HMS Lagan

HMS Lagan (K259) was a River-class frigate of the Royal Navy (RN). Lagan was built to the RN's specifications as a Group II River-class frigate. She served in the North Atlantic during World War II.

Lagan in 1943.
History
United Kingdom
Name: Lagan
Namesake: River Lagan
Builder: Smiths Dock Co., South Bank-on-Tees
Laid down: 7 January 1942
Launched: 28 July 1942
Commissioned: 21 December 1942
Fate: Badly damaged 20 September 1943. Declared a loss on 24th, and sold for scrap in 1946
General characteristics
Class and type: River-class frigate
Displacement:
  • 1,370 long tons (1,390 t)
  • 1,830 long tons (1,860 t) (deep load)
Length:
  • 283 ft (86.26 m) p/p
  • 301.25 ft (91.82 m)o/a
Beam: 36.5 ft (11.13 m)
Draught: 9 ft (2.74 m); 13 ft (3.96 m) (deep load)
Propulsion: 2 × Admiralty 3-drum boilers, 2 shafts, reciprocating vertical triple expansion, 5,500 ihp (4,100 kW)
Speed: 20 knots (37.0 km/h)
Range: 440 long tons (450 t; 490 short tons) oil fuel; 7,200 nautical miles (13,334 km) at 12 knots (22.2 km/h)
Complement: 107
Armament:

As a River-class frigate, Lagan was one of 151 frigates launched between 1941 and 1944 for use as anti-submarine convoy escorts, named after rivers in the United Kingdom. The ships were designed by naval engineer William Reed, of Smith's Dock Company of South Bank-on-Tees, to have the endurance and anti-submarine capabilities of the Black Swan-class sloops, while being quick and cheap to build in civil dockyards using the machinery (e.g. reciprocating steam engines instead of turbines) and construction techniques pioneered in the building of the Flower-class corvettes. Its purpose was to improve on the convoy escort classes in service with the Royal Navy at the time, including the Flower class.

After commissioning in December 1942, Lagan served in convoy escort missions and participated in anti-submarine warfare exercises off Lough Foyle. On 12 May 1942, Lagan, with HMS Biter and HMS Broadway, sunk the German submarine U-89. The next day, Lagan and HMCS Drumheller sunk U-753.[1]

Whilst Lagan was part of Convoy ON 202, she was attacked by U-270. At 04:57 on 20 September 1943, a GNAT torpedo struck the stern of Lagan, causing critical damage to the ship and 29 dead. She was towed by the tugboat HMS Destiny to Mersey, arriving on 24 September, where Lagan was declared a constructive total loss. The wreck was sold for scrap in Troon on 21 May 1946.[2][3][4]

References
  1. "HMS Lagan (K 259) of the Royal Navy - British Frigate of the River class - Allied Warships of WWII - uboat.net". uboat.net. Retrieved 2020-04-07.
  2. "HMS Lagan (K 259) (British Frigate) - Ships hit by German U-boats during WWII - uboat.net". uboat.net. Retrieved 2020-04-07.
  3. "Wrecksite - Lagan Frigate 1942-1943". Retrieved 2020-04-07.
  4. "BBC - WW2 People's War - Tribute to an Unknown Shipmate". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-04-07.
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