HMS Lawford (K514)

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

HMS Lawford at Liverpool, 13 February 1944
History
United States
NameUSS Lawford (DE-516)
FateTransferred to Royal Navy under Lend-Lease
United Kingdom
NameHMS Lawford (K514)
Launched13 August 1943
FateSunk by Aerial attack during Normandy Landings, 8 June 1944
General characteristics
Class and typeEvarts-class destroyer escort (modified to HQ vessel)
Displacement1,140 long tons (1,158 t)
Length289.5 ft (88.2 m)
Beam35 ft (11 m)
Draught9 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
Speed20 knots (37 km/h)
Range5,000 nautical miles (9,260 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h)
Complement156
Sensors and
processing systems
Armament

HMS Lawford (K514) was a Royal Navy converted Captain class frigate (pennant DE-516), built in the US in 1944. She was converted into an HQ ship for the Normandy landings. On 8 June 1944, whilst operating off Juno Beach, she was hit by enemy fire during an air attack and sunk. Thirty-seven of her crew died. The Royal Navy's damage summary report[1] states that the ship was hit by an "aerial torpedo", which has been taken to mean a torpedo dropped from an aircraft. However, a survey of the ship undertaken as part of the Channel 4 TV series "Wreck Detectives"[2] found evidence that the vessel was broken up and sunk by an internal explosion, indicating a hit from one or more bombs or from an early guided missile such as an Hs-293 or (less likely) a Fritz X.

Further consideration suggests that the term "aerial torpedo" used in the RN damage summaries was actually intended to refer to guided missiles.[2]

The wreck lies in 21 meters of water at 49°25′43″N 00°23′47″W / 49.42861°N 0.39639°W / 49.42861; -0.39639.

  1. ^ Collingwood, Donald (1998). The Captain Class Frigates in the Second World War : an operational history of the American built Destroyer Escorts serving under the White Ensign from 1943-1946. London: Leo Cooper. pp. 152–153. ISBN 9780850526158.
  2. ^ a b "Channel4.com - Wreck Detectives - The wrecks - HMS Lawford - Introduction". Channel 4. Retrieved 23 February 2008.