HMT Bedfordshire
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom
|
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| Name: | HMT Bedfordshire |
| Namesake: | Bedfordshire, England |
| Builder: | Smith's Dock Co. |
| Launched: | 17 July 1935 |
| Completed: | August 1935 |
| Acquired: | August 1939 |
| Fate: | Sunk by U-558 on 11 May 1942 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 443 GRT |
| Length: | 162.3 feet (49.5 m) |
| Beam: | 26.7 feet (8.1 m) |
| Propulsion: | 3-cylinder triple expansion engine |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
ASDIC |
| Armament: |
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| Nearest city | Beaufort, North Carolina |
| MPS | World War II Shipwrecks along the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico MPS |
| NRHP Reference # | 15000421 |
| Added to NRHP | 31 July 2015 |
HMTBedfordshire (FY141) was an armed naval trawler in the service of the Royal Naval Patrol Service during World War II. Transferred to the East Coast of the United States to assist the United States Navy with anti-submarine patrols, she was staffed by a British and Canadian crew. Bedfordshire was sunk by the German submarine U-558 on 11 May 1942 off the coast of Ocracoke Island in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, with the loss of all hands.
Bedfordshire was built as a commercial fishing trawler by Smiths Dock Company of South Bank, Middlesbrough, England. Launched at Teesside on 17 July 1935, she was completed in August 1935 and turned over to her owners, Bedfordshire Fishing Company of Grimsby, managed by H. Markham Cook Ltd. Bedfordshire was 162.3 feet (49.5 m) long, with a 26.7-foot (8.1 m) beam.
The Admiralty acquired Bedfordshire for anti-submarine duty in August 1939. Converted for service as a naval trawler, she was armed with a 4-inch gun, machine guns, and depth charges.
Following completion of her conversion in December 1940, HMT Bedfordshire undertook anti-submarine patrols and escort duty off the southwest coast of England and in the Bristol Channel. She served in this capacity throughout 1941 and early 1942.
After Germany declared war on the United States on 11 December 1941, German U-boats quickly became a deadly threat on the East Coast. The United States Navy was ill-prepared to defend against submarine warfare, and U-boats found it easy to pick off commercial shipping vessels, which traveled unescorted. The onslaught began with Operation Drumbeat when 35 Allied ships were sunk by U-boats off the American coast in January 1942.
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