HMS Enchantress (L56)

HMS Enchantress in April 1945
History
United Kingdom
Name	Bittern: re-named Enchantress in 1935
Builder	John Brown & Company, Clydebank
Laid down	9 March 1934
Launched	21 October 1934
Commissioned	8 April 1935
Decommissioned	May 1946
Identification	Pennant number: L56
Fate	Sold for scrap 1952
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	Bittern-class sloop
Displacement	1,085 tons
Length	282 ft (86 m)
Beam	37 ft (11 m)
Draught	10 ft 10 in (3.30 m)
Propulsion	Geared steam turbines on two shafts, 3,300 hp
Speed	18.75-knot (34.73 km/h)
Complement	128
Armament	As built: 2 × 4.7 inch guns 3 × 3-pdr saluting gun War service: 4 × 4.7 inch guns 1 × 3 in HA gun 4 × 20 mm AA cannon 60 × Depth charges

HMS Enchantress (L56) was a Bittern-class sloop, built for the British Royal Navy. She was the lead ship of her class, being laid down as Bittern, but renamed as Enchantress before being launched by Lady Jean Alice Elaine Cochrane.^[2] She was active during the Second World War, serving mainly as a convoy escort, and was a successful anti-submarine warfare vessel, being credited with the destruction of an Italian submarine in 1942.