlackwood sank theGerman submarine U-600 north of Punta Delgada.Blackwood was part of the 3rd Escort Group and was on patrol in the western approaches to theEnglish Channel on 15 June 1944, covering ships bound for theAlliedinvasion of Normandy when she was sighted byU-764, which fired a"Gnat" torpedo at her.Blackwood was hit and damaged, killing58 of the 168 crew. 51 were wounded. Air Sea Rescue launches conveyed survivors to Portland. Three ratings died on the way in and were buried at PortlandRoyal Naval Cemetery.Blackwood was taken under tow, but foundered offPortland Bill the following day. The wreck lies in position50°07′00″N02°01′06″W / 50.11667°N 2.01833°W /50.11667; -2.01833 in 60 metres (200 ft) of water.^[5]

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben & Bush, Steve (2020).Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present (5th revised and updated ed.). Seaforth Publishing.ISBN 978-1-5267-9327-0.
• Friedman, Norman (2005).U.S. Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History (Revised ed.). Naval Institute Press.ISBN 1-55750-442-3.
• Lenton, H. T. (1998).British & Empire Warships of the Second World War. Naval Institute Press.ISBN 1-55750-048-7.
• Rohwer, Jürgen (2005).Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Naval Institute Press.ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
• Whitley, M. J. (2000).Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. Cassell & Co.ISBN 1-85409-521-8.

• HMSBlackwood at Captain-class frigate association

• Captain-class frigates
• World War II frigates of the United Kingdom
• Protected wrecks of the United Kingdom
• Ships built in Boston
• 1942 ships
• Evarts-class destroyer escorts
• Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the Royal Navy
• Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II
• Frigates and destroyer escorts sunk by submarines
• World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean
• Maritime incidents in June 1944

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