| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | Sloop |
| Class | Shoreham |
| Pennant | L 50 / U 50 |
| Built by | Chatham Dockyard (Chatham, U.K.): J.S. White & Co. (Cowes, U.K.) |
| Ordered | |
| Laid down | 24 Nov 1930 |
| Launched | 16 Jul 1931 |
| Commissioned | 31 Mar 1932 |
| End service | |
| Loss position | |
| History | Sold on 6 January 1951. Commanding Officers: Cdr. Conway Benning Allen, RN (retired) Cdr. Hugh Valentine King, OBE, RN ??? Lt.Cdr. William Alick Grinham, RNVR HMS Rochester in Dockyard Control ??? A/Cdr. Felix Edward Chevallier, DSC, RN (retired) |
Commands listed for HMS Rochester (L 50 / U 50)
Please note that we're still working on this section.
| Commander | From | To | ||
| 1 | Cdr. George Fisher Renwick, RN | 20 Jun 1939 | 16 Jan 1941 | |
| 2 | Lt.Cdr. Conway Benning Allen, RN | 16 Jan 1941 | Oct 1942 | |
| 3 | Cdr. Hugh Valentine King, OBE, RN | Oct 1942 | Apr/May 44 | |
| 4 | Lt.Cdr. William Alick Grinham, RNVR | Jun 1944 | ||
| 5 | A/Cdr. (retired) Felix Edward Chevallier, DSC, RN | 5 Mar 1945 | 7 Jan 1946 | |
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Noteable events involving Rochester include:
16 Aug 1940
At 13.02 hours on 16 august 1940 U-46 fired three torpedoes on three ships (two passenger ships and one freighter) which partially overlapped in convoy OB-197 (150 miles southwest of Rockall) and observed a hit on the freighter, which was clearly damaged, as the bow was deeper in the water. The Dutch merchant ship Alcinous (6,189 tons) was hit on the port side by one torpedo and caught fire, which could be extinguished after long work. The British sloop HMS Rochester (Cdr. G.F. Renwick, RN) supported the damaged ship, which was later towed to Gourock by a British tug. Endrass could not identify his victim, but U-30(Lemp) heard the SSS-signals from the Alcinous.
30 Sep 1940
HMS Rochester (Cdr. G.F. Renwick, RN) picks up 7 survivors from the British merchant Mabriton that was torpedoed and sunk on 25 September 1940 by the German submarine U-32 west-south-west of Rockall in position 56º12'N, 23º00'W.
19 Oct 1941
The German submarine U-204 was sunk near Tangier, in position 35º46'N, 06º02'W, by depth charges from the British corvette HMS Mallow (Lt. W.R.B. Noall, RNR) and the British sloop HMS Rochester (Cdr. C.B. Allen, RN). (see map)
6 Feb 1942
The German submarine U-82 was sunk north of the Azores, in position 44º10'N, 23º52'W, by depth charges from the British sloop HMS Rochester (Cdr. C.B. Allen, RN) and the corvette HMS Tamarisk (Lt. S. Ayles, RNR). (see map)
31 Jul 1942
The German submarine U-213 was sunk in the North Atlantic east of the Azores, in position 36º45'N, 22º50'W by depth charges from the British sloops HMS Erne (Lt.Cdr. E.D.J. Abbot, RN), HMS Rochester (Cdr. C.B. Allen, RN) and HMS Sandwich (Lt.Cdr. H. Hill, RNR). (see map)
28 Aug 1942
At 19.08 hours on 28 August 1942 the German submarine U-566 attacked the convoy SL-119 west-northwest of Lisbon and sank the Zuiderkerk and City of Cardiff. The City of Cardiff remained afloat, but foundered two days later. 21 crew members were lost. The master and 62 crew members were picked up by the British sloop HMS Rochester (Cdr. C.B. Allen, RN) and landed at Londonderry.
15 Jul 1943
The German submarine U-135 was sunk in the Atlantic, in position 28º20'N, 13º17'W, by the British sloop HMS Rochester (Cdr. H.V. King, OBE, RN) and the British corvettes HMS Mignonette (Lt. H.H. Brown, RNR) and HMS Balsam (Lt. J.E.L. Peters, RNVR) and an American Catalina aircraft (VP-92). (see map)