![]() ![]() The convoy had comprised two troopships, the California and the Canadian Pacific liner Duchess of York, and the transport Port Fairy, (which was carrying ammunition), escorted by three warships. On 10 July 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 continued to Canada without further loss. 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. Under the command of Lieutenant Commander John Jackson, DSC, RNR, Swale moved 6,000 metres (6,600 yd) astern of the doomed Aymeric and made ASDIC (sonar) contact. The U-boat had earlier torpedoed the 5,196 GRT steamer Aymeric, the last British cargo ship in the Atlantic to be sunk that month, claiming the lives of 53 men. ![]() Escorting slow convoy ONS 7 bound for Halifax, Canada, she sank the German submarine U-657 off Cape Farewell, Greenland on the night of 17 May. Swale was to have better fortunes two months later. 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. In March 1943 she was SO (Senior Officer's ship) of the Escort Group (EG) B5, escorting the slow convoy Swale saw extensive service on convoy escort missions and experienced some of the worst days of the Battle of the Atlantic. The ship was commissioned into the RN on 24 June 1942 as K 217 and named for the River Swale in Yorkshire, England. She was laid down at Smiths Dock Co., South Bank-on-Tees on 19 August 1941 and launched on 16 January 1942. Swale was built to the RN's specifications as a Group I River-class frigate. HMS Swale (K217) was a River-class frigate of the Royal Navy (RN) from 1942 to 1955, loaned to the South African Navy for six months at the end of the Second World War. ![]() up to 10 x QF 20 mm Oerlikon A/A on twin mounts Mk.V and single mounts Mk.III.2 × QF 4 in (102 mm) /40 Mk.XIX guns, single mounts CP Mk.XXIII.Scrapped on 26 February 1955.ĩ ft (2.74 m) 13 ft (3.96 m) (deep load)Ģ x Admiralty 3-drum boilers, 2 shafts, reciprocating vertical triple expansion, 5,500 ihpĤ40 long tons (450 t 490 short tons) oil fuel 7,200 nautical miles (13,334 km) at 12 knots (22.2 km/h) Transferred on 26 July 1945 to South Africa as HMSAS Swale (K217). ![]()
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