HMS Lark (U11)

HMS Lark was a modified Black Swan-class sloop of the Royal Navy. She was laid down by Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Greenock on 5 May 1942, launched on 28 August 1943 and commissioned on 10 April 1944, with the pennant number U11.[1]

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Lark.

HMS Lark anchored in 1944.
History
United Kingdom
Name: Lark
Namesake: Lark
Ordered: 27 March 1941
Builder: Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Greenock
Laid down: 5 May 1942
Launched: 28 August 1943
Commissioned: 10 April 1944
Decommissioned: 17 February 1945
Identification: Pennant number: U11
Fate: Handed over to Soviet Navy
History
Soviet Union
Name: Neptun
Namesake: Neptun
Acquired: June 1945
Fate: Scrapped in 1956
General characteristics
Class and type: Modified Black Swan-class sloop
Displacement: 1,350 tons
Length: 283 ft (86 m)
Beam: 38.5 ft (11.7 m)
Propulsion:
  • Geared turbines
  • two shafts
Speed: 20 knots (37 km/h) at 4,300 hp (3,200 kW)
Complement: 192 men + 1 Cat
Armament:

Service in Royal Navy

Upon completion of her preparations in Tobermory, the Lark was deployed to defend convoys for Western Command.

Then in May and June 1944, he was part of the 114th Escort Group 114 with the sloop HMS Crane, HMS Blankney, HMS Chelmer and HMS Torrington to escort the assault convoys during the Allied landings in Normandy. during Operation Neptune.

Then he was assigned to protect arctic convoys (convoys JW61 to JW64 and RA61 to RA64) to supply the Russian front in Kola Bay.

On 17 February 1945, U-425 was sunk in the Barents Sea east of the Rybatchi Peninsula by depth charges from HMS Lark and HMS Alnwick Castle at the geographic position. The same day, at 10:15 a.m., the German submarine U-968 fired an acoustic torpedo at convoy RA64 and observed a hit after 6 minutes 20 seconds. In fact, HMS Lark was hit aft northeast of Murmansk so she was towed into Kola Bay and grounded near Rosta.[2]

HMS Lark was unequipped at Rosta because she was unable to return to the UK under tow. In June 1945, the carcass from which most of the equipment was removed was handed over to the Soviet Navy.

Service in Soviet Navy

Postwar reports suggest that she may have later been taken into Russian Navy under the name Neptun, but this has not been proven. It is unlikely that the hull was rebuilt and retooled for further use.[3]

References
  1. "HMS Lark (U 11) (British Sloop) - Ships hit by German U-boats during WWII - uboat.net". uboat.net. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  2. "HMS Lark (U 11) (British Sloop) - Ships hit by German U-boats during WWII - uboat.net". uboat.net. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  3. "HMS Lark, sloop". www.naval-history.net. Retrieved 20 October 2020.

Further readings
  • Blackman, Raymond V. B. (1971). Jane's Fighting Ships 1971–72. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company. ISBN 0-354-00096-9.
  • Blair, Clay Gardiner (2000). Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunted 1942–1945. Vol. 3. New York: Modern Library. ISBN 0-679-64033-9.
  • Gardiner, Robert Gardiner (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships (1922-1946). Vol. 3. Conway Maritime Press. p. 456. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
  • Gardiner, Robert Gardiner (1996). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships (1947-1995). Vol. 4. US Naval Institute Press. p. 675. ISBN 1-55750-132-7.
  • 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.
  • Hague, Arnold (1993). Sloops: A History of the 71 Sloops Built in Britain and Australia for the British, Australian and Indian Navies 1926–1946. Kendal, England: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-67-3.
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