HMS Cleveland (L46)

HMS Cleveland in Plymouth Sound, October 1942
History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Cleveland
Ordered:	21 March 1939
Builder:	Yarrow Shipbuilders, Glasgow
Yard number:	Admiralty Job No.1835
Laid down:	7 July 1939
Launched:	24 April 1940
Completed:	18 September 1940
Identification:	pennant number: L46
Honours and awards:	Basque Roads 1809 Atlantic 1942 English Channel 1942 North Sea 1943 Sicily 1943 Salerno 1943 South France 1944 Aegean 1944 Adriatic 1944
Fate:	Scrapped in December 1959
Badge:	On a Field per fess wavy Red and Blue, upon a White roundel a huntsman's cap Black in front of a stirrup Red.
General characteristics
Class and type:	Type I Hunt-class destroyer
Displacement:	1,000 long tons (1,000 t) standard 1,340 long tons (1,360 t) full load
Length:	85 m (278 ft 10 in) o/a
Beam:	8.8 m (28 ft 10 in)
Draught:	3.27 m (10 ft 9 in)
Propulsion:	2 Admiralty 3-drum boilers 2 shaft Parsons geared turbines, 19,000 shp
Speed:	27.5 knots (31.6 mph; 50.9 km/h) 26 kn (30 mph; 48 km/h) full
Range:	3,500 nmi (6,500 km) at 15 kn (28 km/h) 1,000 nmi (1,900 km) at 26 kn (48 km/h)
Complement:	146
Armament:	4 × QF 4-inch (102 mm) Mark XVI guns on twin mounts Mk. XIX 4 × QF 2-pounder (40 mm) Mk VIII AA guns on quad mount MK.VII 2 × 20-mm Oerlikon AA guns on single mounts P Mk. III 40 depth charges, 2 throwers, 1 rack

HMS Cleveland (L46) was a Type I Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy built by Yarrow Shipbuilders of Scotstoun, and launched on 24 April 1940. She was adopted by the civil community of Middlesbrough then in the North Riding of Yorkshire, as part of the Warship Week campaign in 1942.

Service history

On commissioning in 1940 she completed work ups for service in home waters, both the North Sea and the English Channel, which continued throughout 1941 and 1942. During April 1943, she was nominated for service in the Mediterranean. During that year she provided cover for the Allied landings in Italy on Sicily (Operation Husky) and at Salerno (Operation Avalanche). During 1944 she was again deployed in the Mediterranean and in the Aegean Sea.

On 29 September 1945, Cleveland steamed from Gibraltar to Devonport and was placed in reserve.^[1] She was sold for scrapping and was wrecked at Llangennith, Glamorgan, Wales, on the Gower Peninsula near Swanse on 28 June 1957 while under tow to Llanelly, Wales, for scrapping.^[2]en route to the breakers yard. The wreck was stripped and blown up on 14 December 1959.

References

1. Critchley, Mike, "British Warships Since 1945: Part 3: Destroyers", Maritime Books: Liskeard, UK, 1982. ISBN 0-9506323-9-2, page 29
2. "Failure To Refloat Former Destroyer" The Times (London). Tuesday, 27 August 1957. (53930), col B, p. 4.

Publications

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475.

External links

• Profile on naval-history.net