 Badsworth in dazzle camouflage under tow on the Mersey.
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Badsworth |
| Ordered | 20 December 1939 |
| Builder | Cammell Laird, Birkenhead |
| Laid down | 15 May 1940 |
| Launched | 17 March 1941 |
| Commissioned | 18 August 1941 |
| Decommissioned | 16 November 1944 |
| Identification | Pennant number: L03 |
| Honours and awards |
|
| Fate | Loaned to Norway 1944 |
 Norway | |
| Name | HNoMS Arendal |
| Commissioned | 8 August 1944 |
| Decommissioned | 1 May 1961 |
| Fate | Scrapped 1965 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Type II Hunt-class destroyer |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 85.34 m (280.0 ft) |
| Beam | 9.62 m (31.6 ft) |
| Draught | 2.51 m (8 ft 3 in) |
| Propulsion | 2 shaft Parsons geared turbines; 19,000 shp |
| Speed | 25.5 kn (47.2 km/h; 29.3 mph) |
| Range | 3,600 nmi (6,670 km) at 14 knots (26 km/h) |
| Complement | 164 |
| Armament |
|
HMS Badsworth (pennant number L03) was an escort destroyer of the Type II Hunt class. The Royal Navy ordered Badsworth's construction three months after the outbreak of the Second World War. Cammell Laird laid down her keel at their Birkenhead yard on 15 May 1940, as Admiralty Job No. J3260 (Yard No. 1055). After a successful Warship Week national savings campaign in March 1942, Badsworth was adopted by the civil community of Batley, then in the West Riding of Yorkshire.[1] The ship was named after a fox-hunt in Yorkshire.[1][2]
Badsworth began her career on convoy duty in the North Western Approaches. However, in June 1942 she took up the role of close escort in Convoy Harpoon, aiming to deliver vital supplies to the beleaguered island of Malta.[3] The convoy met fierce attacks from the besieging Italian and German forces with only two out of the initial six merchant ships reaching Malta. Whilst entering the Grand Harbour Badsworth struck a mine, sustaining heavy damage. She was towed back for temporary repairs, afterwards leaving the island and heading towards Tyne for further repairs. In November 1942 Badsworth rejoined the Londonderry Escort Force by escorting a convoy headed to Murmansk. In March 1943 she returned to the Mediterranean for another Malta convoy, striking another mine on 22 April 1943. Towed to Liverpool for repairs, the Badsworth was then transferred to the exiled Royal Norwegian Navy under the name HNoMS Arendal.[4]
- ^ The Badsworth, foxhunters.net, retrieved 21 July 2009
- ^ "War in the Mediterranean". The Royal Navy. Archived from the original on 16 October 2008. Retrieved 21 July 2009. 'The Mediterranean campaign revolved around the island of Malta, where the British based surface ships, submarines and aircraft to attack the supplies for Italian and German armies in North Africa. Major convoy operations were mounted to sustain Malta and the island narrowly survived.'
- ^ Peregontsev, Korabli Vtoroi Mirovoi Voiny, 1939-1945: Spravochnik, Volume I, p. 146