HMS Swale (K217)

HMS Swale

HMS Swale (River-class frigate) saw extensive service on convoy escort missions and experienced some of the worst days of the Battle of the Atlantic. In March 1943 she was the Senior Officer's ship of the Escort Group B5, escorting the slow Convoy SC 122 from New York to Liverpool. Of the 51 merchant ships in the convoy, 10 returned to port unable to ride a violent storm; three days later another eight were sunk by U-boats.

On May 17th 1943 she sank U-657 (Korvettenkapitän Heinrich Göllnitz) off Cape Farewell, Greenland. U-657's only sinking was the British Steam merchant Aymeric. She had been part of convoy ONS-7 on route to Halifax - New York in ballast. At 02.37 hours on May 17th 1943, the Aymeric (Master Sidney Morris) was torpedoed and sunk east of Cape Farewell. 52 crew members and one gunner were lost. The master, 18 crew members and six gunners were picked up by the British rescue ship Copeland and the British armed trawler HMS Northern Wave (FY 153)

On July 10th 1943 Swale sailed Gibraltar to rendezvous with the small, fast Convoy Faith (one of the 'Winston Specials') en route from Greenock in Scotland to Freetown, Sierra Leone. The convoy had comprised two troopships, the California and the Canadian Pacific liner Duchess of York, and the ammunition ship Port Fairy. The convoy was escorted by three warships. At about 2000 hrs on July 11th while 300 miles west of Vigo, the convoy was subjected to a devastating air attack by three Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor aircraft from Merignac airfield near Bordeaux. By the time Swale arrived at 2235 hrs, both California and Duchess of York had been hit, set on fire, and abandoned, to be sunk later by torpedoes from their escorts. Swale too was attacked by the Condors, bombs falling just 20 yards astern. After making an A/S sweep, Swale was ordered to escort Port Fairy, which had escaped unscathed, to Casablanca, ahead of the other escorts which were still searching for survivors. On the evening of the next day, the two ships were attacked by two Fw 200s returning from a reconnaissance mission off the Portuguese coast. Despite the interception and strafing of the Condors by two US Navy PBY Catalinas Port Fairy was hit on her port quarter by a 50 kg bomb which started a fire next to her magazine. Swale came alongside, took off 64 survivors from the two troopships together with eight passengers, and some of her ships company helped extinguish the blaze with her fire hoses. Port Fairy was repaired at Casablanca and remained in service.

Under the command of Lieutenant Commander John Jackson, DSC, RNR, Swale moved 6,000 metres astern of the doomed Aymeric and made ASDIC contact. After a succession of depth charge and Hedgehog attacks, she was rewarded with the sound of several loud explosions and the appearance of burning oil on the surface. The convoy continued to Canada without further loss.

On April 6th 1944 Swale sank U-302 (Kapitänleutnant Herbert Sickel) after she had penetrated the escort screen and torpedoed two ships. U-302 fired a spread of torpedoes, the first to be hit was the Norwegian Steam merchant Ruth 1 she was carrying a cargo of Steel, lumber and pit props. She broke in two and sank after 20 minutes. Three men on watch below were killed. 17 survivors abandoned ship in a damaged lifeboat and 19 others on an improvised raft. All survivors were picked up a few hours later by the HMS Chelmer K 221. The second hit was on the Norwegian Motor tanker South America. She was carrying 7,800 tons of crude oil, she was hit on the port side by a torpedo between the number 3 wing tank and number 8 center tank behind the pump room and caught fire immediately. Five minutes later, another torpedo launched from U-302 struck aft, resulting in an enormous explosion that apparently extinguished the fire, but the tanker broke in two and settled in the middle. The men on the poop abandoned ship in a raft and a lifeboat and seven men from amidships abandoned ship in the starboard lifeboat. All were picked up after a short time by the British rescue ship Goodwin. Both ships were part of convoy SC-156 on the route from Halifax to the UK.

Swale was loaned to the South African Navy on June 26th 1945 as HMSAS Swale K217 but returned to the RN in January 1946. She was scrapped in February 1955.