HMS Bickerton (K466)
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| History | |
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 United States
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| Name: | Eisele |
| Builder: | Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard Inc., Hingham, Massachusetts |
| Laid down: | 3 May 1943 |
| Identification: | DE-75 |
| Fate: | Transferred to Royal Navy |
 United Kingdom
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| Name: | Bickerton |
| Namesake: | Sir Richard Bickerton |
| Launched: | 26 July 1943 |
| Commissioned: | 17 October 1943 |
| Identification: | Pennant number K466 |
| Fate: | Scuttled 22 August 1944 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Captain-class frigate |
| Displacement: | 1,800 long tons (1,800 t) (fully loaded) |
| Length: | 306 ft (93 m) (overall) |
| Beam: | 36 ft 6 in (11.13 m) |
| Draught: | 11 ft (3.4 m) (fully loaded) |
| Speed: | 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph) |
| Range: | 5,500 nmi (10,200 km; 6,300 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement: | Typically between 170-180 |
HMS Bickerton was a Captain-class frigate of the Buckley type during World War II. Named after Sir Richard Bickerton commander of HMS Terrible at the First Battle of Ushant during the American Revolutionary War.
Originally this ship was provisionally given the name USS Eisele (this name was reassigned to DE-34) however the delivery was diverted to the Royal Navy before launch. The Commanding Officers were Lieutenant EM Thorpe RN and Commander D. MacIntyre, (Senior Officer 5th Escort Group).
Bickerton served exclusively with the 5th Escort Group earning battle honours for service in the Arctic (Russian Convoys), North Atlantic, off Normandy and in the English Channel.
On 6 May 1944, the German submarine U-765 was sunk in the North Atlantic — in position 52°30′N 28°28′W / 52.500°N 28.467°W — by depth charges from Bickerton, operating alongside two Fairey Swordfish (No. 825 Squadron) of the escort carrier Vindex and frigates Bligh and Aylmer. Of the crew of U-765, 37 died and 11 survived.
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