HMS Gardiner (K478)

HMS Gardiner (K478) was a British Captain-class frigate of the Royal Navy in commission during World War II. Originally constructed as the United States Navy Evarts-class destroyer escort USS O'Toole (DE-274), she served in the Royal Navy from 1943 to 1946.

For other ships with the same name, see USS O'Toole.

History
United States
Name: USS O'Toole (DE-274)
Namesake: U.S. Navy Ensign John Albert O’Toole (1916-1942), killed in action during the Operation Torch amphibious landings in North Africa on 8 November 1942
Ordered: 25 January 1942[1]
Builder: Boston Navy Yard, Boston, Massachusetts
Laid down: 20 May 1943
Launched: 8 July 1943[2]
Completed: 28 September 1943
Commissioned: never
Fate: Transferred to United Kingdom 28 September 1943
Acquired: Returned by United Kingdom 12 February 1946
Fate:
  • Sold 10 December 1946 for scrapping
  • Scrapped June 1947
United Kingdom
Class and type: Captain class frigate
Name: HMS Gardiner
Namesake: Captain Arthur Gardiner ( ? -1758), British naval officer killed in action as commanding officer of HMS Monmouth during the capture of the French ship Foudroyant in 1758 [3][4]
Acquired: 28 September 1943
Commissioned: 28 September 1943[1]
Decommissioned: 1945[5]
Fate: Returned to United States 12 February 1946
General characteristics
Displacement: 1,140 tons
Length: 289.5 ft (88.2 m)
Beam: 35 ft (11 m)
Draught: 9 ft (2.7 m)
Propulsion:
  • Four General Motors 278A 16-cylinder engines
  • GE 7,040 bhp (5,250 kW) generators (4,800 kW)
  • GE electric motors for 6,000 shp (4,500 kW)
  • Two shafts
Speed: 20 knots (37 km/h)
Range: 5,000 nautical miles (9,260 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h)
Complement: 156
Sensors and
processing systems:
  • SA & SL type radars
  • Type 144 series Asdic
  • MF Direction Finding antenna
  • HF Direction Finding Type FH 4 antenna
Armament:
Notes: Pennant number K478

Construction and transfer

The ship was laid down as the U.S. Navy destroyer escort USS O'Toole (DE-274), the first ship of the name, by the Boston Navy Yard in Boston, Massachusetts, on 20 May 1943 and launched on 8 July 1943. O'Toole was transferred to the United Kingdom under Lend-Lease upon completion on 28 September 1943.

Service history

Commissioned into service in the Royal Navy as HMS Gardiner (K478) under the command of Lieutenant Commander Robert Sydney Hopper, DSC, RN, on 28 September 1943[1] simultaneously with her transfer, the ship served on patrol and escort duty for the remainder of World War II.

The Royal Navy decommissioned Gardiner in 1945[5] after the end of the war and returned her to the U.S. Navy at the Boston Naval Shipyard on 12 February 1946.

Disposal

The United States sold Gardiner to the Atlas Steel and Supply Company on 10 December 1946 for scrapping. In 1947, she was resold to the Kulky Steel and Equipment Company of Alliance, Ohio, and finally was scrapped in June 1947.

References
  1. uboat.net HMS Gardiner (K 478)
  2. Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive O'Toole (DE 274) HMS Gardiner (K-478)
  3. FRIGATES IN MIXED ESCORT GROUPS
  4. Sotheby's Catalogue Notes and Provenance
  5. According to uboat.net HMS Gardiner (K 478), the Royal Navy had removed Gardiner from its active list by October 1945, indicating her decommissioning prior to that.


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