HMS Caistor Castle
Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English
Template:Infobox ship imageTemplate:Infobox ship careerTemplate:Infobox ship characteristicsHMS Caister Castle was one of 44 Template:Sclass2s built for the Royal Navy during World War II.
Design and description
The Castle-class corvette was a stretched version of the preceding Flower class, enlarged to improve seakeeping and to accommodate modern weapons. The ships displaced Template:Convert at standard load and Template:Convert at deep load. They had an overall length of Template:Convert, a beam of Template:Convert and a deep draught of Template:Convert. They were powered by a pair of triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by two Admiralty three-drum boilers. The engines developed a total of Template:Convert and gave a maximum speed of Template:Convert. The Castles carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of Template:Convert at Template:Convert. The ships' complement was 99 officers and ratings.[1]
The Castle-class ships were equipped with a single [[QF 4 inch Mk XVI naval gun|QF Template:Convert Mk XVI gun]] forward, but their primary weapon was their single three-barrel Squid anti-submarine mortar. This was backed up by one depth charge rail and two throwers for 15 depth charges. The ships were fitted with two twin and a pair of single mounts for [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|Template:Convert Oerlikon]] light AA guns.[2] Provision was made for a further four single mounts if needed. They were equipped with Type 145Q and Type 147B ASDIC sets to detect submarines by reflections from sound waves beamed into the water. A Type 277 search radar and a HF/DF radio direction finder rounded out the Castles' sensor suite.[3]
Construction and career
Caistor Castle was laid down by John Lewis & Sons at their shipyard in Aberdeen on 26 August 1943 and launched on 22 May 1944. She was completed on 29 September and served as a convoy escort until the end of the war in May 1945. After the war, Caistor Castle was in reserve at Devonport from 1947 until 1948.[4] She represented the Reserve Fleet at the 1953 Coronation Review[5] and served in the Second Training Squadron at Portland from February 1953 until 1955.[6] Caistor Castle was then placed in reserve at Devonport before being sold for scrap to Arnott Young in 1956; the ship arrived at Dalmuir in March to be broken up.[7]
References
Bibliography
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