HMS Middleton (L74)
Middleton in August 1943
|
|
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom
|
|
| Name: | HMS Middleton |
| Builder: | Vickers-Armstrongs |
| Laid down: | 10 April 1940 |
| Launched: | 12 May 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 10 January 1943 |
| Honours and awards: |
|
| Fate: | Scrapped in February 1958 |
| Badge: | On a Field White, a fret Blue and a hunting horn interlaced Red. |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Type II Hunt-class escort destroyer |
| Displacement: | 1050 tons |
| Tons burthen: | 1600 tons |
| Propulsion: | 3-drum type boilers, driving two shafts, generating 19000 shp |
| Speed: | 27 knots |
| Complement: | 168 |
| Armament: |
|
HMS Middleton was a Type II Hunt class destroyer of the Royal Navy and served in the Second World War. Her role was providing support for minelaying operations in the Atlantic and anti-aircraft protection for the North Russian convoys. At the end of the Second World War, Middleton returned to Portsmouth having achieved no less than six battle honours during her brief four years of active service. She remained in reserve until 1955 and was broken up in February 1958.
On 4 September 1939, Middleton was ordered as part of the 1939 War Emergency Programme. She was laid down in April 1940 and launched in May the following year. The ship was completed on 10 January 1943, by which time she had seen action in the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea as a convoy escort. She was the first to carry the name Middleton, in honour of the Yorkshire fox-hunt, although there was already a ship called Lord Middleton. One other ship has since carried the name, and is still in service.
Although launched in May 1941, her first service was in early 1942 when she escorted convoys PQ-6 and PQ-11 to Iceland. After more refits, she was assigned to the 17th Destroyer Flotilla, based at Scapa Flow. In March 1942, she was deployed as part of a heavy escort for the convoys PQ-13 and the return convoy QP-9. The escort included the battleships King George V and Duke of York, as well as aircraft carrier Victorious. The massive escort was required to deter the German battleship Tirpitz, the pocket battleship Admiral Scheer and the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper, all of which were in the area hunting convoys to the USSR.
...
Wikipedia