HMNZS Taupo (F423)

	Loch Shin in November 1944
History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Loch Shin
Builder:	Swan Hunter
Laid down:	6 September 1943
Launched:	23 February 1944
Identification:	pennant number K421
Fate:	Transferred to New Zealand, 1948
New Zealand
Name:	HMNZS Taupo
Commissioned:	1948
Decommissioned:	1952
Identification:	F423
Fate:	scrapped 1962
General characteristics
Class and type:	Loch-class frigate
Displacement:	1,435 tons
Length:	286 ft (87 m) p/p; 307.25 ft (93.65 m) o/a;
Beam:	38.5 ft (11.7 m)
Draught:	8.75 ft (2.67 m) standard; 13.25 ft (4.04 m) full;
Propulsion:	2 Admiralty 3-drum boilers, 2 shafts 4-cylinder vertical triple expansion reciprocating engines, 5,500 ihp (4,100 kW) or Parsons single reduction geared turbines, 6,500 shp (4,800 kW)
Speed:	20 knots (37 km/h)
Range:	730 tons oil fuel, 9,500 nautical miles (17,600 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h)
Complement:	114
Armament:	1 × QF 4 inch Mark V on one single mounting HA MkIII** 4 × QF 2 pounder MkVII on 1 quad mount MkVII 4 × 20 mm Oerlikon A/A on 2 twin mounts MkV (or 2 × 40 mm Bofors A/A on 2 single mounts Mk.III) up to 8 × 20 mm Oerlikon A/A on single mounts MkIII 2 × Squid triple barreled A/S mortars 1 rail and 2 throwers for depth charges

HMNZS Taupo, originally HMS Loch Shin, was a Loch-class frigate which served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War, and then in the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) from 1948 to 1961. She was scrapped in 1962.

Service history

Royal Navy service

On Commissioning in October 1944 Loch Shin was allocated for service in the Western Approaches.[1] On 4 February 1945 she participated in attacks on the German submarine U-1014, which was sunk. The following month she was allocated for escorting Russian convoys. At the end of the war and during 1946 she was employed on Operation Deadlight to sink captured German U-Boats.

She was paid off from Royal Navy service in June 1947 and was reduced to reserve status.

Royal New Zealand Navy service

In early 1948 Loch Shin's sale to New Zealand was negotiated and she was re-fitted at Chatham before sale. Her name was changed to HMNZS Taupo and her pennant number was changed to F421.

During her service with the RNZN she served in the Pacific and Mediterranean and in 1951 and 1952 was deployed for service in the Korean War. Her service included shore bombardment operations. She paid off at the end of 1952 and was held in reserve status at Auckland.

She was sold for scrapping on 15 December 1961.[2]

References

Mason, Geoffrey B. (2004). Gordon Smith (ed.). "HMS Loch Shin (K 421) - Loch Class Frigate". naval-history.net. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
Raymond V B Blackman (ed.). Jane's Fighting Ships 1963-4,. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd. p. 184.

Bibliography

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.
McDougall, R J (1989). New Zealand Naval Vessels. Government Printing Office. pp. 37–41. ISBN 978-0-477-01399-4.

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[nh-1] Mason, Geoffrey B. (2004). Gordon Smith (ed.). "HMS Loch Shin (K 421) - Loch Class Frigate". naval-history.net. Retrieved 16 November 2015.

[2] Raymond V B Blackman (ed.). Jane's Fighting Ships 1963-4,. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd. p. 184.