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Allied Warships

HMS Bickerton (K 466)

Frigate of the Captain class


HMS Bickerton after she was torpedoed

NavyThe Royal Navy
TypeFrigate
ClassCaptain 
PennantK 466 
Built byBethlehem-Hingham Shipyard Inc. (Hingham, Massachusetts, U.S.A.) 
Ordered 
Laid down3 May, 1943 
Launched26 Jul, 1943 
Commissioned17 Oct, 1943 
Lost22 Aug, 1944 
Loss position71.42N, 19.11E (See a map)
 
History

HMS Bickerton (Cdr. Donald George Frederick Wyville MacIntyre, DSO and 2 Bars, RN), as part of the 5th Escort Group was escorting the second group of escort carriers (HMS Trumpeter (D 09) and HMS Nabob (D 77)) from the Home Fleet (Adm Moore), which covered the convoy JW-59 and launched further attacks (Operation Goodwood) on the German battleship Tirpitz in the Altenfjord. Before the group was able to launch an attack on the battleship, U-354 encountered them on her search for the convoy northwest of the North Cape in the Barents Sea. At about 01.00 hours on 22 August 1944, the U-boat badly damaged HMS Nabob (D 77) with a FAT torpedo spread and tried to sink her at 01.22 hours with a Gnat, which struck HMS Bickerton (K 466) in position 71º42'N, 19º11'E. The frigate was subsequently scuttled by a torpedo from HMS Vigilant (R 93).

Commanding Officers:
Lt. Ernest Michael Thorpe, RN
30 August 1943 – March 1944
Promoted to Lt.Cdr. 10 December 1943

Cdr. Donald George Frederick Wyville MacIntyre, DSO and 2 Bars, RN
March 1944 - 22 August 1944 

Hit by U-boat
Sunk on 22 Aug, 1944 by U-354 (Sthamer).


Noteable events involving Bickerton include:

6 May, 1944
The German submarine U-765 was sunk in the North Atlantic, in position 52º30'N, 28º28'W, by depth charges from 2 Swordfish aircraft (Sqdn. 825) of the British escort carrier HMS Vindex (Capt. H.T.T. Bayliss, RN) and the British frigates HMS Bickerton (Cdr. D.G.F.W. MacIntyre, DSO and 2 Bars, RN), HMS Bligh (A/Lt.Cdr. J.W. Cooper, RNR (retired)) and HMS Aylmer (Lt. A.D.P. Campbell, RN). (see map)

25 Jun, 1944
The German submarine U-269 was sunk in the English Channel south-east of Torquay, in position 50º01'N, 02º59'W, by depth charges from the British frigate HMS Bickerton (Cdr. D.G.F.W. MacIntyre, DSO and 2 Bars, RN) (see map)


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